Dual Citizenship

I'm also a dual UK/US citizen with no intent to drop my birth country.

To add another possibly interesting thought on dual citizenship.... one's very first act as a US citizen is to lie under oath (when you renounce all citizenships and fealties), not a very good start, is it? Does anyone ever feel bad about that?
 
iluvfra said:
Are you already naturalized? How long ago?
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No no, but I have spent almost half my life in the US... and I feel most comfortable identifying as someone from the States... due to the fact that I was born and raised in Indonesia, but am Indian. I never really felt like I fully belonged in either of those countries, but, in the US, I am really not alone, so I will be quite comfortable saying that I'm AMERICAN...
 
tangodancer said:
I'm also a dual UK/US citizen with no intent to drop my birth country.

To add another possibly interesting thought on dual citizenship.... one's very first act as a US citizen is to lie under oath (when you renounce all citizenships and fealties), not a very good start, is it? Does anyone ever feel bad about that?
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I don't care... I have no sympathy if the government doesn't want to make things clear cut.
 
I agree with tangodancer, there seems to be some dishonesty here as we take a pledge "renouncing" former alegiances when in reality we just add a pretty sweet perk - u.s. citizenship. I guess noone feels bad because we are by nature selfish pigs.
 
Hey, I'm no pig. It's a cutthroat world out there, and we have to take whatever is given to us. If it's me vs. the government, I'm at a severe disadvantage as it is.
 
Oh come on... Government vs You? You are kidding - right? The government bestows a great perk called citizensip upon you - Be Thankful for that!
 
Hehe, I'm a political science student, so I have become extremely critical of governments. I am not naive enough to believe that the government wants only what's best for us. Civil institutions may look after us, but, overall, we have to fight for our rights, even with our own governments.

It's very complicated (especially after you've studied this stuff for almost 7 years), so I don't want to start a whole discussion.
 
tangodancer said:
To add another possibly interesting thought on dual citizenship.... one's very first act as a US citizen is to lie under oath (when you renounce all citizenships and fealties), not a very good start, is it? Does anyone ever feel bad about that?
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If taken literally, it would be a lie. But based on how the government has treated it these days, it no longer literally means what is written. They don't expect that you are actually going to renounce your other citizenship(s), and they don't take the "routine oath" of another country's naturalization to mean that you renounce US citizenship.
 
Jackolantern said:
If taken literally, it would be a lie. But based on how the government has treated it these days, it no longer literally means what is written. They don't expect that you are actually going to renounce your other citizenship(s), and they don't take the "routine oath" of another country's naturalization to mean that you renounce US citizenship.
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I'll admit that I don't feel bad about it either, I was just recently talking to a fellow Brit who has lived here 25 years and has no interest in citizenship. When I queried him, that was his response, that the first act as a citizen is to lie under oath to a judge. I'd never thought of it that way before.

Like others here I don't much care about what the government thinks. I wonder if there's ever been a case where a dual citizen has had to give testimony under oath and the opposing attorney has used this lie as 'proof' that the dual citizen does not tell the truth under oath? ok, no my mind is wandering too much!
 
Cafeconleche,
Pretty negative outlook on life -- that's your choice. Just do us a favor and don't run for office or work for immigration. :)
 
Are there actual court cases that deal with this stuff? What do you mean by "it no longer means what is written"? Is that your opinion or can you quote court cases or lawyers on this issue...

I think it still means what it is says.....
 
iluvfra said:
Cafeconleche,
Pretty negative outlook on life -- that's your choice. Just do us a favor and don't run for office or work for immigration. :)
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Hehe, I definitely won't. Also, I'm pretty positive about things usually. I don't stress out unnecessarily, etc., EXCEPT when it comes to government and immigration.
 
Well I thought about it very long and hard before I became a citizen whether I wanted to keep my german citizenship. I know there are ways you can "ask" to keep it.
Well after I talked to my Parents my Dad said well what if you ever wanted to come back and I don't think I ever will. For visits yes, to live there, no ! I have 3 children with my husband. I left germany when I was 21. So with the 3 year Maternity leave they used or still give you, not sure I haven't paid much Taxes so if I ever would go back to germany with my children I would not be able to provide for them for a while so I would have to live of the Government and I have no right to do that in my eyes since I haven't been there or worked there in a very long time.
Also the kids. My husband is on his 3rd deployment. If he ever turns out to be a bad husband he would and will never be a bad dad and he has been away from his children to much already so would I want to really drag them away from him, thousands of miles away.
The only ties I have to germany are my close Family. Mother, Father and Sister. Nobody else. So .... I decided against it.
 
iluvfra said:
Are there actual court cases that deal with this stuff? What do you mean by "it no longer means what is written"? Is that your opinion or can you quote court cases or lawyers on this issue...
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It is my opinion. In real life it no longer means what is written. The US government knows that naturalized citizens usually don't renounce their other citizenship(s) if the other country(ies) doesn't automatically revoke it, but they don't take action to force them to follow through with the renunciation or penalize them if they don't. In addition, they don't take "routine oaths" of other country's naturalizations to mean that you're giving up US citizenship. There are court cases out there which I have read, but I can't find them at this time.
 
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