Dual Nationality

June 23, 2009 By: erik Category: News, Offspring, Photos, Politics, Spain, USA 6,487 views

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I Have Dual NationalityAccording to the laws of my native country, the United States of America, I will never be eligible for dual citizenship. If I apply for Spanish citizenship, I will automatically lose my US citizenship. This is not true, however, of my daughter. She has Spanish citizenship by birth, and can apply for US citizenship as the child of a US citizen. Because she did not actively request her non-US-citizenship, but acquired it automatically, she is allowed to hold both Spanish and US citizenships. While I do not know exactly what legal ramifications this will have on her banking or taxes, I think that in the long run many more things in her life will be facilitated by having dual citizenship than hindered by it. So, on June 1, 2009, we visited the US Embassy in Madrid and registered her to be a US citizen.

A funny thing occurred when her passport arrived in the mail. She and her mother were out for a walk, and the doorbell rang. I answered it and the guy said he had a package from the US Embassy in Madrid. I immediately knew what that was and buzzed him up. When he got to the door, he informed me that I had to pay 10.15€ in C.O.D. shipping charges. I said, “One moment,” and went to get my wallet. It was then that I realized that I didn’t have any money. You know how some days you run out of cash in your wallet and forget to go to the bank to fill it back up? That’s what happened to me that day. I managed to scrape together six 1€ coins, and then found two more in a drawer. I told the guy, “Look, man, I’ve got 8€ here. Hold on a minute and I’ll go look upstairs. There’s sure to be a couple coins lying around up there.” He said, “Nevermind, I’ll pay the other 2.15€, just sign here and give me the 8€” Whew! I mean, jeez, it’s not like you should be required to have money on hand when you’re home alone! Anyway, we finally got Nora’s passport.

Nora's DNI

Nora’s official national ID card for Spain. The woman who processed our application was a little concerned because she wasn’t looking directly at the camera in the photo. C’mon! The same woman never once looked to see that the baby we were carrying was the same as the one in the picture. Photo IDs for infants are such a ridiculous idea anyway since all babies look more or less alike. And it’s valid for five years. What a joke!

This document came in very handy on our flight to Madrid. In theory she didn’t really need any documentation, but the airline staff were very happy that she had some.

Nora's US Passport

Nora’s US passport. We used a photo that I took on her two-month birthday. In case you were wondering, the US Dept. of State does not mind you using a fairly heavily photoshopped photograph for your passport. I removed a lot of shadow from the background.

Consular Report of Birth Abroad

This document is almost more important than her passport. It’s the paper that gives her official US citizenship and serves as her birth certificate for any transactions in the United States. “Official” Spanish birth certificates consist of a photocopied handwritten page of an official registry book. We Americans prefer more fancy borders and seals.

In theory her US Social Security card will be mailed to us sometime the the next few months.

I Have Dual Nationality

This is an infant bodysuit that I designed for her. Order yours today! It’s still a little too big for her, but I made her wear it for this blog post.

I Have Dual Nationality

Posing with her Spanish ID card and US passport.

I Have Dual Nationality

You want ID? Oh, I got ID! You want the one with the birdie or the tilde?

The observant among you may have noticed an interesting detail about Nora’s surname(s). You see, in Spain, everyone has two surnames. We originally filled out all the paperwork for her US passport using both surnames. But when we got to the embassy, the woman there strongly suggested that we put a hyphen between them, otherwise the Americans would get confused. And don’t we know it! Both Marga and I have had much, much hassle in foreign countries because they don’t understand the surname customs of our own countries. So, in the spur of the moment, fueled by a strong distaste for hyphenated surnames, we decided that, in the US, Nora will only have one surname, and in Spain she will have two. The embassy woman told us that this decision was highly unusual, but Marga and I both agree that it’s for the best. Our experience tells us that the difference of name in both countries will actually make things easier rather than harder.

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  • José

    I think if I ever move to the US I will keep just my first surname as the custom dictates there.

  • http://erik-rasmussen.com/blog Betsy

    Will Nora get a Spanish passport as well?

  • http://landofnospice.blogspot.com mondraussie

    I didn’t know that babies here got ID cards? I thought the ID cards weren’t issued until the child is a teenager? Or are you guys just being super organised? I say this because I remember a couple of years back someone I know here travelled by plane to Valencia with her teenage daughter, who in the course of the holiday turned 14 (or maybe 15) and they were refused boarding on the flight back because the daughter was too old to travel on her mother’s identity card, and she didn’t have one of her own. They had to catch the train back!

  • http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/ Erik R.

    Yes, José, that’s what usually happens, but sometimes they ask to see an official document that has both surnames and they get confused. You’ve got the right idea, though. Don’t try to maintain both.

    Yes, Betsy, she will get a Spanish passport. But for the time being her ID card is plenty. She can travel throughout Europe with it. We will wait until closer to when we travel abroad to apply for her passport. It’s a pretty trivial process once you have the ID card.

    Yes, mondraussie, they do kiddie DNIs. I think that Nora probably could travel under her mother’s ID for a while, but I don’t know how long and I feel more comfortable with her in the system.

    On a side note, the US Embassy said that we had up until her fifth birthday to register her birth and get her citizenship. But again, I’m happier having it done already.

  • http://simonlitton.wordpress.com simon

    Chiara got her first passport when she was a couple of months old and it’s only due to be renewed this year, which means hers still has the photo of her as a baby. What makes me laugh is when customs staff actually do check her face against the document to see if it’s the same child.
    Also: “I made her wear it for this blog post.” I can see that phrase being used quite a lot in the years to come…

  • http://www.isoglossia.com sgazzetti

    You know that I find this sort of post interesting. What fun to see Nora’s vital documents!

    I’m curious to know: is Nora’s Spanish citizenship by virtue of her mother’s nationality, or the soil underlying the hospital? Our boys, both born in Slovenia, were not eligible for citizenship there, but could obtain passports from each parent’s country.

    I find it odd that the U.S. is so open to granting citizenship to anyone who by chance happens to be born there, or abroad of a citizen-parent, yet is so illiberal regarding dual citizenship for natives. Our kids have dual citizenship through dumb luck; why can’t we have it via thoughtful application?

  • http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/ Erik R.

    Sgazzetti, I honestly don’t know if her Spanish citizenship is from the hospital’s soil or her mitochondrial DNA. I always assumed the former, but it’s quite possible that it’s the latter.

    I can sort of understand that the US would not want to let you retain citizenship if you are actively seeking the citizenship of another country. It’s kind of like marriage infidelity. If they let you, how many should they let you collect?

    Without thinking about it too much, the ideal situation in my mind would be that you are a citizen only of the country of your birth, but you can legally live and work without hassle in the country where your parents or your current spouse were born. And you should only pay taxes and be allowed to vote in the country where you have residence. But that’s complicated and there are probably issues I’m not considering.

    I do like that the US specifically says that it does not make dual citizenship holders choose one citizenship when they turn 18. What a dumb law that would be. The fact that they explicitly state it means that it must be a prevalent law.

  • Elli

    I applied for and was granted Swiss nationality several years ago, making me a dual citizen. Last time I checked US policy (oh so long ago) it was vague, generally saying they reserved the right to revoke your US citizenship, but it wasn’t automatic. Just this November I had to renew my passport and sign the form which included a declaration that I hadn’t become naturalized in another country, but if so provide a statement explaining the situation. I gave them my reasons, said I didn’t intend to give up my US citizenship and they sent me a new passport. So far so good.

    • Abby

      I have a question for Elli. Did you have to notarize your “explanatory statement under oath”? I ask because I need to renew my US passport, but I’m also going to apply for Spanish nationality in the near future, so I think I should provide an explanatory statement about my situation. Will a signed, written statement on plain paper be acceptable? Thank you in advance.

      And thank you Erik R. for this post. The post and comments have been very helpful!

      • Abby

        Just want to update my comment in case anyone who read it was curious.

        I realized after posting my question that the term “under oath” implies the need to notarize. So, that’s what I did. I typed up a brief statement and took it to a notary public where I took an oath that my statement was true. I submitted the notarized statement with my renewal application and I now have a new passport!

  • Glen

    As a member of of a family of 5 with Dual citizenship (birth and naturalization), I think you may want to dig a little deeper on your understanding of whether you yourself can hold dual nationality. The following link will point you to what the supreme court have to say on the matter – http://www.richw.org/dualcit/law.html. My wife also confirmed this with the US embassy in London before she took British citizenship (in 1998).

    Here is an extract related to a 1980 supreme court case….

    even if such an action (naturalization in another country) were voluntarily performed, it would still be necessary to show that the individual did so with the intent of giving up citizenship.

    The Terrazas holding regarding intent was eventually incorporated into the text of the Immigration and Nationality Act by Congress in 1986 (Public Law 99-653). ‘

    • http://www.erik-rasmussen.com/ Erik R.

      even if such an action (naturalization in another country) were voluntarily performed, it would still be necessary to show that the individual did so with the intent of giving up citizenship.

      Interesting. It sounds like the burden of proof is placed on the US State Department rather than on the lowly expat. I got my understanding from this page on the Madrid US Embassy website:

      The automatic acquisition or retention of a foreign nationality does not affect U.S. citizenship; however, the acquisition of a foreign nationality upon one’s own application or the application of a duly authorized agent may cause loss of U.S. citizenship.

      While it does say “may cause loss” rather than “will cause loss”, it seems a bit risky to try. I’d rather not piss off the US State Dept.

      As I see it, the only thing that obtaining Spanish citizenship would do for me is allow me to vote. All the other rights are already afforded to me as a resident. I may be wrong about that, though.

  • Erik Javorsek

    Hey!
    my dad is a us citizen, and he acquired British citizenship without loosing the us. well, us was a neutral country about dual citizenship. But the new rules require one to inform the us consulate that they acquired another c. and they must use their us passport while entering / leaving the us territory. So they allow one to acquire another citizenship without loosing the previous one, as long as the country you’re acquiring its citizenship allows it. My friends mom needed to renounce us c. before acquiring dutch c. – for ex. Slovenia does not allow dual c if not by bith too.
    I dont know about spain but – u can get a new citizenship without the need to renounce us c.

  • Sofia

    there are 3 ways of becoming american:

    By birth: solis, you are born in the us or in an airplane or shuttle belonging to the us.

    By blood: Mother or father

    by naturalization: for aliens

    She is american by blood so No ITS HER CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to be american.

    And by constitution you cannot ever stop being american,

    some countries like mexico in 1980, when I was born, asked you to resign to ur us nationality if you wanted to be mexican.

    I was born in HOUSTON TEXAS in 1987

    WHen i was 13 and asked for a mexican passport I was asked to renounce to my american nationality

    “i went to the Us embassy and they gave my a piece of paper that said ” you are no longer american”

    the girl who gave it to me laughed so hard and said. that I will never ever stop being american . Now that is allowed to have more than one nationality…I am still american and mexican

    I cant lose either ever…it s my right…and NO YOU CANT GET IN TROUBLE BECAUSE ONE HAS NO AUTHORITY OVER THE OTHER

    So no worries about NORA

  • Tm

    I was born in the U.S Virgin Islands but my parents are from another caribbean island (they were on vacation to St.Thomas when I was born) I am therefore an American citizen by birth, but because I lived in Dominica (my parents’ birth country) since after my birth, I consider myself a dominican. Recently my cousin and I went and got our Dominican passports. It’s really cool when you realize that you belong to two countries..in your daughter’s case, she has access to 2 of the world super powers :)

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