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My girlfriend has dual US - JAP Citizenship.

I am an AUS - NZ dual citizen thinking of applying for UK Citizenship as well.

Will we be able to pass all of these to our children?

If not then can we pass down any combination of 4?

Charlie Song
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    Possible duplicate of What is the highest number of citizenships one can hold? – Midavalo Aug 21 '17 at 00:46
  • We need the residential histories of both of you plus how you came to acquire these various nationalities. I should note the passport does not equal citizenship. You may have a passport of country but not be a citizen. – ouflak Aug 21 '17 at 06:20
  • @ouflak in what case does any of those countries issue passports to non citizens? Are you thinking of Swain's Islanders? – phoog Aug 21 '17 at 07:57
  • @phoog, United States, people born in American Somoa are U.S. nationals, but not citizens. United Kingdom, though much rarer now, you can be a British subject, but not a British citizen. Don't know about Australia or Japan, maybe no such possibilities for those countries. – ouflak Aug 21 '17 at 11:36
  • @ouflak but a US non-citizen national can also pass that nationality to children born outside of US territory. Anyway, the body of the question makes it clear that the parent is a US citizen. – phoog Aug 21 '17 at 13:10
  • Charlie: you'll also want to think about the expense of maintaining five citizenships. Passports can be expensive. – phoog Aug 21 '17 at 13:33
  • @phoog many citizenships don't require you to have active passports. Eg my South African passport is currently expired, while my NZ one is what I use to travel with. – Mark Mayo Aug 21 '17 at 22:15
  • @MarkMayo I doubt any citizenship requires you to maintain an active passport for its own sake, but some countries require you to do so for certain benefits (for example, to enter the country). Plus, the question title is explicitly about holding all of the passports. – phoog Aug 21 '17 at 23:57
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    @ouflak

    I received citizenship from both countries (NZ and AUS) as I was born in NZ and I lived in Australia for a number of years (attended citizenship ceremony).

    My partner is a US Citizen by birth and her Father and she is a Japanese citizen by descent (with passport) from her Mother.

     – Charlie Song Aug 22 '17 at 06:50
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    Ok, I think that clears things up just about enough. Assuming you acquire UK citizenship, then it is in theory possible for the child have NZ, US, AUS, and UK citizenship at birth. There are still some contigencies. How old is she and has she lived the U.S. for atleast 5 years, 2 of those after her 14th birthday? Are you a permanent resident in the UK? If so, no need to acquire UK citizenship for the child (born in the UK) to also have UK citizenship. Depending on her age, I'm not sure she still has Japanese citizenship, but I've never really heard of them being super strict on that. – ouflak Aug 22 '17 at 07:04
  • Japanese citizens technically can't hold dual citizenships after the age of 20, period. UK and AFAIK Aus, NZ have complicated jus sanguinis laws and require more clarification on your side. – xuq01 Aug 29 '17 at 08:27

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This question has a good answer in the duplicate, but for your specific situation: UK, USA, AUS, and NZ are no problem to hold multiple citizenships. However, it can get expensive to maintain up-to-date passports for all of them. The one you may have more difficulty with is Japan, as Japanese nationality law does not generally support multiple citizenships (but, it's complicated).

Each country decides its own rules for determining who is or can be a citizen, and there is no overarching rule that places a maximum on the number of citizenships that an individual may hold.

Greg Hewgill
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  • As ouflak noted in his comment, however, some of the countries mentioned, at least the US and the UK, do not confer citizenship on all children of their citizens if the child is born abroad. So even if it's possible for a child to hold all of those citizenships simultaneously, it may not be possible for Charlie Song's child to hold all of them. – phoog Aug 21 '17 at 08:02
  • @phoog: Good point, same for NZ and AUS. It is in fact possible for the parents to hold all those citizenships, yet the child to be entitled to none of them (depending on where the child is born). – Greg Hewgill Aug 21 '17 at 10:36
  • @GregHewgill

    Hi Greg, Being able to pass down your passport by descent is not a subject I am too knowledgeable on. How is it that the child would not be entitled to them? Are they not a citizen by right (by descent) upon birth because of their parent's citizenship?

     – Charlie Song Aug 21 '17 at 10:41
  • @CharlieSong It depends on the rules of the country. For example, for New Zealand, if a parent who is themselves a citizen by descent has a child outside NZ, the child is not entitled to NZ citizenship automatically. Search for "[country] nationality law" in Wikipedia for detailed info. – Greg Hewgill Aug 21 '17 at 10:56
  • @CharlieSong the rules are usually designed to prevent a perpetual line of (possibly unknowing) expatriate descendants, especially now that many countries allow both mothers and fathers to pass citizenship to their children. Different countries apply different solutions to the problem, but rules usually depend on how the parent acquired the country's nationality and possibly on how long the parent has lived in (or outside of) that country's territory at certain points in his or her life. – phoog Aug 21 '17 at 13:30
  • Thanks @phoog I suppose the safest option is that the child will have citizenship rights automatically if they are born in that country. For all other countries that can be 'passed down' you would have to apply for them. – Charlie Song Aug 22 '17 at 06:52
  • @CharlieSong Only some countries confer citizenship automatically to all children born in the country, mostly in the New World. See jus soli. – Greg Hewgill Aug 22 '17 at 07:29
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    @CharlieSong in particular, children born in the UK are only British citizens if one of the parents is "settled" (which you are if you have ILR). Similarly, for "passed down" citizenship it's usually not necessary to apply, but sometimes it is. The deadline can be as early as the child's first birthday, so do look into it promptly. Come to think of it, the bureaucracy of all that is probably more of a burden than passport fees would be. – phoog Aug 22 '17 at 15:39