If You Are Born On A Plane, What Country Are You A Citizen Of?

[dlevere]

I can see a few possibilities.

1) The child gets the citizenship of the parents and the point of embarkation.

2) The child gets the citizenship of the parents and the point of disembarkation.

3) The child gets the citizenship of the parents.

4) The child gets the citizenship of the airline being traveled and the citizenship of the parents.

5) The child gets the citizenship of the country being flown over at time of birth.

Can anyone help clarify this?

Does the same hold true for international ship cruises?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=If+You+Are...&t=ffcm&ia=web

[soprano1]

5, probably. There are probably international laws or directives for this.

[Pyriel]

It's going to vary a bit depending on whether the countries involved grant citizenship jus soli or jus sanguinis or whatever. In the US at least, we do jus soli and I've heard that applies to our airspace as well, including any US-based aircraft flying in international zones.

Airlines restrict pregnant women from flying after so many weeks, with exceptions that usually require a doctor to sign-off. So this is an exceedingly rare occurrence. I expect every time it happens there's a minor kerfuffle, and every case is resolved more or less on its own. For instance, the U.K. doesn't do jus soli citizenship, so a U.S. woman giving birth on a British Air flight, even over U.K. territory, will probably end up with a U.S. birth certificate and citizenship for her child.

5, probably. There are probably international laws or directives for this.

5 can be true, but not always. There may be some international, humanitarian guidelines that are meant to prevent stateless children, but the ability to set rules regarding citizenship is generally considered part of national sovereignty. For example, Liberia only allows people of African descent to be citizens, so having a child over their territory would be a real kick up the ass if you're Chinese or something.

[soprano1]

Informative post, Pyriel. Thanks.

[bungholio]

My monitor is blurry crap. I thought the title said "If You Are Bom On A Plane," I was wondering what entertaining joke dlevere found on the internet. I'd just assume you'd check the specific country you are going to because they are all likely different.