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Currently, is there some country which has diplomats born abroad and without any ancestry in its people?

I heard it is possible in United States, but is there any other country in world where it is possible?

Mrs. Albright is not an example for this question because she migrated to USA with her family when she was 11 y/o, in 1948. I'm talking about how could an adult person be a diplomat in different country.

In other words, could an American citizen or a Brazilian citizen, for example, represent any other country as its diplomat? Which countries? Would they be accepted as candidates?

EDIT - More information

In Brazil, for example, the candidate must be native Brazilian ("Ser brasileiro nato"), that is - according Brazilian constitution - a) simply born in Brazil (“jus soli”); b) born abroad, with at least one Brazilian parent (“jus sanguinis”). So, according this criteria, even the most talented diplomat in the world could not be a member of Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomat. Excepting his/her country, could he/she find another country?

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    Oh, down voters... if you think this question is not appropriated for this community, OK, but please help me to find a better place to post it :)
    – Victor FS
    Apr 11, 2017 at 15:46
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    You do not need to be born in the United States to be a member of the United States government. You can google this easily. /close
    – easymoden00b
    Apr 11, 2017 at 15:56
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    I've voted to close this question as too broad. Do you expect the crowd here to search the regulations of every nation to see if there is one that doesn't allow foreigners to be diplomats?
    – Drunk Cynic
    Apr 11, 2017 at 15:57
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    So many times when I was Googling something, I would come across a forum post with someone who had the exact same question. And sometimes the answer would be "You can google this easily". And my reaction would be, if you don't want to provide an answer, then why are you saying anything at all? Now I have to hit the back button and find another page that hopefully answered my question. Fortunately Stackoverflow changed all that. But unfortunately, you can't seem to get rid of these negative zealots. Btw, I upvoted this because I thought it was a valid question.
    – dan-klasson
    Apr 11, 2017 at 17:55
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    Article 8 of the Vienna Convention clearly contemplates that this can happen, but that the receiving state must agree to it: Article 8 1. Members of the diplomatic staff of the mission should in principle be of the nationality of the sending State. 2. Members of the diplomatic staff of the mission may not be appointed from among persons having the nationality of the receiving State, except with the consent of that State which may be withdrawn at any time. 3. The receiving State may reserve the same right with regard to nationals of a third State who are not also nationals of the sending State.
    – phoog
    Apr 11, 2017 at 20:43

2 Answers 2

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Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was both born outside USA and had no ancestry here.

For a more curious historical example, James Spens was both an ambassador from England to Sweden, AND at the same time (despite not having any Swedish roots - or for that matter as far as I know, English roots, being a Scottish noble) effectively Swedish King's Gustav Adolph's ambassador to England.

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  • Nice answer. Mrs Albright went to USA when she was 11 y/o, in 1948.
    – Victor FS
    Apr 11, 2017 at 20:05
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    There's also Henry Kissenger. But both he and Albright were naturalized, so not "foreigners" as specified in the title. The body says "foreign-born," of course, which is confusingly different.
    – phoog
    Apr 11, 2017 at 20:36
  • Yes, I see USA is more flexible than Brazil. In Brazil you have to be a "native Brazilian"
    – Victor FS
    Apr 12, 2017 at 20:52
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    Oops, i misspelled Kissinger.
    – phoog
    Apr 13, 2017 at 15:45
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Your edit suggests a slightly different question but I don't think restrictions like Brazil's are common. I do not have any specific example at hand but a foreign-born ambassador seems possible in just about any European country I know.

Whether it's becoming part of the civil service, enlisting in the military, getting security clearance, etc. nearly all the restrictions I have ever encountered are about citizenship. Once you are citizen, you are in principle eligible for everything, ancestry or place of birth are not relevant legally speaking. Incidentally, unlike Brazil, simply being born in the country does not make you a citizen anywhere in Europe.

Which is not to say that there are many naturalized citizens in the highest echelons of the diplomatic service, recruitment can be much more narrow than this in practice.

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  • Exactly: Brazil adopted jus soli and most of Europe adopted jus sanguinis.
    – Victor FS
    Apr 13, 2017 at 17:17
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    @VictorFS Almost all American countries have unrestricted ius soli, it could be interested to see if there are restrictions there.
    – Relaxed
    Apr 13, 2017 at 17:29
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    @VictorFS As you are probably aware, most American countries also have jus sanguinis for citizens' children who are not born in the country's territory. The example of Ted Cruz has been in the news now and again; he was born in Canada of a US-citizen mother, so until he renounced his Canadian citizenship he was a citizen of both countries.
    – phoog
    Apr 13, 2017 at 20:38
  • Many european countries also additionally allow citizenship for people born here. Sometimes with limitations, like if you are born in Germany without German parents, you'll get the citizenship as long as you are minor (along with your parent's one), but then you'll have to decide which one to keep.
    – Paŭlo Ebermann
    Dec 22, 2021 at 0:56
  • @PaŭloEbermann I didn't know this rule, that's interesting. As far as I know, being granted citizenship at birth based purely on the place of birth is quite rare in Europe, outside of very specific cases (e.g. people who would otherwise be stateless). Do you know any other country than Germany with a similar rule?
    – Relaxed
    Dec 23, 2021 at 14:15

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