I have been pondering this for a long time. I am German and usually there is no need to apply for US citizenship. Like many have listed issues of obtaining visas when travelling abroad or anything, it's more or less the same if you are American or German. Obvious restrictions on Govt. jobs etc. aside.
However, the issue becomes way more interesting when planning the future.
Consider
- Retirement and social security
- Inheritance
- Living abroad after retirement
I went through a good number of lawyers to get information on the subjects above and unfortunately never came across one who really knew.
Whilst there is a bi-lateral social security agreement between Germany and the US, if one would decide to retire anywhere but Germany or US, one would lose eligibility for US social benefits. Since Germany is part of the EU, a German citizen can live anywhere in the EU; however, the agreement states that you need to live in the country of which you are citizen to receive benefits.
Further, if you and your spouse don't share one nationality, inheritance law (establishment of trust) seems to become a little twisted. Take this one step further and have your home country recognize your marriage. i.e. I have parents in Germany from which I may inherit property, but what if I pass away, how can my wife be the beneficiary?
Next; by default there is no such thing as automatic dual citizenship for a German. You need to file for a special permission that is valid for two years. This process alone took me about 8 month to complete. If you don't do this and you are granted another citizenship, you lose the German one. This is a discretionary process.
Now since I am obviously occupied with getting my part of the bargain taken care of, next would be my wife.
Whilst - as per current studies - it doesn't seem to be a big deal to get her permanent residence status in Germany, one can only apply for it once living there. This in turn may be a problem should I pass away before that would be possible, leaving the inheritance in limbo. Other resources seem to indicate that infect there is a little unknown and hidden agreement that Americans can pretty much live in Germany for as long as they like. The Swiss embassy has actually a PDF about that. None the less, this has nothing to do with the Schengen accords (EU).
Why am I writing this?
It seems there are plenty of reasons to become a US citizen for many that are obvious. However, as a German, it never used to be a prime concern. One reason why my N-400 application is not based on marriage and I am actually quite a bit over the 5 years waiting period.
The subject becomes interesting once you mature a little and need to pan out the future.
Reasoning this is another challenge, because you deal with if, then, why, what and a ton of other unknowns and speculations that you cannot possibly use as prove.
i.e. Should you wish to adopt a child and you do your research, you will find a good number of problems if the future parents are not both US citizens. How do you prove to anyone that you have the intent to adopt a child, if the situation is right? In the end it's all speculation.
There are plenty of other reasons, why sharing one citizenship makes life easier when you enter a certain stage in your lives.
However, there are also plenty of reasons not to give up my German citizenship. First that comes to mind is the German healthcare system.
I maintain my German private health insurance now for 20 years and I won't give up on it. Needless to say that I never cared about a job offer with benefits.
What are your reasons?
(PS. I would have thought that be a question on the N-400, but isn't)
However, the issue becomes way more interesting when planning the future.
Consider
- Retirement and social security
- Inheritance
- Living abroad after retirement
I went through a good number of lawyers to get information on the subjects above and unfortunately never came across one who really knew.
Whilst there is a bi-lateral social security agreement between Germany and the US, if one would decide to retire anywhere but Germany or US, one would lose eligibility for US social benefits. Since Germany is part of the EU, a German citizen can live anywhere in the EU; however, the agreement states that you need to live in the country of which you are citizen to receive benefits.
Further, if you and your spouse don't share one nationality, inheritance law (establishment of trust) seems to become a little twisted. Take this one step further and have your home country recognize your marriage. i.e. I have parents in Germany from which I may inherit property, but what if I pass away, how can my wife be the beneficiary?
Next; by default there is no such thing as automatic dual citizenship for a German. You need to file for a special permission that is valid for two years. This process alone took me about 8 month to complete. If you don't do this and you are granted another citizenship, you lose the German one. This is a discretionary process.
Now since I am obviously occupied with getting my part of the bargain taken care of, next would be my wife.
Whilst - as per current studies - it doesn't seem to be a big deal to get her permanent residence status in Germany, one can only apply for it once living there. This in turn may be a problem should I pass away before that would be possible, leaving the inheritance in limbo. Other resources seem to indicate that infect there is a little unknown and hidden agreement that Americans can pretty much live in Germany for as long as they like. The Swiss embassy has actually a PDF about that. None the less, this has nothing to do with the Schengen accords (EU).
Why am I writing this?
It seems there are plenty of reasons to become a US citizen for many that are obvious. However, as a German, it never used to be a prime concern. One reason why my N-400 application is not based on marriage and I am actually quite a bit over the 5 years waiting period.
The subject becomes interesting once you mature a little and need to pan out the future.
Reasoning this is another challenge, because you deal with if, then, why, what and a ton of other unknowns and speculations that you cannot possibly use as prove.
i.e. Should you wish to adopt a child and you do your research, you will find a good number of problems if the future parents are not both US citizens. How do you prove to anyone that you have the intent to adopt a child, if the situation is right? In the end it's all speculation.
There are plenty of other reasons, why sharing one citizenship makes life easier when you enter a certain stage in your lives.
However, there are also plenty of reasons not to give up my German citizenship. First that comes to mind is the German healthcare system.
I maintain my German private health insurance now for 20 years and I won't give up on it. Needless to say that I never cared about a job offer with benefits.
What are your reasons?
(PS. I would have thought that be a question on the N-400, but isn't)
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