Editor's Blog4 mins ago
Nationality
How is it determined what nationality you are? I always understood it was dependent on what your parents are - both my parents are Welsh but I was born and raised in England, so what am I? (No Welsh jokes please!)
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Different nation states adopt different systems. The process can depend upon the nationality of parents or the actual birthplace of the child.(Excepting holiday births, in most cases.)
In my own case, I married a Frenchman and had two daughters in France. The first lived there for five years and the second, three, before we moved to England. I would have been legally entitled to French citizenship one year after my marriage, or at the moment of birth of my eldest daughter on French soil if she popped out before a year had expired.
Both my daughters have claimed their Frenchness and have no desire for dual nationality and I did not accept French citizenship.
In other words, I think you can be English or Welsh, just take your pick. Either way, you will get a British passport.
I guess if we follow SRs example ~ what nationality is everyone? I would have to say French in that case..unless it is my fathers side, then I am Norwegian. You could also throw in Irish, Scottish & Welsh come to that!
However, when I have to fill out forms the boxes say:
Place of Birth: England
Nationality: British
British is your official nationality as far as your international status goes, and the United Kingdom counts as one country in the eyes of the world. Where parents are British and you are born outside the UK, you take the citizenship of your parents' homeland, not your place of birth. However, if you were born in England to Welsh parents you are entitled to consider yourself either English or Welsh as you see fit, as this will not have any official status internationally.
If you want to be Welsh, chuck, you go right ahead - strange lady ;-)