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Kunqian Catherine Zhu also known as Catherine Chen was born on 16 September 2000 in Belfast to Chinese parents who were working for a Chinese firm in Britain. In what became known as the Chen case, it emerged the child's mother, Mrs Chen, had deliberately selected Northern Ireland as a birthplace for her second child, whose birth in China would have contravened China's One Child Policy. As Catherine's parents were only temporary migrants, she was not eligible for British citizenship simply by virtue of birth in the United Kingdom.

However, by giving birth in Belfast, Mrs. Chen automatically obtained Irish citizenship for her daughter, with the intention of using the child's status as a European Union national to move the family permanently to Cardiff, Wales. However, British authorities rejected the Chens' applications for permits to reside permanently in Britain. The case was taken to the European Court of Justice, which ruled that, as a citizen of the European Union, Catherine Chen has an inalienable right to reside anywhere in the EU, and that denying residency to her parent(s) at a time when she is unable to look after herself would conflict with this basic right.

Possession of Irish citizenship does not give Catherine Chen a right to register as a British citizen. However, as a United Kingdom born person, she will be eligible for British citizenship by registration:

• should either of her parents become a British citizen or settled in the United Kingdom and an application is made before she turns 18; or
• if she remains resident in the United Kingdom until age 10, she will have an entitlement to registration as a British citizen irrespective of her parent's immigration status.

• Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
• Irish nationality law
• British nationality law
• British nationality law and the Republic of Ireland
• Common Travel Area
• Citizenship of the European Union

• European Court of Justice judgment: Case C-200/02: Chen and Others