The Northern Virginia doctor knows at least that much about his situation. He knows he is no longer considered a citizen of the United States — the place where he was born, went to school and has practiced medicine for more than 30 years — and that he also belongs to no other place.
A letter from a State Department official informed him that he should not have been granted citizenship at the time of his birth because his father was a diplomat with the Embassy of Iran. The letter directed Sobhani to a website where he could apply for lawful permanent residence.
The original point wasnt that they should magically be granted citizen ship for slipping through the cracks, but rather but rather that there should be a legal process or criteria for granting citizen ship in these situations. Maybe some basic criteria could be living, working (if able), and paying taxes for 10 years and no felonies. I’m sure there are reasons to grant exceptions and there probably need to be some additional limitations, but that could be the basic idea.
You get citizenship based on being born in the US - jus solis - which this man was, until the State Department decided differently. The other way to become US citizen is by requesting it . That is possibe after five (in case of marriage three) years of living in the USA as a Legal Permanent Resident.