Losing Citizenship - residence in a foreign country within 5 years!?

im50

Registered Users (C)
I wasn’t aware that someone can loose citizenship – if she/he establishes residence in a foreign country within 5 years after naturalization;

Source:
Citizenship in the United States, pdf file from USCIS site.

"Individuals who are U.S. citizens by birth cannot involuntarily have their citizenship taken away. For naturalized citizens, citizenship can be revoked only if the government is able to prove that such action is warranted. Rescission of naturalization, or denaturalization, is recommended only where there is objective evidence to establish one or more of the following conditions:

• Concealment or willful misrepresentation of material facts related to the naturalization application and proceedings;
• Illegal procurement of naturalization;
• Residence in a foreign country within 5 years after naturalization;
• Refusal within 10 years after naturalization to testify as a witness before a congressional committee concerning subversive activities; or
• Becoming a member of any proscribed subversive organization within 5 years of naturalization."
 
Can you provide a link to that PDF file?

I think the Supreme Court struck down that rule about revocation based on foreign residence after naturalization.
 
I actually think that only applies if you take up that foreign countries Citizenship that you could lose your US citizenship. I have never heard of it ever applying to someone just living in another country at all.

So as long as you don't aquire any more citizenships then you should be fine.

Now I have heard something about it being 2 years after Naturalization and moving away that you could lose it. That could be the new ruling, being that they reduced it from 5 years to 2 years or something...
 
Can you provide a link to that PDF file?

I think the Supreme Court struck down that rule about revocation based on foreign residence after naturalization.
Here is link This is .pdf file issued in May 2004 by USCIS.

Can you please provide a link to your source that this rule "Residence in a foreign country within 5 years after naturalization" is not valid?
 
Other Ways of Losing Citizenship

Under the INA, a U.S. citizen – whether by birth or naturalization – can lose his or her citizenship by performing any of the following acts with the intention of relinquishing citizenship:

1. voluntarily naturalizing in a foreign state after age 18;

2. taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state or a political subdivision of a foreign state, after age 18;

3. entering, or serving in, the armed forces of a foreign state that is engaged in hostilities against the United States;

4. serving as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of a foreign state;

5. accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision of a foreign state, after age 18, if the individual acquires the nationality of that country;

6. accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision of a foreign state, after age 18, if a declaration of allegiance to that country is required;

7. making a formal, written renunciation of U.S. citizenship while in the United States when the United States is in a state of war, if done in the manner prescribed by the Attorney General and if the Attorney General finds the renunciation as not contrary to the interests of national defense; or

8. committing any act of treason against the United states, or attempting to overthrow by force or bear arms against the United States.
 
I think that he/she is just making it up as I looked at the same pdf and did the DD myself before applying for citizenship. :mad:
 
I think that he/she is just making it up as I looked at the same pdf and did the DD myself before applying for citizenship. :mad:
You looked it up and you DIDN'T FIND THIS in document?!!! I have better things to do - instead of making things up and loosing my time...

"Individuals who are U.S. citizens by birth cannot involuntarily have their citizenship taken away. For naturalized citizens, citizenship can be revoked only if the government is able to prove that such action is warranted. Rescission of naturalization, or denaturalization, is recommended only where there is objective evidence to establish one or more of the following conditions:

• Concealment or willful misrepresentation of material facts related to the naturalization application and proceedings;
• Illegal procurement of naturalization;
• Residence in a foreign country within 5 years after naturalization;
• Refusal within 10 years after naturalization to testify as a witness before a congressional committee concerning subversive activities; or
• Becoming a member of any proscribed subversive organization within 5 years of naturalization."
 
I agree with Jackolantern that the document is out of date on this question. It cites as its source an immigration law textbook (Weissbrodt) that has been around since the eighties.

This is what the INA says:

INA: ACT 340 - REVOCATION OF NATURALIZATION

Sec. 340. [8 U.S.C. 1451]

(a) It shall be the duty of the United States attorneys for the respective districts, upon affidavit showing good cause therefor, to institute proceedings in any district court of the United States in the judicial district in which the naturalized citizen may reside at the time of bringing suit, for the purpose of revoking and setting aside the order admitting such person to citizenship and canceling the certificate of naturalization on the ground that such order and certificate of naturalization were ille gally procured or were procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation, and such revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such person to citizenship and such canceling of certificate of naturalization shall be effective as of the original date of the order and certificate, respectively: Provided, That refusal on the part of a naturalized citizen within a period of ten years following his naturalization to testify as a witness in any proceeding before a congressional co mmittee concerning his subversive activities, in a case where such person has been convicted for contempt for such refusal, shall be held to constitute a ground for revocation of such person's naturalization under this subsection as having been procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation. If the naturalized citizen does not reside in any judicial district in the United States at the time of bringing such suit, the proceedings may be instituted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or in the United States district court in the judicial district in which such person last had his residence.

(b) The party to whom was granted the naturalization alleged to have been illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation shall, in any such proceedings under subsection (a) of this section, have sixty days' personal notice, unless waived by such party, in which to make answer to the petition of the United States; and if such naturalized person be absent from the United States or from the judicial district in which such person last had his residence, such not ice shall be given either by personal service upon him or by publication in the manner provided for the service of summons by publication or upon absentees by the laws of the State or the place where such suit is brought.

(c) If a person who shall have been naturalized after December 24, 1952 shall within five years next following such naturalization become a member of or affiliated with any organization, membership in or affiliation with which at the time of naturalization would have precluded such person from naturalization under the provisions of section 313, it shall be considered prima facie evidence that such person was not attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States and was not well disposed t o the good order and happiness of the United States at the time of naturalization, and, in the absence of countervailing evidence, it shall be sufficient in the proper proceeding to authorize the revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such person to citizenship and the cancellation of the certificate of naturalization as having been obtained by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation, and such revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such person to citizenship and such canceling of certificate of naturalization shall be effective as of the original date of the order and certificate, respectively.

(d) [Former subsection (d) was repealed by Sec. 104(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-416 , 108 Stat. 4308, Oct. 25, 1994), applicable to persons admitted to citizenship on or after October 25, 1994 under Sec. 104(e) of that Act. Subsequent subsections were redesignated respectively by Sec. 104(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-416 , 108 Stat. 4308, Oct. 25, 1994) .]

(d) Any person who claims United States citizenship through the naturalization of a parent or spouse in whose case there is a revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or spouse to citizenship under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section on the ground that the order and certificate of naturalization were procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation shall be deemed to have lost and to lose his citizenship and any right or privilege of citizenship which he may have, now has, or may hereafter acquire under and by virtue of such naturalization of such parent or spouse, regardless of whether such person is residing within or without the United States at the time of the revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or spouse to citizenship. Any person who claims United States citizenship through the naturalization of a parent or spouse in whose case there is a revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or spouse to citizenship and the cancellation of the certificate of naturalization under the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, or under the provisions of section 329(c) of this title on any ground other than that the order and certificate of naturalization were procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation, shall be deemed to have lost and to lose his citizenship and any right or privilege of citizenship which would have been enjoyed by such person had there not been a revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or spouse to citizenship and the cancellation of the certificate of naturalization, unless such person is residin g in the United States at the time of the revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or spouse to citizenship and the cancellation of the certificate of naturalization.

(e) When a person shall be convicted under section 1425 of title 18 of the United States Code of knowingly procuring naturalization in violation of law, the court in which such conviction is had shall thereupon revoke, set aside, and declare void the final order admitting such person to citizenship, and shall declare the certificate of naturalization of such person to be canceled. Jurisdiction is hereby conferred on the courts having jurisdiction of the trial of such offense to make such adjudication.

(f) Whenever an order admitting an alien to citizenship shall be revoked and set aside or a certificate of naturalization shall be canceled, or both, as provided in this section, the court in which such judgment or decree is rendered shall make an order canceling such certificate and shall send a certified copy of such order to the Attorney General. The clerk of court shall transmit a copy of such order and judgment to the Attorney General. A person holding a certificate of naturalization or citizenship wh ich has been canceled as provided by this section shall upon notice by the court by which the decree of cancellation was made, or by the Attorney General, surrender the same to the Attorney General.

(g) The provisions of this section shall apply not only to any naturalization granted and to certificates of naturalization and citizenship issued under the provisions of this title, but to any naturalization heretofore granted by any court, and to all certificates of naturalization and citizenship which may have been issued heretofore by any court or by the Commissioner based upon naturalization granted by any court, or by a designated representative of the Commissioner under the provisions of section 702 of the Nationality Act of 1940, as amended, or by such designated representative under any other Act.

(h) Nothing contained in this section shall be regarded as limiting, denying, or restricting the power of the Attorney General to correct, reopen, alter, modify, or vacate an order naturalizing the person.




Former subsection (d), in bold above, must be where the five year residency requirement post-naturalization used to be. But this was repealed, as was the general requirement "intends to reside permanently in the United States":




IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY TECHNICAL

CORRECTIONS ACT OF 1994

SEC. 104. INTENT TO RESIDE PERMANENTLY IN THE UNITED STATES AFTER NATURALIZATION.

(a) IN GENERAL.--Section 338 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1449) is amended by striking "intends to reside permanently in the United States, except in cases falling within the provisions of section 324(a) of this title,".

(b) CONFORMING REPEAL.--Section 340(d) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1451(d)) is repealed.
 
Not entirely true. The textbook (Weissbrodt) merely refers to "USCIS, Adjudicator’s Field Manual, chap. 76, § 76.1;". The textbook is not the original source of this rule.

One place to look at will be the most recent "USCIS, Adjudicator’s Field Manual". If that contains this 5-year condition, then we know the rule is alive and well. Unless there is an explicit reference somewhere else, saying that this condition has been done away with.

Regards.

OY
 
Not entirely true. The textbook (Weissbrodt) merely refers to "USCIS, Adjudicator’s Field Manual, chap. 76, § 76.1;". The textbook is not the original source of this rule.

One place to look at will be the most recent "USCIS, Adjudicator’s Field Manual". If that contains this 5-year condition, then we know the rule is alive and well. Unless there is an explicit reference somewhere else, saying that this condition has been done away with.

Regards.
OY

Actually, the section of the document that im50 is looking at references both of these sources (see footnote 200). I did look at the Field Manual, and there is no mention of this 5-year residency condition, so I assumed the source must have been Weissbrodt. I could be wrong, in which case the document simply isn't referencing its sources well.

But basically, the passage im50 refers to is just a summary of the conditions laid down in a previous version of Sec. 340 of the INA. As it stands, the subsection dealing with US residency as a requirement for maintaining citizenship has been repealed. I don't know what could be more explicit.
 
I think this issue has been debated many times before. I wouldn't trust a pdf to be the ultimate rule. Unless somebody points to INA or CFR or the field manual to the specific rule I think this is just a "typo" or mistake in the pdf contents. I have been in this forum for quite some time and I have never heard of this rule. I heard that such, or similar, rule existed in the past and was taken out. So, basically, for me, unless somebody shows me the law, my belief is that anyone can move residence to another country at any time after being naturalized without risk of being denaturalized.
 
If the United States allow dual citizenship, it doesn't seem right that they can revoke your citizenship if you establish residency in another country. Why would they allow dual then? I don't think that is accurate information. I certainly don't believe IM is making this information up by any means, however, I think the information might be outdated.
 
This looks to be an authentic document and its a 2004 edition. Can someone point to the source where this condition has been repealed.
 
nyc_naturalizer is right - the post-naturalization residency requirement was repealed in 1994. I read it online somewhere and confirmed with a lawyer last year.
 
nyc_naturalizer is right - the post-naturalization residency requirement was repealed in 1994. I read it online somewhere and confirmed with a lawyer last year.

Here it is: Pub. L. 103-416 Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994

SEC. 104. INTENT TO RESIDE PERMANENTLY IN THE UNITED STATES AFTER NATURALIZATION.

(a) IN GENERAL.--Section 338 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1449) is amended by striking "intends to reside permanently in the United States, except in cases falling within the provisions of section 324(a) of this title,".
 
Well wont USCIS 2004 document account for such a change, then. I think till someone can prove it otherwise with a valid reference, This issue is very much open for debate.
 
Well wont USCIS 2004 document account for such a change, then. I think till someone can prove it otherwise with a valid reference, This issue is very much open for debate.

There's no debate here. I quoted the entire relevant section of the INA above, including where the original requirement was repealed, as well as the act of repeal itself (which sh1996 also posted). References don't get much more valid than that. USCIS informational pdfs do not constitute law and do certainly do not trump the INA.
 
Sorry I was typing my reply at the sametime reference was submitted by sh1996 . This clarifies the issue. Thanks, its a big help.
 
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