Comments on: Dual Nationality

By: Tm

Tm — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:51:11 +0000

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

By: Sofia

Sofia — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 01:03:15 +0000

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

By: Erik Javorsek

Erik Javorsek — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:22:10 +0000

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.

By: Abby

Abby — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:58:01 +0000

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!

By: Abby

Abby — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 03:29:02 +0000

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!

By: Erik R.

Erik R. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:27:26 +0000

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.

By: Glen

Glen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:02:59 +0000

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). ‘

By: Elli

Elli — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:11:30 +0000

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.

By: Erik R.

Erik R. — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:07:40 +0000

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.

By: sgazzetti

sgazzetti — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:33:53 +0000

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?