Birth tourism: the passport you give your child at birth

A passport is a right, not a permission. A visa can be refused or revoked; a citizenship your child acquired at birth belongs to your child. It goes with them through school, university and work, and perhaps one day through a crisis in which a second country with an open door is worth more than any investment portfolio. No other route to a second citizenship is as simple, as final and as firmly anchored so early in life as this one.

What birth tourism is and why parents plan it

Birth tourism means that a family deliberately has its child in a country that gives citizenship to every child born there. The parents arrive a few weeks before the due date, give birth in a local hospital, have the birth registered, apply for the passport and travel home. From then on the child holds two citizenships: the parents' and that of the country of birth.

The reasons are as varied as the families. Some parents want to open the door for their child to a large job and university market, in North America for instance. Others picture Latin America as a second home, with its climate, its cost of living and a society where families are welcome. Others again see the second citizenship as insurance: a passport that does not depend on the decisions of a single state. All eight reasons for a second passport are on the page Why a second passport, and nearly every one of them weighs even more for a child than for an adult, because the child carries the passport for life.

On top of that comes an advantage no application can offer: citizenship by birth is not a favour granted by an authority. It follows from the constitution or the nationality law of the country of birth. There is no check on your wealth, no language exam, no citizenship test. Whether your child is a citizen is decided by one single fact: where they were born.

How to organise the months before the birth, from choosing the hospital and health insurance to the flight home with your newborn, is explained step by step in Planning a birth abroad.

Citizenship by birth: place of birth or descent

Every state answers the question of who belongs to it from birth according to one of two basic principles, and often a mix of both.

The descent principle (ius sanguinis) looks at the parents. A child is a citizen because the mother or father is a citizen, wherever the child is born. Germany essentially follows this principle: under § 4(1) StAG, a child acquires German citizenship by birth if one parent is German. Italy, Poland and many other European countries work the same way. How to reach a European passport through grandparents and great-grandparents is shown in the guide to Citizenship by descent.

The place-of-birth principle (ius soli) looks at the soil. A child is a citizen because they were born on the state's territory, whatever passport the parents hold. Birth tourism rests on this principle. It comes from English common law and has survived above all in the Americas. In its judgment of 30 June 2026, the US Supreme Court traced in detail how this rule crossed the Atlantic from English law and why it also covers the children of visitors.

For your family, this is the decisive combination: if at least one parent is German, the descent principle gives the child the German passport, and the place-of-birth principle of the country of birth adds the second. Two principles, two citizenships, one single moment of birth. What this means for the German passport is explained in detail in Dual citizenship by birth.

Which countries give your child citizenship by birth?

Unconditional ius soli today is almost exclusively a feature of the Americas. In Europe, Asia and Africa it hardly exists any more without conditions. The key countries for families from Germany, Austria and Switzerland at a glance:

Besides these five major ius soli countries, there are other states in Latin America that give children their nationality at birth. They are worth a look for families already thinking about a home in the region: Uruguay, Paraguay, Panama, Peru. Every country worldwide, with its conditions and exceptions, is in the complete list of ius soli countries.

Before you commit, give it a second thought: a ius soli country is more than a delivery room. It is the country whose passport your child carries, whose consulates protect them and whose rights and duties they inherit. The strength of a passport for visa-free travel is shown in the passport ranking, but for a child it matters just as much whether the country is a place where they might one day want to live, study or work.

Born in the USA: does your child automatically become a citizen?

No question about birth tourism comes up more often, and the answer is clear: yes. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution provides that all persons born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens. Executive Order 14160 of 20 January 2025 sought to deny citizenship to children of parents with unlawful or merely temporary presence. In Trump v. Barbara, on 30 June 2026, the Supreme Court firmly rejected this: these children too are subject to US jurisdiction and therefore citizens at birth. The Court relies expressly on the 1898 decision United States v. Wong Kim Ark, under which the children of visitors in the country for business or pleasure also become Americans.

That settles the legal question. The practical question is another matter, and here you need to look closely:

• Travelling to give birth. Executive Order 14419 "Ending Birth Tourism" of 6 August 2026 defines birth tourism as entering on a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth on American soil. It instructs the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to refuse or revoke visas and other travel authorisations in such cases. So if you travel to give birth, you do not do it on a tourist visa.
• A further order on recognition. Executive Order 14418 of the same day seeks not to recognise citizenship in certain groups of cases where neither parent is American, including children whose parents made a commercial arrangement for the mother to be in the US for the birth. On 2 September 2026, a federal court in Maryland preliminarily barred enforcement of this order against a certified class of children. That class covers children born after 19 February 2025 whose mother was in the country lawfully but only temporarily at the time of birth and whose father was neither a US citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.
• Families living in the US. If you live in the US legally on a work or investor visa, you are exactly the case the Supreme Court decided: the child is American, no ifs and no buts.

For families with a genuine chapter of life in the US, a birth there is therefore the clearest route to an American passport there is. What the ruling means in detail for families on an E-2 or L-1 visa is set out in the analysis of birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court ruling. The parents' perspective, from the timeline to the first US passport, is in Child born in the USA.

A US passport for your child: taxes and entry

An American passport brings one point that parents should know from the start: the US ties tax liability to citizenship, not just to residence. For a child with no income of their own this rarely matters in the early years; later it becomes part of the planning. It can be handled, and if you place it early, there are no surprises. How that works is shown in A US passport for your child and taxes. Just as important: a child with US citizenship enters the US on the American passport, not the German one.

Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina: the ius soli countries in detail

Canada

For many families, Canada is the first choice in North America. Under Section 3(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, every person born in Canada after 14 February 1977 is a citizen. The exception in Section 3(2) concerns only children where neither parent is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and one parent is working in Canada as a diplomat, consular officer or employee of a foreign government or of certain international organisations. For families from Germany, Austria or Switzerland, the full place-of-birth principle therefore applies. The Canadian passport opens one of the strongest job markets in the world to your child, and an education system many families envy Canada for. Everything about the process, the documents and the passport is in Birth in Canada. If you want to take the path to Canada yourself, you will find the conditions in Naturalisation in Canada.

Mexico

In Mexico, ius soli has constitutional rank. Art. 30, Section A, No. I of the Constitution provides that Mexicans by birth are all those born on the territory of the Republic, whatever their parents' nationality. Mexico has a further advantage that can tip the balance for families: under Art. 54, No. VI of the Ley de Migración, anyone with children who are Mexican by birth receives Residente Permanente status. So the child gets a passport and the parents get a permanent right of residence. The exact route for child and parents is described in Birth in Mexico, and the parents' own naturalisation in Naturalisation in Mexico.

Brazil

Brazil also enshrines ius soli in its Constitution. Under Art. 12, No. I, letter a, all those born in Brazil are Brazilians from birth, even if their parents are foreigners, as long as the parents are not serving their own country. A brasileiro nato holds a particularly strong position in Brazil, because the Constitution distinguishes carefully between Brazilians by birth and naturalised Brazilians. A Brazilian child also shortens the parents' own path to naturalisation: instead of four years of residence, one year is then enough for the naturalização ordinária. How the two fit together is explained in Birth in Brazil and Naturalisation in Brazil.

Argentina

Argentina is one of the oldest ius soli countries in the world. Under Art. 1, No. 1 of Ley 346, all those who were or are born on the territory of the Republic are Argentine, whatever their parents' nationality. The only exceptions are the children of foreign ministers and members of a foreign legation. For parents, Argentina reworked its rules on residence and naturalisation in 2025, so it is worth checking the current position in Birth in Argentina, together with Naturalisation in Argentina and the Argentine programme for investors.

Other countries in Latin America

If Latin America is already on your radar as a second home, you will find further ius soli countries with their own advantages, from Uruguay and Paraguay to Panama and Peru. Which rules apply there and how they fit with the parents' residence is set out in Other ius soli countries in Latin America.

United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany: where birth alone is not enough

Many parents assume that a child born in London or Dublin automatically becomes British or Irish. That is not the case.

United Kingdom. Under Section 1(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981, a child born in the United Kingdom is a British citizen only if, at the time of birth, the father or mother is a British citizen or settled in the United Kingdom, meaning they hold an indefinite right to remain. If a parent later becomes British or settled while the child is still a minor, the child can be registered as a British citizen under Section 1(3). Being born in a London hospital alone therefore does not give your child a British passport. All the routes to a British passport, including through descent and marriage, are explained in the article on applying for British citizenship (in German).

Ireland. In Ireland too, birth alone does not make the child of foreign parents Irish; it depends on the parents' citizenship and residence. How families can still reach an Irish passport is shown in Naturalisation in Ireland and, for descendants of Irish grandparents, Irish passport by descent.

Germany. Germany has a conditional place-of-birth principle. Under § 4(3) StAG, a child born in Germany to foreign parents acquires German citizenship if one parent has been lawfully and habitually resident in Germany for five years and holds a permanent right of residence. That makes Germany no destination for birth tourists, but an important right for families who live there. The full framework for German citizenship alongside a second passport is set out in the guide Dual citizenship in Germany.

Dual citizenship by birth: does your child keep the German passport?

This is the question that worries German parents most, and the answer is reassuring. A child with at least one German parent becomes German at birth under § 4(1) StAG, wherever in the world they are born. If the country of birth also gives them its nationality, the child holds two from the very first second. They do not have to choose, and they do not have to apply for anything to keep either one.

The way is clear for later, too: since 27 June 2024, a German no longer loses their citizenship by voluntarily acquiring a foreign one. The former ground for loss in § 25 StAG has been repealed. For families this means that you as a parent can also acquire another citizenship later, for example through naturalisation in your child's country of birth or through citizenship by investment, without putting your German passport at risk.

The one-year deadline under § 4(4) StAG

There is one single rule you should know, even though it does not affect most families. Under § 4(4) StAG, a child born abroad does not automatically acquire German citizenship if the German parent was themselves born abroad after 31 December 1999 and is habitually resident there. This consequence does not occur if an application to register the birth in the German birth register is made within one year of the child's birth; it is enough for the application to reach the competent German mission abroad within that period. And the rule never applies if the child would otherwise be stateless.

For the typical family that lives in Germany and only travels abroad for the birth, this deadline plays no part: the German parent is habitually resident in Germany. It becomes important for families already living abroad in the second generation. The exact check and registration at the consulate are explained in German citizenship for your child born abroad. The questions that come up later for children with two passports, from school to military service, are covered in Children's citizenship and dual nationality.

The papers after the birth: birth certificate, apostille, passport

The birth is the emotional high point; the paperwork that follows decides how quickly you are all back home. In almost every ius soli country it follows the same sequence:

1. Birth certificate of the country of birth. The hospital reports the birth and the local civil registry issues the certificate. It is the proof of your child's citizenship.
2. Passport of the country of birth. With the birth certificate and the parents' passports, you apply for your child's first passport in the country of birth. The processing time determines how long you have to stay.
3. Legalisation or apostille. For German authorities to recognise the foreign certificate, it needs an apostille or a legalisation depending on the country, often with a translation as well.
4. German passport. With the certificate and its apostille or legalisation, you apply for your child's German passport at the German mission abroad or, after your return, at your local citizens' office (Bürgeramt).
5. Registration in the German birth register. It is optional if the deadline in § 4(4) StAG does not apply, and essential if it does.

Which certificate needs which stamp where, and in which order you move fastest, is set out in Birth certificate, apostille, passport.

What a birth abroad brings you as parents

A child with a foreign passport also changes the status of their parents, but only in some countries, and that is exactly what makes the difference between a passport for the child and a flag for the whole family.

• Mexico grants the parents of a Mexican child Residente Permanente status under Art. 54 of the Ley de Migración.
• Brazil cuts the residence period for naturalisation from four years to one for the parents of a Brazilian child.
• Argentina reworked its rules on residence and naturalisation in 2025; what applies to parents today is in the country article.

For families with plans in Latin America, this lever is often the real reason for choosing the country of birth. How a child's birth becomes a fast route to residence and later to naturalisation for the whole family is shown in the article on the child fast track in Latin America (in German). The full path to your own naturalisation in a new country is described in the guide Naturalisation abroad.

This is where the idea behind the flag theory shows: passport, residence, bank and assets do not have to sit in the same country. For many families, a child born abroad is the first flag of their own, and the start of a plan the parents extend step by step. What a second citizenship can mean for children beyond birth is covered in A second passport for children.

Birth tourism or citizenship by investment?

Birth tourism and citizenship by investment answer different questions. A birth gives one child a passport, and only that child. Citizenship by investment gives you, your partner and your children another citizenship in a single application, in months rather than years, without moving.

The programmes expressly include children. In Vanuatu, the Development Support Program costs USD 150,000 for a married couple and USD 165,000 with one child. In São Tomé and Príncipe, the donation to the National Transformation Fund for a family of two to four people is USD 95,000. Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Lucia and São Tomé and Príncipe include children up to the age of 30 in the application, depending on the programme, if they are in education or financially dependent on you. Who each programme takes along is shown on the Family page, and every programme side by side on the Comparison page.

The two routes do not exclude each other; they complement each other. Many families plan both: a passport for the parents through investment, which takes effect straight away, and a place of birth for the next child that gives them a further citizenship. The comparison with all the figures is in Birth tourism or CBI. How citizenship by investment and later naturalisation work together is explained in CBI and naturalisation, and the whole market of programmes in the guide Buying citizenship.

All articles on giving birth abroad

Every ius soli country and every planning step at a glance:

Birth is one of several routes to a second passport. The overview of every route is in the second passport guide. The guides to the other routes: Buying citizenship, Naturalisation abroad, Citizenship by descent, Dual citizenship in Germany, Passport ranking and Flag theory.

How to decide which country of birth suits your family

In the end, the choice comes down to a few questions you should answer honestly for yourself:

• Where might your child want to live one day? A passport is worth most when it opens the door to a country your child could see as a place to study, work or live. North America and Latin America are two very different worlds.
• How long can you, and do you want to, stay there? Arriving a few weeks before the due date, the birth itself and the paperwork up to the first passport add up to a stay of several weeks to a few months.
• On what residence status do you enter? In the US in particular, this question decides whether the plan holds. If you live and work there legally, you are on the safe side.
• Should the birth also bring something for you as parents? Then the countries to look at are above all those that open residence to parents through the child, such as Mexico.
• Which obligations does your child inherit? Tax liability, military service, registration duties: every passport has two sides. US tax liability can be planned for, but it belongs on the table before you book. Everything on German military service and stays abroad is in Conscription.
• Do you as parents need a second passport too? Then citizenship by investment is the faster addition, and a child's birth abroad adds another flag.

Once you have answered these questions, you usually land quickly on two or three countries. The rest is organisation: hospital, flights, accommodation, certificates. And at the end, a moment no authority can ever undo, because your child did not apply for the second citizenship but received it at birth.

Frequently asked questions