This will be a wordy post, but I hope it will squash some of the myths surrounding the US and dual citizenship. Hope this clear some stuff up...
I want to help put to rest is that “the United States does not allow dual citizenship.” I want to explain the implications and tackle the information that might accidentally encourage this myth.
Let me say it again, this is a myth that just won't die. The United States DOES (as in YES) allow dual citizenship. In fact, if you are a citizen in the Anglosphere, chances are your country of origin also allows dual citizenship (Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, etc). I speak to a lot of Americans who consider living abroad who have been incessantly told that they will be forced to give up their U.S. citizenship if they acquire another (say, British) citizenship.
Don't believe me or are you unsure? Check your U.S. passport for the paragraph called: Dual Citizens.
It reads as so:
Quote:
|
Dual Citizens: A person who has the citizenship of more than one country at the same time is considered a dual citizen. A dual citizen may be subject to the laws of the other country that considers that person its citizen while in that country's jurisdiction, including conscription for military service. Dual nationality may hamper efforts to provide U.S. Consular protection to dual citizens in the foreign country of their other nationality. Dual citizens who encounter problems abroad should contact the nearest American embassy or consulate.
|
In short, what this paragraph means is that while abroad, you are subject to that country's laws, especially if you are a [dual] citizen of that country. What the paragraph does NOT say is that dual citizenship is illegal for U.S. citizens. If it were illegal, it would have gladly stated so.
One interesting thing that the paragraph brings up is how many countries, including the U.S. view and deal with dual citizenship: they don't care to recognize other passports if you are a citizen. Meaning that even if you have ten other citizenships, you will only be treated as an American citizen in the United States.
Also please understand that not recognizing is not saying that they don't allow it. This is very important as I see many people deciding that 'not recognizing' is the same as illegal. In other words, they don't recognize
your other passports when they don't recognize dual citizenship.
An example, if I were an American/Canadian citizen and if I were to venture into the United States, I would only be treated as an American. No more, no less. I wouldn't get any special status for being a citizen of another country. If I were to get into trouble with the law, I probably wouldn't receive much help from the Canadian consular office. If I were only Canadian, of course, it would be a different story. However, since I am American, in the United States, they do not care that I am also Canadian.
Vice versa, if American/Canadian me were to get into trouble in Canada, the U.S. authorities would have little say or help for me since the Canadian government would only see me as a Canadian.
Sometimes actual country of residency is taken into account. For example, if I have only ever lived in the US, even as a Canadian the Canadian authorities might be slightly more lenient. This is up to discretion as the rule of the thumb is if you are a citizen of that country, you are only seem as such. No more, no less.
Another example, if I were an American/British citizen, and if I were to travel to the United States, I would have to obey American laws like an American citizen living in America. The United States says that if I qualify or am an American citizen, then I can only travel into the U.S. on an American passport. Meaning that I can't go into the U.S. on my British passport. Of course, why would you want to go to a respective country on a different document? Especially since the US citizen lines are so much shorter... Well certain situations arise in life like if my U.S. passport is expired and if I only want to travel there for two weeks, I would be tempted to go in on my British passport. U.S. law says I can't do that and since I am an American, I have to follow it.
Of course, I am not saying that just because you have a different citizenship that you don't have to follow laws abroad. If American me is in Singapore then I have to follow Singaporean law.
Moving on, if you need more proof that dual citizenship is legal for American citizens, check this:
US State Department Services Dual Nationality
Just to skim through it, one phrase that might trouble people and encourage this myth is this:
Quote:
|
However, a person who acquires a foreign citizenship by applying for it may lose U.S. citizenship.
|
When they mean applying for a foreign citizenship, they mean naturalization. Naturalization meaning that if I were to move abroad and go through the immigration channels and over time, become a citizen.
A LOT of people take the above phrase to mean that because you are naturalizing with another country, then the
U.S. will be the one to make you give up your U.S. citizenship. This is NOT true in the least. Naturalization does not automatically mean that you will be forced to give up your U.S. citizenship. What this phrase doesn't specifically say is that the country of which you are naturalizing may force you to give up any other citizenship.
For example, if I were to voluntarily naturalize as a Danish citizen, one of their requirements is that I have to give up all other citizenships. In order to become Danish, I would have to renounce my U.S. citizenship. However, just because I want to become Danish or any other nationality, the U.S. will not force me to give up my U.S. citizenship.
Let me state this clearly: the United States will not make you renounce your U.S. citizenship just because you want to become a citizen of another country.
That country (in this case, the Danish) may wish for you to relinquish any other citizenship, but the U.S. will not.
How do you lose your U.S. citizenship? Please read this:
Advice about Possible Loss of U.S. Citizenship and Dual Nationality
Please keep in mind that those acts listed are noted as
POTENTIALLY expatriating acts
. This means that you do not automatically lose your citizenship if you do any of those acts. Again, the key phrase here is: U.S. citizens are subject to loss of citizenship if they perform certain specified acts voluntarily and with the intention to relinquish U.S. citizenship.
Again, how do you absolutely lose your U.S. citizenship? You voluntarily renounce it or you do something like extreme treason so that it is stripped from you.
However, if while living abroad, say you are drafted into the army that is at war with the United States. Even this is not automatic grounds for losing your citizenship. If you were renew your U.S. passport in the future...
Quote:
|
the consular officer will simply ask the applicant if there was intent to relinquish U.S. citizenship when performing the act. If the answer is no, the consular officer will certify that it was not the person's intent to relinquish U.S. citizenship and, consequently, find that the person has retained U.S. citizenship.
|
Since most people aren't gonna commit extreme treason, I ask you to pay attention to the keyword voluntarily in the upper paragraph. This means that the United States does not believe that another entity (another country) can force you to give up your citizenship. The United States will not recognize someone forcing you to give up your U.S. citizenship.
For example: Japan does not allow dual citizenship. However, since many children have foreign parents and are automatically granted citizenship of that country, Japan allows children to have dual citizenship up to the age of 22. Once they reach age 22, they have to decide. If they want to keep their Japanese passports, they will have to forfeit all other citizenships. If they want to keep their other citizenships, they will have to lose their Japanese passport.
Young Japanese/American citizens have found an interesting loophole to keep both citizenships. They keep renewing their Japanese passports, but they inform the U.S. authorities that they want to keep their U.S. citizenship, despite the Japanese trying to force them to renounce it. The U.S. authorities don't interfere because they don't care. The Japanese authorities do care and have lately been cracking down on it. Though they may catch on and force you to give up your Japanese citizenship, they can't do a thing to make you give up your American passport.
In conclusion, it is a myth that dual citizenship is illegal in the United States or if you are an American, or a foreign national acquiring US citizenship. They don't encourage having two or more passports because you then have allegiance to those countries and thereby they have sovereignty over you in their countries. The situations can get pretty messy, like in cases of children custody, crime, punishment, military conscription and even taxation. Please pardon if this article is a little overlong, but know that dual citizenship for Americans is not illegal. I should know, I am a dual citizen and have never been forced to relinquish either of my passports.
If you are a dual or multi-national, I encourage you to read the citizenship laws of your respective countries. Some may require you to give up other citizenships or perform military service so be careful. Be warned, be careful who you receive your advice from. The information is not always black and white, but don't be left in the dark.
*Disclaimer: I am not an expert on any citizenship, particularly those I am not personally familiar with. I am not an immigration officer. If you spot an error in this post, please inform me. All of the information pertaining to specific nationality laws is correct as of November 2012. Again, hope it helps! Cheers!
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
