technically or legally, did I take an oath to abandon my allegiance to my former country?

T

TriCitizen

Registered Users (C)
technically or legally, did I take an oath to abandon my allegiance to my former country?

I've already taken the oath, word for word... but I'm still not sure that I understand the oath 100-percent.(maybe only 99-percent?)
 
TriCitizen said:
technically or legally, did I take an oath to abandon my allegiance to my former country?

I've already taken the oath, word for word... but I'm still not sure that I understand the oath 100-percent.(maybe only 99-percent?)
Click to expand...

According to US laws, yes. By taking the oath, you have legally renounced any allegiance to another country. However, according to citizenship laws of your country of birth or prior residence or the one that issued your last passport, that country may not care at all if you became a citizen of another country (in this case, the US) by taking the oath and may still consider you a citizen of that country.
 
vdostoi1 said:
According to US laws, yes. By taking the oath, you have legally renounced any allegiance to another country. However, according to citizenship laws of your country of birth or prior residence or the one that issued your last passport, that country may not care at all if you became a citizen of another country (in this case, the US) by taking the oath and may still consider you a citizen of that country.
Click to expand...

but the US care if I go renew my old passport at my home country's consulate? (actually, I already did... the new passport will be ready for pick up at the consulate next Monday...) I just felt that it was beneficial to keep my EU passport...
 
TriCitizen said:
but the US care if I go renew my old passport at my home country's consulate? (actually, I already did... the new passport will be ready for pick up at the consulate next Monday...) I just felt that it was beneficial to keep my EU passport...
Click to expand...

No, they do not care as the US government recognizes multiple citizenship situations. It does not support it as a matter of policy, but recognizes that it can occur and therefore has no laws forbidding such situations.
 
The US doesn't care (by not enforcing the law)

On the EU side: difficult to say w/o knowing the country. As a German w/o BBG you are out.
 
To add to the true essence of your question (even if the law isn't enforced) you lost your previous citizenship. Legally - if that implies technically you figure that one out.
 
All depends on the nation. For instance England, Canada etc you can have both nations passports as neither reconize you giving up their citizenship. You would not use those passports however, entering into the US. Many dual citizenships have 2 passports (me included).

Nations like Peru, Germany, India are another story and they do not allow dual citizenship, it's one or the other...
 
The only way you can lose your previous citizenship - at least from say Mexico - Ireland - United Kingdom and most mainland Western Europe countries - is by renouncing that citizenship. .

But they cannot take your citizenship away just because you have acquired citizenship of another country, in this case acquiring U.S. citizenship.

In the practical sense - if I have say a British passport and and an American passport, while in Britain I cannot avail of any intervention from the United States consular services should I get into some form of difficulty - because the U.S. would treat me as a British citizen and similarily I cannot avail of British Consular services while in the USA because Britain would treat me as an American citizen.

But as I stated Britain could never revoke my citizenship if I acquired that through birth in the UK, I have to renounce that citienship if I no longer desire it.

I understand that some countries do not allow dual citizenship but the U.S.A. does permit it.

Of course this is just my opinion based on articles I have read over the years.
 
The US doesn't permit dual citizenship - it just doesn't care.
There are some EU countries that don't do that either. Some ho don't care ith SPECIFIC other countries they have explicit treaties with.

Unless we have the original nationality, the discussion is mute
 
The US does seem to allow it-


http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html

The concept of dual nationality means that a person is a citizen of two countries at the same time. Each country has its own citizenship laws based on its own policy.Persons may have dual nationality by automatic operation of different laws rather than by choice. For example, a child born in a foreign country to U.S. citizen parents may be both a U.S. citizen and a citizen of the country of birth.

A U.S. citizen may acquire foreign citizenship by marriage, or a person naturalized as a U.S. citizen may not lose the citizenship of the country of birth.U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one citizenship or another. Also, a person who is automatically granted another citizenship does not risk losing U.S. citizenship. However, a person who acquires a foreign citizenship by applying for it may lose U.S. citizenship. In order to lose U.S. citizenship, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily, by free choice, and with the intention to give up U.S. citizenship.
 
Travis,

you cannot observe this from just one side of the law (or one countries law).

Is is well known that as the DOS states isn't what's in the US law book, BUT that the US doesn't make a fuzz about it.

i.e. as a US citizen you can not formally get another citizenship.

Thus let this slide until we have further details.
 
I know a lady who holds 3 passports, US, Brazilian and Polish. Parents were from Poland who immigrated to Brazil. I think she wants to have the best of all worlds. My understanding is that all 3 countries recognize or at least tolerate dual or multiple citizenships. Many people do keep whatever nationalities they have acquired for business, tax, visa and other reasons of convenience.
One problem that I could foresee though is if and when these countries are at war. One then has to choose which side to fight for I guess, or end up in the camps (look what happened to the US citizens of Japanese descent during WW II).
 
I need to look that up, but there is some article that says if you take another citizenship as US citizen you loose it.

Bare with me or google
 
MartinAub said:
I need to look that up, but there is some article that says if you take another citizenship as US citizen you loose it.

Bare with me or google
Click to expand...

Martin, the person must apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily, by free choice, and with the intention to give up U.S. citizenship.-

In other words, if this was the case, it will only occurr if the naturalized US citizen meets all of the above conditions.-

And as far as the dual nationality, it is completely legal in the US to be a dual national and also, since 1967 the US does not have a problem with it.-
 
MartinAub said:
The US doesn't permit dual citizenship - it just doesn't care.
Click to expand...

Well if it doesn't care, than it allows it because a naturalized citizen will almost always be a dual citizen as well (the only exceptions are stateless people, and people whose home country does not allow dual citizenship). The US doesn't encourage it, but it also permits it. Otherwise you'd have to give up your citizenship at your oath ceremony - and you clearly don't.
 
The US government does not have the authority to revoke non-US citizenship; each country sets their own rules for that. So the US citizenship oath doesn't affect your other citizenship(s) unless the other country recognizes the US oath as a valid renunciation of their citizenship.
 
I remember reading somewhere on the US Govt Travel site that once you are a US citizen AND you voluntarily accept the citizenship of another country, then you have automatically surrendered your US citizenship. Now, I did not read the entire details so could have misunderstood. Anyone know anything about this?


Stoned!
 
StonedAnt said:
I remember reading somewhere on the US Govt Travel site that once you are a US citizen AND you voluntarily accept the citizenship of another country, then you have automatically surrendered your US citizenship.
Click to expand...
You may lose your US citizenship for doing that, but it is not automatic. The US government would look at the specifics of what was involved in obtaining the other citizenship and then decide whether you can keep your US citizenship or not. In today's world, loss of US citizenship is never automatic; it must be explicitly revoked or explicitly surrendered at a US court or consulate.
 
Mr Vertigo said:
Well if it doesn't care, than it allows it because a naturalized citizen will almost always be a dual citizen as well (the only exceptions are stateless people, and people whose home country does not allow dual citizenship). The US doesn't encourage it, but it also permits it. Otherwise you'd have to give up your citizenship at your oath ceremony - and you clearly don't.
Click to expand...

Well, for Germany you need a permission up front, before applying for N-400.

Now if you don't do that and you give the Oath, your former citizenship is gone. Whilst you may technically still have the old Passport, you won't get it renewed as you need to provide evidence of legal presence in the US, for which you only have the Natz or Passport.

(There are certain EU countries and Switzerland for which such a permission is not needed)

Whilst you could move back to Germany as US citizen, you *might* get away with it, but I would suspect since you need to file taxes in the US that sooner or later you get caught.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top