I was born in Germany while my dad was in the Army.
I’ve been a US citizen since birth. Never had to “declare” a thing.
A friend of mine was born on an American naval base in Japan and he was an American at birth....Not sure what this guy is talking about.
“Never had to “declare” a thing.”
Actually you did, and your parents must have handled it along with their passports. You just were not aware of it. Usually, but not always, it is in the form of the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) and an endorsement on a parent’s passport.
Your parents probably handled it when they returned to the US, like some Christian denomination parents/godparents speak on behalf of the infant at its Christening. Somewhere in the bowels of the State Department is a Consular Report of Birth Abroad in your name. You just never knew about it is what I’d assume.
I think if your parents were both American citizens then you are a citizen.
My son was born in Germany also, however, his mother was German. Even though he was born on an American Air Force base, we still had to declare his US. Citizenship when I arrived back in the states.
He’s 46 now, and we recently had to request paperwork from Germany to get his passport to travel to France and China.
I was told in Germany that without the paperwork he would have trouble getting passports in the future, and “would never be able to run for president.”. They actually told me that! That was in 1968.