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Renew old citizenship
- Thread starter rleitman
- Start date
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Registered Users (C)
I was a US citizen many years ago, in 1932 to 1937. And I left US and never came back to live in US.
Is there a way I can renew the citizenship so my kids can apply for it or for residency ?
More information is needed here. For example, how did you acquire US citizenship? Were you born in the USA or were you born elsewhere to a US citizen parent (I believe it would have needed to have been the father during that time period)?
Also what happened in 1937 and in subsequent years? Did you simply leave the US or did you also naturalize in another country? Did you ever formally renounce or relinquish US citizenship? Were you ever deemed by the US State Dept to have renounced or relinquished citizenship?
It is quite possible that you are still legally considered to be a US citizen and could not so much renew that citizenship as get a passport as proof of that status--which you never actually lost.
There are two very tricky issues, though. One is that US citizens are required to file US tax returns regardless of where they live in the world, and also to declare their foreign bank accounts. In theory you could be asked to do this all the way back to 1937 although in practice they'll probably be satisfied with 6-8 years of back returns. But even that can be a huge, huge burden for people, such that people who have lived abroad and not exercised their US citizenship in many years often prefer NOT to claim citizenship for this reason.
Second, even if you yourself are still a US citizen, it is not clear that you and/or your children have lived in the USA long enough for your children to claim US citizenship. Depending on the timings, that might depend on how long you lived in the USA, how long your children lived in the USA, and when they were born. It is quite possible that you could still claim US citizenship but your children wouldn't be able to.
Finally, if in fact your children CAN claim US citizenship, then the same burdensome tax issues that I mentioned would apply to them as well--such that they, too, would need to consider carefully whether asserting a claim to US citizenship is a wise move at this point.
The bottom line is that it is possible--depending on exact timings--but there are clearly issues that need to be thought through carefully.