Definition of Nationality, Concept of Double Nationality, Distinction between Nationality and citizenship

A Navi Mumbai family has a son born in Houston while his father was working there. He holds a US passport by birth and an Indian one is being asked for by his grandparents. Can he have both? If he is arrested abroad, which country can step in for him? And is the word on his passport nationality or citizenship? These everyday questions sit under three syllabus headings: what nationality is, what happens when a person has two, and how it differs from citizenship.

In two minutes

Nationality is the legal bond between an individual and a state that entitles the state to protect him in international law and subjects him to its authority; a person with two nationalities has double nationality, and citizenship is the municipal-law status that carries political rights.

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