Is she English or Portuguese? Please help me settle a debate

[Takeawaypizzatonightcbacooking]

I live in Portugal, I’m English, as is Dh, but Dd was born here.
My dad says Dd is Portuguese as she was born here, I say English because we’re both English…who is right? How does it work if you’re born in a different country to your parents etc?

What exactly are you finding confusing?

Your daughter may be Portuguese. This is up to Portugal.
Your daughter is almost definitely British, by descent.

There is nothing confusing. You can apply for a British passport for her, it's not even that difficult.
My children have two nationalities, it's not an issue, it's only an advantage.

To my mind, she is Portuguese with English parents.
I know that in some countries, children take the nationality of their Father, but I'm sure if you grew up in Portugal, Portuguese friends, Portuguese language etc, you would 'feel,' more Portuguese than English.
My Dad is Irish but I feel no connection to being Irish, I was born and raised in England.

His parents were both first gen immigrants, like op is, and ops daughter is Portuguese from birth, as Sunak was.

I take your point though - for you, there is a difference between people who are born in a country to people with residency and those born to people who have already acquired nationality. Regardless of the legal status of their children only one set of children would count as 'really British' in your eyes. Do they become British later on if their parents acquire citizenship as well, for you?

On a different note, how about people who are not British on paper but were born and raised their entire lives in Britain? And then find out actually they are not technically British at all. Windrush is just one example. My kids went to school with someone who only found out they were not British aged 18 when they tried to get a passport. Couldn't be more British in my eyes, but apparently not. It was eventually sorted. But what made them British to me? After all, their parents weren't.

Our kids born in European country, registered with Uk Embassy , have British birth certificates and have British passports. But bear in mind they are British because my husband and I were born in Uk/ they cannot give British citizenship to their children unless born in Uk. If their partner was not born in UK they must make sure their baby is born here in UK if they want them to have British passport.

My DC was born to 2 Brits in the EU, 20 odd years ago. If we had still lived in the country of birth, DC could have taken that nationality at the age of 18. But DC took the nationality of the country we live in now so at least has an EU passport as well.

@Takeawaypizzatonightcbacooking can you clarify your question? Because some are reading it as a request for opinions, and others as a request for legal info.

That's incorrect information, the OP is not Portuguese!

That's not what British nationality law says! She is British unless her parents are British by descent.

You don't need to register.

That's true. I'm assuming she knows the legalities and it's more a philosophical discussion.
For me that's why it's helpful to think about how we 'other' ourselves with British exceptionalism. We are expats. Our children are British. Other people in the UK are immigrants. Their children have to think of themselves as British, not 'insert country of origin' or they are not really committed to Britain. Reality is more nuanced on both sides. The immigrant experience of first and second generation is complex.

English.

My ds was born abroad to 2 English parents and despite having a Spanish birth certificate he has a British passport.

"That's incorrect information, the OP is not Portuguese!"

No, the op is a resident of Portugal. Presumably a permanent resident with right to reside as her child is legally entitled to Portuguese citizenship.

We do the same in the UK. You don't need British parents to be British from birth. Your parent/s can be residents, entitled to indefinite leave to remain or settled status. They don't ever need to ever become citizens, yet their children become citizens from birth.

@puttingontheritz

I wasn't giving a legal ruling. 😳

I don't think the OP is saying that the baby is Portuguese at all though. We don't know on what grounds they are there at all, it could be a three month holiday for all we know.

I have totally read this thread as a question about legalities.
If I have got it wrong and it is about feelings, then I would say to the OP from my experience, do not worry about it in the slightest, your child will tell you.

Op said Dd is entitled to both

Or at least one of them had been living in the UK for at least 5 years before the birth ("Settled") - no need for British citizenship, Settled Status or similar is enough.

Obviously if she is born in Portugal and if she lives there constantly and attends local schools she will see herself as Portuguese. She can have dual-citizenship and a strong English identity with her family but if she is raised in Portugal she will be Portuguese by nationality and culture.

Or born in the interim years before the British Nationality law was amended to reflect "settled status" of EU citizens and just referred to EU parents as "exercising treaty rights" (freedom of movement)

English is a nationality not an ethnicity.

She's whatever she wants to be. If she grows up there, she'll probably choose Portuguese.

English is a language not a nationality tbf.

Like legally or emotionally? Legally both if she has citizenship. Emotionally, well that's for her to decide when she's older.

Bit of a tangent but God I really HATE it when people do this, and they do it A LOT.

Africa is a continent not a country. It is a massive and diverse continent containing 55 countries, inside which the US, China and India together could all fit.

This entire thread is devoted to exploring the difference between two Western European nationalities and everybody thinks it is perfectly reasonable to treat them as two separate and meaningful national identities. Which it is.

So WHY are African nations not afforded the same significance and respect? Oh wait... I can think of some reasons. People really need to check their western-centric perceptions and biases.

Especially people who were bloody well born there!

I’m British but had my dc in the USA which means they will always be American by birth unless they choose to give up their US nationality which is quite costly now.

I did get them British passports too and Dh is Dutch so he took them to the Dutch embassy and got them Dutch passports after Brexit so they can study and work in the EU.

The only issue we’ve had so far is when one of my dc applied to a UK university. We had to send passport copies and answer extra questions before my dc was offered a place.