Citizenship of a US State (or German Land, or Canadian province, or US/Canadian territory)
<p>Does any of the US states or aforementioned entities maintain a legal status comparable to that of citizenship/nationality, specific to people who are for example born in that state or have acquired that citizenship by rules fixed by the state?</p>
<p>Something like that would include, for example, specific protection abroad (= out of the state, incl in another US state) by the state's government, additional rights within the state as opposed to those only having the federal citizenship, or the state for example trying to impede or decide how is conducted a federal suit within its boundaries on people having their citizenship...</p>
<p>I think this is somewhat the case for Indian reservations, which are more independant with the federal government than the states are.</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/germany" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;germany&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;germany&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-germany-tooltip-container">germany</a></p>
<p>German Länder do not provide any citizenship-like benefits.</p>
<p>You are a resident and that determines your administrative duties like where you register your car, which public school you can go to, where and which taxes you have to pay etc.</p>
<p>Some places in Germany differentiate their services between &quot;locals&quot; and &quot;others&quot;, for example beach access in tourist cities is sometimes locked behind a fee to non-locals (aka tourists). But that never depends on federal state, but on way smaller units. Residents of one beach town might be &quot;tourists&quot; 20km down the road at the next city's beach. It is more of a &quot;the people whose taxes allow us to maintain this, go for free&quot; approach.</p>
<p>Outside of badly translated internet forms originally made for the US, I have never been asked for my Bundesland. The Bundesland is not printed on our national ID cards. Although anybody with a little knowledge of geography (or access to Google) can find out your Bundesland by just looking up the actual address that is printed on the ID card, the information of which Bundesland this is is really not important outside of government bureaucracy.</p>

<p>US states establish <em>residency</em>, used for access to services (like public libraries), things like in-state public university tuition, and paying taxes.  Generally this is less of a service to the residents than a revenue source by the state (new car registration, for example).</p>
<p>Residency is established solely by where you physically live (there are weird exceptions for people living RV-life type existences, but many will find this fringe existence difficult).  There is no application for change of residency, no restrictions exist on what state you can live in.  If you move there, you will be a resident there.</p>
<p>US states don't do anything for a resident who is in another state.  They have no effect whatsoever on federal courts inside their borders except for passing state laws that federal courts may use.</p>
<p>Quasi-citizenship does exist for states.  The 14th Amendment states that &quot;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 reside.&quot;  It specifies US citizenship and thus invalidated previous theories that US citizenship required some type of state citizenship.  I can find exactly zero methods to acquire citizenship in a state, certainly not in the last two I've lived in, other than residing in one.</p>

<p>Under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, a U.S. citizen is also a citizen of the state in which the citizen resides, a term usually interpreted to match the common law concept of domicile.</p>
<p>There are two privileges and immunities clauses in the U.S. Constitution. One protects the privileges and immunities that U.S. citizens hold in every state which generally speaking has been narrowly interpreted to protect only rights that flow from the federal government. The other entitles a citizen of one U.S. state to the privileges and immunities of citizens of another state where the person may be present, facially seeming to prohibit discrimination based upon state citizenship.</p>
<p>A state may insist that you are a citizen of a U.S. state to vote in that state's elections. It may also prefer state citizens in matters of hunting and fishing licenses and tuition at public educational institutions. But, a state may not limit occupational licenses in the state to state citizens.</p>

<p>Switzerland is another example of different countries doing things differently. You become a citizen of Switzerland by becoming a citizen of a municipality. Different cantons have different laws regulating the granting of citizenship by municipalities.</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/germany" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;germany&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;germany&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-germany-tooltip-container">germany</a>
<a href="/questions/tagged/historical" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;historical&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;historical&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-historical-tooltip-container">historical</a></p>
<p>For 2023, the answer by @nvoigt is correct. However, prior to the german re-unification, West Berlin did have special status. While being a Bundesland (county) of West Germany, it was in parts governed by allied laws back from post-WW2 occupation times. The most famous effect being that residents of West Germany were exempt from compulsory military service. This made Berlin universities popular among parts of the young male population who saw studying in Berlin a way to get out of that.</p>
<p>Also, the people of West Berlin did not have the same passport as other western Germans, but were issued a &quot;provisional passport&quot;. Here is a rare picture of one in item #5: <a href="https://www.t-online.de/region/berlin/news/id_90751288/berlin-vor-der-wende-10-dinge-die-nur-west-berliner-miterlebt-haben.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.t-online.de/region/berlin/news/id_90751288/berlin-vor-der-wende-10-dinge-die-nur-west-berliner-miterlebt-haben.html</a></p>

<h2>Citizenship is a national concept</h2>
<p><a href="/questions/tagged/australia" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;australia&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;australia&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-australia-tooltip-container">australia</a></p>
<p>Australian states, territories, and local governments can and do have the concept of residency which may or may not be tied with citizenship.</p>
<p>For example, if you are a citizen, your place of residence as recorded on the Australian Electoral Roll determines which state/territory and local government elections you vote in.</p>
<p>Where you employ people determines in which state/territory you are liable for payroll tax and worker’s compensation insurance. Where you live determines which state/territory you must get your driver’s license etc.</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/canada" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;canada&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;canada&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-canada-tooltip-container">canada</a></p>
<p>&quot;Naturalization and Aliens&quot; fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government in Canada, as outlined in section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (originally enacted as the British North America Act 1867 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom). Although Canadian citizenship as a separate legal status was not established until 1947, the Parliament of Canada previously regulated the process of naturalizing aliens into British subjects in Canada, subject to the limits imposed by the British Empire.</p>
<p>However, the law does not prevent provinces from granting certain benefits to certain classes of citizens or residents in general. Notably, it is a constitutional right to move to and take up residece in any province and to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province, but other areas are not regulated.</p>
<p>For example, everyone who was born in Quebec, or who was selected by Quebec as immigrants, may benefit from resident tuition rates, even if they move away from Quebec immediately after their birth or landing. Resident tuition rates also exist in some other provinces (Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador), although the place of birth has no effect on the qualification there. Quebec is in many aspects a special case, as there is a strong sovereigntist movement and it runs its own immigration system (all provinces have the shared power over immigration, but Quebec is the only one exercising that power). So there was a reason to make some nationality-like thing. Nonetheless, the resident tuitition rates qualification is a really limited application and the status could not really be called as nationality or citizenship.</p>

<p>Indigenous nations have their own citizenship/membership requirements (the terminology and conception can vary from people to people).</p>
<p>For an example within <a href="/questions/tagged/canada" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;canada&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;canada&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-canada-tooltip-container">canada</a>, see the <a href="https://www.nisgaanation.ca/sites/default/files/legislation/Constitution%20of%20the%20Nisga%27a%20Nation%20-%201998-10-01.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Constitution of the Nisga’a Nation</a>, s. 8:</p>
<blockquote>
<ol start="8">
<li><strong>Citizenship</strong></li>
</ol>
<p>(1) Every Nisga’a participant who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
is entitled to be a Nisga’a citizen</p>
<p>(2) A person who is not a Nisga’a participant and who is a Canadian citizen or
permanent resident of Canada may become a Nisga’a citizen if permitted by, and in
accordance with, Nisga’a law.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The consequences of Nisga'a citizenship are outlined in the constitution.</p>
<p>The membership in <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-5/FullText.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Indian Act</em></a> &quot;bands&quot; is recorded on a &quot;Band List&quot; that may be controlled by the band:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A band may assume control of its own membership if it establishes membership rules for itself in writing in accordance with this section and if, after the band has given appropriate notice of its intention to assume control of its own membership, a majority of the electors of the band gives its consent to the band’s control of its own membership.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The consequences of band membership are presented in this Q&amp;A: <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/94457/what-are-the-consequences-of-band-membership-under-canadas-indian-act/94458#94458">What are the consequences of &quot;band&quot; membership under Canada's Indian Act?</a></p>

<blockquote>
<p>additional rights within the state as opposed to those only having the federal citizenship</p>
</blockquote>
<h2><strong>Hunting.</strong></h2>
<p>There are many such rules around hunting. In Ontario, <a href="/questions/tagged/canada" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;canada&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;canada&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-canada-tooltip-container">canada</a>, for example, <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/hunting-licence-non-residents-ontario#section-5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">All non-residents wishing to hunt black bear must contract the services of an operator licensed to provide bear hunting services.</a> Only Ontario residents are allowed to go hunting black bear on their own in Ontario. There is a similar rule for moose, with the exception that an Ontario resident who holds a valid moose tag can bring along a non-resident on the hunt if they are an immediate relative.</p>

federalism