Dual Citizenship - Canada/US

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ravesky

Registered Users (C)
I am a 21 year old Canadian woman. I married an American and applied for a permanent residency card in 2010. I received my green card in April 2011 and used it to joined the armed forces in March of 2012. I was then able to apply for naturalization right away, which I did, due to need of obtaining a security clearance to advance in my job. My oath ceremony takes place on 22 February of this year and I have a question pertaining to my soon-to-be citizenship to the U.S.

I was informed conflicting answers about obtaining dual citizenship. Firstly, the officer who handled the case for my green card said that I could not have both... But I have spoken to a few immigration officers since then and they were really not sure. The best answer I received was "talk to a representative at the Canadian embassy". So I called an office in Dallas, TX and they said that all I needed to do was keep my Canadian passport and apply for an American passport then voila! I will be a dual citizen. I thought that was a little simple especially compared to the process of getting my American citizenship... Has anyone else been through this? My passport expired in January of this year so I will need to renew my Canadian passport soon (the only reason I haven't yet is because I need to keep it for my oath ceremony) but will I face any issues renewing it after I apply for an American passport?

I just wanted to make it clear that I will surrender my Canadian citizenship if I have to because I plan on staying here for a while... but it would be ideal if I could hold both and keep my ties to Canada in case, one day, I want to retire there with my husband (who is also interested in applying for dual citizenship, but that's a different story).

Thank you!
 
Neither Canada nor the U.S. has a problem with you acquiring another citizenship while being their citizen, or with you keeping another citizenship when you become their citizen.
 
I think armed forces might have issues. My husband had to go thru giving up his ukrainian citizenship on order to apply for officers school
 
Konxvetka said:
I think armed forces might have issues. My husband had to go thru giving up his ukrainian citizenship on order to apply for officers school
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Since USA and Canada are memebers of NATO, they may have a treaty allowing (and even require under certain cicumstances) each other's citizens to serve in their own military
 
WBH said:
Since USA and Canada are memebers of NATO, they may have a treaty allowing (and even require under certain cicumstances) each other's citizens to serve in their own military
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Not at all. They simply allow their forces to be under the operational command of a member of another member nation's military. A little-known fact is that the general who ordered the closure of US airspace on 9/11 was a Canadian. He was never, however, an officer in the USAF.
 
I'm a going to be a quadruple citizen very soon. No problems so far.
I also applied for another citizenship as well, so hopefully I'm going to be a pentuple citizen.
 
You can't be serious, or else I am calling Guinness Book of World Records.

yugi said:
I'm a going to be a quadruple citizen very soon. No problems so far.
I also applied for another citizenship as well, so hopefully I'm going to be a pentuple citizen.
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I have a friend whose parents are Greek and French, was born in Canada, and naturalised as a US citizen. He's got 4.
 
Having parents as Greek and French will only give him right to have either Greek or French citizenship, but he was born in Canada so his parents must have decided to give him Canadian Citizenship (That's 1). He then went ahead to naturalize himself as US Citizen (That's 2), so not 4.

Correct me if I am wrong.

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cafeconleche said:
I have a friend whose parents are Greek and French, was born in Canada, and naturalised as a US citizen. He's got 4.
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mogambo1 said:
Having parents as Greek and French will only give him right to have either Greek or French citizenship, but he was born in Canada so his parents must have decided to give him Canadian Citizenship (That's 1).
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Citizenship is not something your parents give you - countries consider you a citizen no matter what your parents want. My wife has Canadian, British and US citizenship. This person may be considered as a Greek or French citizen by those nations, and he is Canadian by birth even if his parents did not want him to be.
 
mogambo1 said:
You can't be serious, or else I am calling Guinness Book of World Records.
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I'm waiting to receive the fifth, after that I'll try to apply for a record. That fifth is a bit problematic, as they don't recognize dual, but they have some holes in the law. I could also apply for 6th, but the documents proving my eligibility were lost.
 
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cafeconleche said:
I have a friend whose parents are Greek and French, was born in Canada, and naturalised as a US citizen. He's got 4.
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I think in a case of French citizenship, you need to apply for it before age 18, if claiming it through one of the parents.
 
Dual in military

Konxvetka said:
I think armed forces might have issues. My husband had to go thru giving up his ukrainian citizenship on order to apply for officers school
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You cannot be an officer with citizenship to another country... However you can still enlist without going officer which is what I did. I am currently serving... That's how I was able to apply for naturalization right away :)
 
ravesky said:
You cannot be an officer with citizenship to another country... However you can still enlist without going officer which is what I did. I am currently serving... That's how I was able to apply for naturalization right away :)
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a foreigner can be a NCO right?
 
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