I’ve lived in Sweden since I was 2 years old, I'm 28 today.
I only have Swedish citizenship but I was born in Iraq. I never had an Iraqi passport or documents and have never been there since I was a small child. When I asked my parents, they told me that, although I was born there, I'm not a national of Iraq, that I'm just registered here in Sweden. My parents have dual citizenship, though.
Can I still travel with an ESTA or do I need a visa?
I assume that when you say that your parents are dual citizens, they have Iraqi citizenship (as well as Swedish).
Iraq is jus sanguinis country which means nationality is carried by blood. Your parents have to be Iraqi in order for their children to be Iraqi. Being born in Iraq itself confers nothing. If your parents were Iraqi at your birth then you would have been Iraqi at birth if so registered. It sounds as though you were indeed an Iraqi citizen from at least age zero to age two by your explanation.
That said though, until the Iraqi nationality law reforms of 2006 changed the rules, gaining another citizenship meant you lost your Iraqi citizenship. You could claim that this meant you lost your Iraqi citizenship when you became a Swede at age two (which would in the early 1990s according to your timeline) and that you never made any attempt to recover it.
I think an argument that you are not an Iraqi citizen would be at least arguable for the purposes of VWP. I would apply and answer all questions truthfully.
Note that the requirement is phrased in the present tense: that you are a citizen or national; not that you were or have ever been. So if you are no longer a citizen I think you can answer that truthfully.
But I’m just a random person on the internet. You mileage may vary. The worst case appears to be that your ESTA will be declined and you’ll need to apply for a visa. At that point, if successful you can request a waiver be put in your file allowing you to file for ESTA in the future.
This type of question is one of the main reasons that the US Government came up with the 'ESTA' program.
When you apply for an ESTA, it will prompt you for details of things like where you were born, your current and past citizenship status, as well as whether you've ever held a travel document for another country.
Once you enter all of the details, one of three things will happen :
If your ESTA is approved, you are good to travel to the US. Technically having an ESTA does not provide a guarantee of entry, but presuming you answer all questions truthfully when applying for the ESTA, then the odds of being denied entry under the Visa Waiver Program is so close to zero to basically be ignored.
If your ESTA is rejected, then you will need to apply for a visa. The fact your ESTA was rejected will NOT count in any way against your visa application, so there is no reason not to try the ESTA route first - it is faster, cheaper, and significantly less effort than applying for a visa.
I can't help you determine if you are or ever were an Iraqi citizen. In practice, you best option there is likely to contact the local Iraqi consulate and ask them, as they will be the best source of truth for that question. There's just too many variables that could be in play to base it on the information you've provided.
The ESTA information page says that ESTA is available to those who:
However, the ESTA FAQ page says:
Under the Act, travelers in the following categories are no longer eligible to travel or be admitted to the United States, without a waiver, under the VWP: ... Nationals of VWP countries who are also nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, or Sudan.
Thus, to obtain ESTA status, you'll have to demonstrate that you're not an Iraqi national. Proving a negative is going to be difficult or impossible.
I conclude you can seek a waiver of the ESTA eligibility restriction from the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (and if successful, apply for ESTA), or you must apply for a visa.
