Honorary citizenship of the United States by proclamation. What rights and privileges honorary citizenship bestows, if any, is unclear. According to State Department documents, it does not grant eligibility for United States passports. Despite widespread belief that Lafayette received honorary citizenship of the United States before Churchill, he did not receive honorary citizenship until 2002. Lafayette did become a natural-born citizen during his lifetime. On 28 December 1784, the Maryland General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Lafayette and his male heirs "forever shall be...natural born Citizens" of the state. This made him a natural-born citizen of the United States under the Articles of Confederation and
British nationality law and the Republic of Ireland made claims to retain British subject status since 1949. More claims, albeit at a slower rate, have been lodged since 1980. Before 1983, anyone born in the UK other than the child of a diplomat was automatically British by birth. From 1 January 1983 an additional requirement was put in place that one parent must be a British citizen or 'settled' in the United Kingdom. Irish citizens are automatically deemed to be "settled" in the United Kingdom. Since 2 October 2000, this is a more favourable status than that given to citizens of other EU and EEA member states. This