Simple question, can't find answer! dual citizenship problem... can they find out?

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lamecity

Registered Users (C)
I have a friend who wants to become a citizen of the US, where he live as a permanent resident. He is currently a citizen of Germany.

Germany does not allow dual citizenship and he does not have any ties to Germany so applying for a BBG (German dual citizen permit) is completely out of the question.

He does, however, enjoy having a EU passport as one no one knows where he may end up in the future.

His question is the following - if he becomes a US citizen, in theory, he will lose his German citizenship. Now, the question is... HOW COULD GERMANY POSSIBLY FIND OUT THAT HE ACQUIRED A NEW CITIZENSHIP??? We have not been able to find the answer to this anywhere.
 
lamecity said:
I have a friend who wants to become a citizen of the US, where he live as a permanent resident. He is currently a citizen of Germany.

Germany does not allow dual citizenship and he does not have any ties to Germany so applying for a BBG (German dual citizen permit) is completely out of the question.

He does, however, enjoy having a EU passport as one no one knows where he may end up in the future.

His question is the following - if he becomes a US citizen, in theory, he will lose his German citizenship. Now, the question is... HOW COULD GERMANY POSSIBLY FIND OUT THAT HE ACQUIRED A NEW CITIZENSHIP??? We have not been able to find the answer to this anywhere.
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There are many possible situations when they can find out. For example, if your friend wants to renew his passport, the German consulate would want to see his green card, which he would not have.

It is not as difficult as it once was to get a BBG. You may want to follow the Yahoo newsgroup "zweipaesse" that deals with German dual citizenship issues.
 
natur08 he was aware of that one and can renew directy in Germany... but are there ANY other ways?
 
Whenever he will board a flight from Germany, once a USC he will have to use a US Passport to come back, at that time. I mean he can't lie in Germany using a German Passport and go well I'm going to US on a visit under VWP and yank a US Passport out at the other end.
IMO he is better of living with a GC.
 
It's easy for the German government to find out if they suspect anything. All they have to do is contact the US consulate.
 
lamecity said:
natur08 he was aware of that one and can renew directy in Germany... but are there ANY other ways?
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He can only renew directly and easily in Germany if he still has his Wohnsitz (registered address) there. Otherwise, they will ask questions. I know of a case where someone who became a US citizen long before the BBG route existed was still formally registered in Germany and went back for many years to renew her passport. A few years ago, she was found out and had to surrender her passport. Fortunately, they did not pursue any charges.

The bottom line is, he may get away with it for a while, but eventually, there will likely be a situation where he will be caught.
 
natur08 said:
He can only renew directly and easily in Germany if he still has his Wohnsitz (registered address) there. Otherwise, they will ask questions. I know of a case where someone who became a US citizen long before the BBG route existed was still formally registered in Germany and went back for many years to renew her passport. A few years ago, she was found out and had to surrender her passport. Fortunately, they did not pursue any charges.

The bottom line is, he may get away with it for a while, but eventually, there will likely be a situation where he will be caught.
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Your friend risk serious problems in Germany, possible jail time and deportation to the US. I believe Big Joe or someone, has posted a case of a Germany citizen, who became a naturalized US citizen, and upon procuring his US passport, returned to Germany and started working there for about 18 months. I believe his German passport at the time expired, and he went to apply for renewal, at which he was found to also be a US citizen, he was arrested for being an illegal immigrant who stole employment opportunities from Germans, he was sentence if I recall to 18 months in prison, citizenship stripped because you lose it automatically when you became a US citizen.

I wouldn't advise your friend to try to get away for a while, because being caught will create harsh penalties for him. I will see if I can find the link to the post, because I believe the bloke who posted the thread has personal knowledge of this friend who is either still in German prison or now back in the US after a traumatic time as a thief of jobs in Germany.
 
Any question that asks "Can they find out" implies "Can I get away with it". Honesty is your best friend in immigration matters.
 
I agree with Bob, truthfulness will give you a peace of mind on all matters. It not a matter of "how they will find out", it is a matter of how severe the punishment will be given to him, and you should advise him to stay clear of such stupidity.
 
Your friend needs a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung (permit to retain German citizenship). If he has one of those, he can keep his German citizenship and get US citizenship. From what I hear, he needs to first get that permit before he goes to the oath ceremony for US citizenship.
 
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I've been told by many dual US-German citizens that it's not that hard to be allowed to keep German citizenship when acquiring US citizenship, so definitely look into the BBG.
 
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