I tend not to share personal history, so I'll randomly pick one:
> Another country that is very difficult to receive citizenship is Qatar. There are lengthy continuous residence requirements and not all children or spouses receive citizenship automatically.
> Children born in Qatar to Qatari parents are automatically entitled to citizenship. Any person born with a Qatari father may apply to be a citizen, if they meet eligibility criteria. However, the same is not true for individuals with a Qatari mother.
> People who qualify for permanent residence through naturalisation are those who have lived in Qatar for at least 20 years consecutively (if born outside Qatar) or ten years (if born there).
> Applicants must be fluent in Arabic, hold good character, and be able to support themselves financially during their stay.
> Although there are very generous government benefits available for citizens, the government only grants a maximum of 100 permanent residencies per year.
So if you're male, marry a Qatari woman, your kids won't even be citizens. While there technically is a process to get permanent residency, you can see how limited it is - a max of 100 per year, and I bet the majority of those have government connections. Similar story with nearby countries.
Great follow-up reply! I was not aware of the draconian state of affairs for citizenship/PR for half-native Qataris. Only 100 per year... it just crazy in 2022. It seems now fully insane that they are hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022. But I guess FIFA is so corrupt that they don't care about the human rights record of Qatar.
Many countries in Asia are like this. You are very unlikely to get PR, let alone citizenship, unless you are born there to a citizen parent. e.g. China, most of southeast Asia. Sometimes there is even an ethnicity requirement.
