Is multiple citizenship allowed?

[wik]

I got my GC in August 2004 (self-petitioned EB1-A), and my wife received her GC as a derivative. We are nearly three years away from applying for US Citizenship. We have twin daughters who were born in 2003 and obviously attained immediate US Citizenship, and they have their US Passports.

I am a dual citizen of Canada and the UK (and I have two passports as such) and my wife is a citizen of the UK. We obtained citizenship papers from Canada and the UK for our daughters after their birth, so they are 'triple' citizens at this point.

I understand from the various directions in the N400 that there are instructions about renouncing citizenship of other countries in favor of the US, but because Canada and the UK both allow multiple citizenship we are curious if we can - in practice - retain our Canadian and UK citizenships if and when we successfully receive our US citizenship.

We would certainly like to not rule out the option to retire to one of our original home countries if we so choose later in life, and it would be easier if we retained citizenship from those countries.

What is the practical US stance on the matter?

 

[Caillie]

Here's what the State Department says on the matter:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html

Quick quote from the above site:
***A U.S. citizen may acquire foreign citizenship by marriage, or a person naturalized as a U.S. citizen may not lose the citizenship of the country of birth.U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one citizenship or another.***

You may also find this group helpful:
http://britishexpats.com

Best regards,
Caillie

 

[takadigi]

Yes, multiple citizenship is allowed as a US Citizen

I understand from the various directions in the N400 that there are instructions about renouncing citizenship of other countries in favor of the US....

[snip]

What is the practical US stance on the matter?

Your understanding is completely wrong. US citizenship does not require renouncing citizenship of other countries. It, however, requires you to take allegiance in favor of US. As long as you are not violating US interests by continuing with citizenship of another country, it is totally fine. It really depends on what other country's citizenship you have. In your case, you will be able to retain both your British and Canadian citizenship even after becoming a US citizen.

 

[Flydog]

Read through the Dual Citizenship FAQ (triple citizenship is also pretty much the same as dual citizenship). You will feel more comfortable aftwerwards. The guy is not a lawyer, but apparently all his info is correct.
http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

During the oath, you "renounce and abjure" all previous alligiances, etc. However the government of Canada doesn't take that as a renounciation of your Canadian citizenship (you have to fill a form and send it to Ottawa if you really want to do that). And, the US is ok with that as well.

Not sure about Britain, but I believe it is pretty much the same.

 

[boatbod]

The UK is pretty relaxed about dual citizenship - in fact its almost impossible to loose your UK citizenship unless you fight in a foreign army against them, or a number of other equally unlikely scenarios. Curiously, even renouncing your citizenship in front of a consular official might not be enough to loose it...