Just curious if one can keep his own citizenship....

[His_Wifey 1]

im just curious but are people allowed to keep their native citizenship after getting the US citizenship... that is have dual citizenship?

Thanks for your reply and good luck to all

[ma2moiselle 0]

The US allows you to have dual citizenship, so it all depends on the other country you're already a citizen of. For ex, I know France allows you to have dual citizenship, but I know some countries will not allow it and make you choose between their own citizenship or the American one.

Edited March 25, 2009 by ma2moiselle

[Italian_in_NYC 259]

As said above, it depends on the other country.

No problem for the US (even though you are just a US citizen for them, you can't claim to be a foreigner).

I know Italy allows it, so I'll be soon a dual citizen.

Other countries, however, do not allow it or require the future dual citizen to ask authorization before.

[lucyrich 20]

The above answers are correct. It's ok by US law, but a few other countries have laws that say that when one of their citizens naturalizes into the US, he/she gives up his/her original citizenship. See the dual citizenship FAQ for a lot more details and discussions.

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

[Stella08 0]

The above answers are correct. It's ok by US law, but a few other countries have laws that say that when one of their citizens naturalizes into the US, he/she gives up his/her original citizenship. See the dual citizenship FAQ for a lot more details and discussions.

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

While this link is highly informative, I think it covers mostly cases of people who are American citizens and want to acquire another citizenship or are dual citizens by birth.

But especially this passage is interesting:

Citizenship by naturalization (INA § 337, 8 USC § 1448)

A description of the US naturalization oath is given in Section 337(a) of the INA [8 USC § 1448(a)]. Of particular relevance to the dual citizenship issue is that, as part of the oath, a new citizen must pledge "to renounce and abjure absolutely and entirely all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which the applicant was before a subject or citizen."

In practice, it is unclear what if any true legal significance this statement has any more. The US does not require a new citizen to take any formal steps to renounce his old citizenship before officials of the "old country"; and when the other country continues to claim a naturalized US citizen as one of its own, current US policy recognizes that such a person may have to use a passport from the other country in order to visit there, and such an action does not put the person's US citizenship in jeopardy.

At one time, the US took the position that anyone who wished to renounce his prior citizenship in connection with US naturalization had an inherent, unquestionable right to do so. Well into the 19th century, many countries had no provisions at all for renouncing citizenship and did not even acknowledge that their citizens or subjects had any such right. This is, no doubt, why the renunciatory clause in the US naturalization oath is not linked to any additional requirement to give up one's old citizenship in accordance with another country's laws; as far as the US was concerned, the renunciatory statement in its own naturalization oath was sufficient, and all other countries had an obligation to respect it. In recent years, the State Department has apparently decided to take a more pragmatic and realistic stance on this issue.

And this one:

Finally, some people who become US citizens hope to take advantage of the fact that the US didn't make them actually go to their old country's consulate and get their citizenship revoked (all they were required to do was make a renunciatory statement as part of the US naturalization oath) -- and so they continue to exercise rights of citizenship in the old country as though nothing had happened. The US State Department used to take a dim view of such behavior if they found out about it, and people acting in this way were known to lose their US citizenship on the grounds that their pledge to renounce their prior status had evidently not been made in good faith. Now, though, the State Department almost never pursues such cases.

Here are two more links:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments...enship_2004.pdf

U.S. Policy

The current citizenship and immigration laws of the United States do not specifically address dual nationality. According to the State Department, “the U.S. Government recognizes that dual nationality exists but does not encourage it as a matter of policy because of the problems it may cause.”216 The State Department notes that problems may arise from

• claims of other countries on dual national U.S. citizens that may conflict with U.S. law;

• conflicts that arise from a dual national’s allegiance to both the United States and the foreign country;

• dual nationals are required to obey the laws of both countries, which may be in conflict; and

• each country having the right to enforce its laws, particularly when the dual national is in that country.

Further, U.S. Government efforts to assist its dual citizens abroad may be limited. In particular, the country where a dual national is located generally has a stronger claim to that person's allegiance.217

http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP.jsp?...61d71a5b8242711

75.3 Ceremony-Related Issues.

(a) Dual Citizenship . The concept of dual citizenship means that a person is a citizen of two countries at the same time. Dual nationality laws and policies depend on each country. The U.S. Government recognizes that dual citizenship exists, but does not endorse it as a matter of policy because of the problems that it may cause. Dual citizens owe allegiance to both the United States and the foreign country. They are required to obey the laws of both countries. Either country has the right to enforce its laws, particularly if the person later travels there. There may be a conflict with the U.S. laws, which may cause problems for the dual citizen. Additionally, dual citizenship may limit the United States Government’s efforts to assist United States citizens abroad

[His_Wifey 1]

thanks for all your information.... my country allows dual citizenship too

[NickD 202]

My wife is in a precarious position, natural born citizen of Colombia, but naturalized in Venezuela, and also now in the USA. Her daughter did not have problems with the Venezuelan consulate as she was born there, but my wife did, but managed after we dug up her naturalization papers. If they refused, Colombia was more than happy to issue her a passport when we needed one in her LPR state.

My solution for her is to just dump Venezuela, our only concern is that she has a passport to visit her son, but no problem now with a US passport, we avoid politics like the plague. But we sure do not have a bilateral agreement with either Colombia nor Venezuela, I can hop down there at will, but for her relatives to come here, almost next to impossible for them to get a US visa. Another minor problem, as bad as Venezuela is, they do have free university level education, here, it would cost us a small fortune. My mother-in-law got a visa, took over a year, but never wants to come back due to the humiliation she received by our customs, I guess they figure anyone from Colombia is carrying drugs, and she was stripped searched. So we go down there to visit her.

Have a different wife down there, treats me like a baby because she is concerned I will be kidnapped, I can see where she really enjoys those freedoms in this country. But with us, it's just about family, can't really cut those ties and my attitude is I have extremely wonderful in-laws, but living in countries with very poor governments and even more corruption than we have here.

That makes me wonder why over 90% of the good people in this world put up with this #######. Politicians are no better than the drug dealers.