[Yashcheritsiy]

When he was born. Contrary to what a lot of FReepers think, it IS possible to be a naturalised citizen from birth, if your citizenship derives from congressional statute.

[AnalogReigns]

That’s only an amateur opinion. The federal courts have not ruled whether a person is naturalized or natural-born (as federal law from the 1790s says...) when one parent is a citizen and they are born on foreign soil.

“Natural born citizen” was a new term in the US Constitution. English law covers a “natural born subject” which is by definition, different.

A very good legal case can be made that natural born citizen = citizen from birth.

[driftdiver]

Uh no

[Springfield Reformer]

Nguyen v INS (2001) appears to recognize two categories, citizen at birth, and citizen due to some event that comes after birth, although said event may be applied retroactively to the time of birth. The latter category is naturalization. But where no action is required after birth to secure citizenship, that is arguably a "natural born citizen" scenario.  

More specifically, in the Nguyen case, the father did not show sufficient connectedness to the child for years after the child was born to provide a basis for a retroactive transfer of citizenship to the child (child not naturalized). The mother was an alien, and could not transfer citizenship at birth (child not born directly into citizenship).  The key thing in Nguyen is that it recognizes naturalization as requiring some event after birth to secure citizenship.  Birth that requires no such post-natal event is NOT naturalization.  Is there any other non-naturalized category besides "natural born?" I am not aware of any.

Peace,

SR

[Leto]

WHere is s=that stated? Got a link for your claim?

The constitution gives congress the power to define a citizens status. THe statute defines Cruz as a NBC.