Is dual citizenship for children worth it?

[Corey-Mariya 14]

Hi all!

My name is Mariya; my husband Corey and I used to be frequent visitors of this forum back in 2008-2009 when I was going through the immigration process after dating Corey in college and coming back for good on K-1 visa. We have now been married for 7.5 years and just had our first baby (a boy) a month ago!

I am thinking about filing for our son Alexander's dual citizenship and was wondering if you all think it is worth it? I am particularly concerned about military service. Corey and I are both employed in oil and gas industry and have a potential (and a lot of desire) of going back to Russia to work on Sakhalin or Kara Sea (when sanctions are finally lifted) projects.

One more question: do I need to register Alex at the consulate office? And does he need dual citizenship / visa for travelling to Russia next year?

Thank you!

Mariya

P.S. Please, point me to the right forum if I haven't posted this in the right place:)

[AMZJ 61]

It's an individual decision and you need to weigh up the pros and cons. My daughter I did apply for her US citizenship when she was born. So she is a duel citizen and has all her paperwork. We live in England and I never thought' she'd use it but I wanted her to have that option when she grew up. Turns out we are moving there now so it was worth it.

Edited December 4, 2015 by AMZJ

[meandmom 5]

I am thinking about filing for our son Alexander's dual citizenship and was wondering if you all think it is worth it? I am particularly concerned about military service. Corey and I are both employed in oil and gas industry and have a potential (and a lot of desire) of going back to Russia to work on Sakhalin or Kara Sea (when sanctions are finally lifted) projects.

One more question: do I need to register Alex at the consulate office? And does he need dual citizenship / visa for travelling to Russia next year?

It's possible that your child will not be able to travel to Russia without first obtaining a Russian passport, or without first proving to the consulate that he did not automatically acquire Russian citizenship by birth.

However, it's not so easy to get rid of Russian citizenship once you have it. I strongly recommend educating yourself before you decide to saddle your son with something that might create problems for him in the future.

I suggest you read a bit about the current situation in Russia, paying particular attention to the latest legislation concerning Russian citizens who permanently live abroad. E.g., read up on the requirements (and harsh penalties for non-compliance) to "register" dual citizenship, to report the details of all "foreign" (i.e. US) bank accounts, the mandatory use of Russian instead of "foreign" banks for many transactions, etc.

Finally, neither Russia nor the US recognize "dual citizenship". Instead, they only acknowledge the fact that someone can have two citizenships, but each country only recognizes its own citizenship. In practice, this means that when travelling to Russia on his Russian passport, your child will no longer have any protection of the US embassy. If something happens, (if he gets arrested, or drafted to the army, or stopped at the border from leaving the country, or whatever), Russia will treat him as their citizen and consider it their internal affair. American embassy will not be able to intervene on his behalf.

[Corey-Mariya 14]

Thank you for the response, definitely a lot to consider. I understand that both my son (if we decide for go for his 2nd citizenship) and myself will need to register our 2nd citizenships within 30 days upon arrival in Russia; no issues with that. I am having a hard time finding the bank transaction requirements that you referenced, could you, please, share a link where you've read about them?

[meandmom 5]

I am having a hard time finding the bank transaction requirements that you referenced, could you, please, share a link where you've read about them?

The gist of it is that as long as Russian citizens spend at least one day per year visiting Russia, they are considered "residents" for the purpose of currency control laws, and have to follow very strict currency transactions and reporting requirements.

Take a look at this article that discusses the ramifications of these new regulations: http://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/articles/2015/04/07/valyutnii-risk-sootechestvennika, especially the last part titled "Налогов нет, а штрафы есть".

Also,

Explanation of the latest reporting requirements from the tax service: https://www.nalog.ru/rn77/taxation/reference_work/exchange_controls/ ("Необходимость ежеквартально сообщать о движении средств на иностранных счетах")

And from attorneys: http://mgap.ru/assets/uploads/2015/0...%A0%D0%A4_.pdf

And in the news: http://www.rbc.ru/opinions/finances/27/01/2015/54c799499a7947bc1443a3dd

[meandmom 5]

And from attorneys: http://mgap.ru/assets/uploads/2015/0...%A0%D0%A4_.pdf

Oops, some links were broken. This should work:

http://mgap.ru/assets/uploads/2015/03/%D0%9E%D1%82%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%82-%D0%BE-%D0%B4%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8-%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD-%D1%81%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2-%D0%BF%D0%BE-%D1%81%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BC-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B2-%D0%A0%D0%A4_.pdf