If you were born in England but big your parents were Spanish, surely you are British ?

[Lardlizard]

Born n bred here
So if someone said, about our child being a good footballer, and will be playing for England when he’s older, as a friendly compliment
It’s kinda rude to get offended and say we are not English we are Spanish
He will play for Spain if he plays for anyone in a really arsed way as if it’s offensive being. Called British or English

DS has been born and raised in Germany by 2 British parents. I have always considered him British first and foremost. That is his genetic heritage. He didn’t become ethnically German just because he was born there.

OP

It’s partly people like her that mean I get linked up to a country I’ve never been to and know nothing about. I often say, next time someone asks “where are you REALLY from”, I’m going to tell them the stork dropped me off.

I had a former colleague have a go at me when I made some lame comment about “we British” always having an umbrella stashed in our desk. She actually shouted at me that she wasn’t British and said “how dare you”. Born and raised here, but apparently I was very offensive including her in my comment.

Learned to keep my trap shut at work all the time after.

My parents were born and brought up abroad. I was born and brought up in the UK. As a kid, I didn't really feel British. However, as a middle aged adult, I 100% consider myself British.

I think in these Brexit times a lot of people are desperate not to be British😂

There are very few countries that operate birthright citizenship - ie that you obtain citizenship merely by being born in a country. Fewer than 40 countries in the world recognise being born in a country as conferring citizenship rights.

In most countries you obtain the citizenship of your parents and must apply if they want to obtain the citizenship of the country they reside in.

Some British citizens are barred from conferring British citizenship on their children if they live outside the UK.

I know what you mean, OP, as my in laws are Italian and I've seen firsthand on numerous occasions this disgust at being thought of as English rather than Italian. My MIL and FIL were both born in Italy but came over here at a very young age. They have essentially (bar the first 5 years of their lives) lived their entire lives in the U.K. (they're both 70 now). Their 3 children were all born and raised in the U.K. My dh speaks virtually no Italian, and neither does one of his siblings. His other sibling is fluent but that was through choice (went to Italian lessons) rather than because they spoke italian at home. Whenever there is a world/European sporting event then they all support Italy and say that if Italy doesn't win then they hope that any team but England wins. I don't understand this mentality at all. They also live and celebrate in the way Italians did in the 1950s and are reluctant to accept any new traditions or traditions that are considered as English. I have fought many battles over the years because they want me to behave like a 1950s Italian wife and take on all their traditions and drop my British ones.

However, as much as I find all this frustrating, I also feel sorry for them because when they go back to Italy for holidays, their Italian relatives don't see them as Italian at all and refer to them as The English. So the country where they are accepted they shun, and the country they want to be accepted by shuns them.

Diego Costa, native Brazilian, moved to Spain to play football professionally, played for Brazil in friendlies, granted Spanish nationality based on length of residency, became member of Spain squad. Obviously all expedited by talent and Spain needing a striker at that point.

FIFA lets a player with dual nationalities switch as long as they’ve only ever previously played in friendlies for the other country (at senior level).

Fifa’s eligibility rules.

Zlatan Ibramovich, Serbian born, went to Sweden as a refugee, opted to play for Sweden.

As long as the kid has a claim to nationality (presumably through grandparents) he could play for Italy if he wanted. Or just if he lived there long enough to get nationality.

The Giggs example, as given above. Giggs chose his senior international career team based on his mum’s nationality.

He gets to chose, based either on where his heart lies or where he is more likely to get a game.

My parents were born and brought up abroad. I was born and brought up in the UK. As a kid, I didn't really feel British. However, as a middle aged adult, I 100% consider myself British*

Same but I have always considered myself as English although my look is definitely not a typical English look.

I am grateful that my parents were able to come to this country when the rest of Europe just wanted them and people like them dead so I cannot understand people who get her up about England when they are born and grew up in England.

The grandparent rule is a bit odd, I've always thought, because it pays no attention to how the country organises citizenship/nationality! I could play football for the Netherlands, but if I were to want to become a Dutch national, my process would be the same as anybody with no links at all (via residency).

My daughter was born in Spain but both her parents are British. As such, she has to have UK citizenship as Spain doesn't have birthright citizenship. Spain is annoyingly stingy with its citizenship, I would have liked her to have an EU passport.

Your title is obviously nonsense since in subsequent posts you say The child’s mother’s parents ( so the grandparents) are Spanish. The child’s mother is born n bred here So imo British and her son is also born n bred here and also imo British. In her opinion both of them are Spanish and The child’s father is also British

The bottom line is it's up to them to self identify, not you and I think *Lunde's' post is correct.

Maybe get your facts straight next time.

My DC have dual nationality and a crazy mix of cultural backgrounds. They can choose to play for whoever they like but never forget their multiculturalism

Son In Law is Spanish, lives and works in UK its dawned on me he'll have to apply for settled status..? He & DD will go to Spain eventually anyway, it just feels hostile here even though there's head in the sand mass denial of this when it's so bloody obvious. I don't want my grandkids brought up here due to all this. I'll be spending several months of each year away from UK which is the only reason I can cope really. It feels like the land of Little Hitlers with the emperor's new clothes attitude around mass-bigotry

If mother is a British Citizen then the child is automatically one

On this statement then I am not a British citizen even though I was born here and I have a British passport.

The analogy of the Japanese woman on holiday, I dont know the latest rulings but I know in some countries then the child would be the nationality of the country they were very in.

I think people are mixing nationality which I take as a hard and fast rule that the country you were born in is your nationality and heritage and culture is where your family are from

@Oliversmumsarmy - sorry there are other ways to be/become a British Citizen. It also depends on Spanish nationality laws too, as some countries do not allow dual citizenship etc.

I used to work in this area - it gets very convoluted