To become a US citizen, you must:

• Be born in the US or US territories,
• Be born abroad to a US citizen parent or parents and they meet other requirements,
• Acquire citizenship through parents if you are a legal permanent resident before the age of 18, or
• Go through the naturalization process.

US citizenship by birth

You are automatically a US citizen if you are born in the United States. In most cases, you are also a US citizen if you were born in:

• Puerto Rico,
• Guam, or
• The US Virgin Islands.

Your birth certificate is proof of your citizenship. For example, a child born in Illinois to undocumented parents will be a US citizen regardless of their parents' immigration status.

You are not considered a US citizen by birth if you are born in the United States and your parents are in the country because they are foreign diplomats. For example, a child is born in Washington, DC to foreign national parents who are working in the United States as staff in an embassy. The parents still maintain their status as foreign diplomats. The child does not become a US citizen at birth because their parents were not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.