Dual US/Canada citizenships?

R

rj328

Registered Users (C)
Hi there,

I have immigrated from Hong Kong to Canada with my parents back in the early 1990's. After I received my Canadian citizenship, I came to study in US and married my wife who is a US citizen. Middle of last year I have submitted my N400 application and am having my citizenship interview in 2 weeks. I would like to know if I become a US citizen, do I have to give up my Canadian citizenship, or can I keep dual citizenships? If I can keep both, when I travel to Canada, should I still enter as Canadian, or should I state myself as a US citizen?

Thanks in advance.

rj
 
that's right

canada and oddly enough mexico allows dual citizenship

US technically does not allow dual citizenship

but they dont really bother checking and they really don't want to know

so all you people who are dual citizen don't tell any US official that you are citizen of another country.

there are other countries who do check up on this stuff and are really serious about preventing dual citizenship. South Korea is one of them.

Becoming naturalized is a big step that should not be taken lightly. Understand the laws of your own country so that you can make an informed decision.
 
Same questions but lil different

My question is how to handle the situation during Citizenship interview if a person have two passports?
Lets say i got a Greencar based on country "A" nationality and travel on that and afterward i got citizenship of Country "B" and then travel on that passport. How should i handle two Nationalites during Citizenship interview???
or how INS sees this scanrio?
Thanks
 
bb_5555 said:
US technically does not allow dual citizenship
Click to expand...

This is an oversimplification. A country that truly does not permit dual citizenship is something like India, China or as you point out South Korea. If you take another citizenship, you automatically lose the original citizenship.

For the purposes of the US, they neither allow nor forbid dual citizenship. They merely ignore it. You are a US citizen, and the other passports in your pockets are merely curious souveniers with no legal basis in their eyes.

You are correct in pointing out that for some nations, naturalization in another country causes an automatic loss of birth citizenship with serious consequences. I recall an unfortunate story a number of years back, where a Chinese J-1 holder subject to the 2-year home residency requirement instead moved to Canada, and eventually became a citizen. This caused him to lose Chinese citizenship, and left him unable to fulfill the HRR or obtain a waiver from the Chinese government. This left him completely unable to return to the US (either on an H-1B or a GC, can't remember now).
 
grlfrmnj1 said:
My question is how to handle the situation during Citizenship interview if a person have two passports?
Lets say i got a Greencar based on country "A" nationality and travel on that and afterward i got citizenship of Country "B" and then travel on that passport. How should i handle two Nationalites during Citizenship interview???
or how INS sees this scanrio?
Thanks
Click to expand...

My comments: If your country "A" citizenship is still valid, that is probably a better choice, since you obtained your GC based on that. Do you see a specific question about multiple nationalities in the N-400? I do not see a reason why USCIS cares if you are a citizen of one or more countries. By taking the oath, you are pledging allegiance to the U.S constitution.

Pick a passport and stick with it for USCIS purpose(s)
 
In form AR11 i have already specified that i am citizen of two countries, and would like to keep the same in N400 application? does anyone see any issue?

Thanks for your reply
 
question for grlfrmnj1..

hi, grlfrmnj1
once you replied to my question in portal ..
my questions were.

1. Came with F-1 on university i-20, transferred to a community college.
(never out of status with 12 credits enrollement all my F-1 time)

2. Do'nt carry Master/bachelor degree but ( 4 year diploma and 12 years job experince in same field) Note: according to INS law a candidate fullfills h-1b eduction requirment if he carries 12 years of job experince in same field OR 12 years job experince = 4 year us bachelor degree.

I am canadian immigrant want to get my h-1b visa stamped from canada/

you replied... send me your e-mail .. i could help u
i sent private messages to u ..
anyway..
saq100@hotmail
this is my e-mail plz contact me if you could help me regarding above questions
 
Duals

Well, I think you've already gotten the answer, but I just wanted to put in one note. I remember a case where a naturalized USC from Mexico had her CZ revoked because she voted in a Mexican election. Officially, when you become USC, you denounce other citizenships. If you subsequently take an action which is the privelige only of a citizen of another country, it may be taken as an indication that your citizenship oath was insincere.

I wish I had a link to the story, but it was a year or more ago.

So, in short, don't vote in Canadian elections and you should be OK. I don't know why voting in an election should be treated more seriously than travelling on another country's passport, but that's the story as I remember it.

-Ocelot
 
Ocelot said:
Well, I think you've already gotten the answer, but I just wanted to put in one note. I remember a case where a naturalized USC from Mexico had her CZ revoked because she voted in a Mexican election. Officially, when you become USC, you denounce other citizenships. If you subsequently take an action which is the privelige only of a citizen of another country, it may be taken as an indication that your citizenship oath was insincere.

I wish I had a link to the story, but it was a year or more ago.

So, in short, don't vote in Canadian elections and you should be OK. I don't know why voting in an election should be treated more seriously than travelling on another country's passport, but that's the story as I remember it.

-Ocelot
Click to expand...
How would anyone in the US know that she voted in Mexico? (unless she told the border agent)
 
maybesomeday said:
How would anyone in the US know that she voted in Mexico? (unless she told the border agent)
Click to expand...

I think there was some marital discord and her husband's family reported her. Again, it was some time ago and I don't remember the details. Other posters here have said that it doesn't happen now. Quite possibly it was even reversed on appeal. I don't know. I just posted it as a heads-up, not as any kind of definitive guideline.

I just found this : http://www.vdare.com/pb/insight_debate.htm

-Ocelot
 
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RichW

Since somebody posted it, I spent a bit of time re-reading the richw.org site. It looks to be excellent - very complete and scholarly.

It is clear that the courts have ruled that congress cannot make a law that will take anybody's citizenship away. The reasons for this, as explained on the richw.org site make sense to me.

One thing that was not clear, and I think this was the issue in the case that I fuzzily recalled above, is what is the current view of revoking the citizenship based on insincerity in the oath-taking?

That is, while congress cannot make a law to revoke a legitimately obtained citizenship, congress still regulates naturalization - and if the citizenship is obtained by fraud, it can be held to be invalid or void under the law, without conflicting with the court's ruling that congress cannot make laws revoking a lawfully obtained citizenship. So, if the oath is taken insincerely, which need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, but only by the preponderance of evidence, the citizenship can be revoked. Apparently, it's not happening now, but if I understand the position of richw.org, there is nothing which would prevent this from happening in the future.

I'm perhaps not writing clearly. Probably none of this matters. Dual citizenship, dispite some problems, is allowed, and many people are currently enjoying the benefits of it.

BTW, I knew a work associate, who was himself Australian, married to French woman and had a son born in Argentina. The son was able to claim three citizenships and actually held three passports (or so his father claimed - but Aussies are famous ... I'd better stop now).

-Ocelot
 
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I know an American (by birth) who was a tri-national. He became an Italian citizen having lived there for several years and was able to get an Irish passport through his wife. He'd always brag about having three passports.
 
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