Multiple Citizenship - Subnational Citizenship

Subnational Citizenship

• Under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they are deemed to reside. Certain rights accrue as an incident of state citizenship and access to federal courts can sometimes be determined on State citizenship.
• Switzerland has a three tier system of citizenship - Confederation, canton and commune (municipality).
• Although considered part of the United Kingdom for British nationality purposes, the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have local legislation restricting certain employment and housing rights to those with "local status". Although the British citizenship of people from these islands gives them full citizenship rights when in the United Kingdom, it does not give them the rights that British citizenship generally confers when in other parts of the European Union (for example, the right to reside and/or work).
• The Australian territory of Norfolk Island has immigration laws that restrict residence in the territory to those with "local status". Most Norfolk Islanders are Australian citizens.
• The statuses of permanent residency of Hong Kong and Macau, each a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, are overlaid on Chinese nationality as stipulated in their respective basic laws. Those who concurrently have Chinese nationality and permanent residency in either SAR are entitled a Chinese passport issued by that SAR, which affords them more visa waivers. Laws may confer specific rights to certain persons by virtue of being a Chinese national (such as the right to transmit nationality by birth), a resident (permanent or all) of the region (e.g. right to vote in local elections), or a combination of both (such as the right to hold public office above a certain level). It is now possible to be a permanent resident of both Special Administrative Regions.
• People from Åland have joint regional (Åland) and national (Finnish) citizenship. People with Ålandic citizenship (hembygdsrätt) have the right to buy property and set up a business on Åland, but Finns without regional citizenship cannot. Finns can get Ålandic citizenship after living on the islands for five years, and Ålanders lose their regional citizenship after living on the Finnish mainland for five years.
• The government of Puerto Rico began issuing Puerto Rican citizenship certificates in September 2007 after Juan Mari Brás, a lifelong supporter of independence, won a successful court victory that validated his claim that Puerto Rican citizenship was valid and can be claimed by anyone born on the island or with at least one parent who was born there.
• In Bosnia and Herzegovina, citizens hold also citizenship of their respective entity which is generally the Entity of their residence. It can be either citizenship of Republika Srpska or of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. One cannot hold both entity citizenships simultaneously.