Resident with no citizenship - curious!

[valerit1]

Ok, here is a challenging question! I am a permanent resident since 04/2001 (well, still no card, but it is irrelevant here). The country I used to be a citizen of when I came to USA does not exist any more,
broken into several independent states. My passport expired long ago(but was stamped and restamped). So, I am a countryless person now. The place where I was born and used to live belongs to a different state now - but I do not even speak the official language of it, wrong nationality (actually, my blood is very mixed) - so, the new country is quite alien to me. All my family is in the USA now, no relatives left there. All the states my former country has broken into are just as alien to me as any foreign country now. But I am supposed to be a citizen of some entity, am I not? Can I choose a country, or am I forced to accept the citizenship of the state on the territory I used to live? Can I get the USA citizenship now to fill the void? Anyone knows about a similar situation?
Thanks,

Val

 

[creekshade]

Sounds unlikely...

You probably have to go through all the same hoops as the rest to get a US citizenship. I don\'t think being stateless is a recognized reason for getting a US citizenship. (Think of the thousands of Palestinians in the US). It seems logical though that you should be be able to get a passport of one of the many new countries that constituted your ex-country, even while you continue to live and work in the US.

 

[JohnR]

legally your citizenship will depend on the laws of the land of your birth

I am assuming that you are either talking about USSR or Yugoslavia. when those countries broke up, the new countries established their own laws governing citizenship for those born in their lands prior to the beginning of the new country. Most took the stand, similar to the US, that birth in the country, provides citizenship. If this is the case, you are NOT stateless. while you may not have acquired a passport from "your country," you will still be recognized as their citizen. In fact, your expired passport will be sufficient to establish your citizenship in the new country if it lists your birthplace. If you need to travel to a third country, your visa will depend on that country\'s treatys with the third country.

If you are a permanent resident this will, probably, not have any effect on the naturalization process. It will, however, affect any future travel home. as many places recognize dual citizenship, which would return you the "home citizen" status when you return to the country of your birth. Some, like Russia/USSR, take the position that, as a "native-born citizen," you will ALWAYS be a citizen, whether or not you acquire other citizenship in another country.

You will need to contact the embassy of the country or hire an attorney over there for accurate details on their laws.