An accidental American is someone whom U.S. law deems to be an American citizen, but who has only a tenuous connection with that country. For example, American nationality law provides (with limited exceptions) that anyone born on U.S. territory is a U.S. citizen (jus soli), including those who leave as infants or young children, even if neither parent is a U.S. citizen (as in the case of Boris Johnson until he renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2016).
An accidental American is someone whom U.S. law deems to be an American citizen, but who has only a tenuous connection with that country. For example, American nationality law provides (with limited exceptions) that anyone born on U.S. territory is a U.S. citizen (jus soli), including those who leave as infants or young children, even if neither parent is a U.S. citizen (as in the case of Boris Johnson until he renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2016).
Source: Wikipedia "Accidental American" · CC BY-SA 4.0
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