british citizen to become an american citizen.

[chico785 0]

Hello,

 

My wife is a British Citizen.  If she becomes an American Citizen, will she lose her British Citizenship?  Thank you.

[Ahoy01 31]

Short answer, No. 

 

Long answer, well still no. Unless she takes steps to give up her British citizenship. There a few countries that only lets you have one citizenship and UK is not one of them. So when she becomes a US citizen she will have both the citizenships, unless she chooses to give up one.

[Hypnos 6,577]

Not automatically, no. 

[yuna628 9,687]

She will be a dual citizen.

[chico785 0]

8 minutes ago, Eli01 said:

Short answer, No. 

 

Long answer, well still no. Unless she takes steps to give up her British citizenship. There a few countries that only lets you have one citizenship and UK is not one of them. So when she becomes a US citizen she will have both the citizenships, unless she chooses to give up one.

she doesn't want to give up her British Citizenship.  On the N400 form (for US citizenship), there's an oath that will be recited and it says, ""I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;"

 

what does this mean then?

[chico785 0]

She doesn't want to give up her British Citizenship.  On the N400 form (for US citizenship), there's an oath that will be recited and it says, ""I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;"

 

what does this mean then?

 

@HYPNOS - it looks like you became a US citizen.  Did you get to keep your British Citizenship?

[yuna628 9,687]

7 minutes ago, chico785 said:

she doesn't want to give up her British Citizenship.  On the N400 form (for US citizenship), there's an oath that will be recited and it says, ""I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;"

 

what does this mean then?

Not much of anything, is what it means. Despite saying what you are required to say to become a citizen, she will still always be a UK citizen and a US citizen. The only way she's going to lose her UK citizenship is if she goes through the process of renouncing it (a UK process) or HRH removes it from her. She will maintain both passports, and can use her UK passport and US passport respectively. Rest easy that she, as many generations of British expats are always a dual citizen and the ability is one that has been protected by the Supreme Court.

[Ahoy01 31]

8 minutes ago, chico785 said:

she doesn't want to give up her British Citizenship.  On the N400 form (for US citizenship), there's an oath that will be recited and it says, ""I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;"

 

what does this mean then?

 

Yes you are correct on what the N400 forms say, but you are not required to renounce your UK citizenship. I know it sounds counter-intuitive to what the form says.

 

(Now I am speculating on what I am going to say next and maybe someone more experienced can correct me on this.) Although when you wife becomes a US citizen she will have her british citizenship, the US will not recognize it. As far as the US is concerned she is an American first. So in terms of national service and all of that she will be treated as an American, and will have to put US above her other citizenship.

 

But I am certain she can hang on to her UK passport and be considered as a subject of the crown as far as the UK is concerned. In fact I know plenty of Canadian who are dual citizens and because Canada is part of the common wealth they are considered a subject of her Majesty and still hold a US citizenship

[chico785 0]

@Eli01, is United Kingdom part of the common wealth?

[BenjaminKeating 114]

The United Kingdom does not recognize the above statement as far as renouncing country of birth citizenship. Ironically, neither does the US recognize it.

 

It's long been a myth that you have to give up British citizenship to obtain US citizenship which couldn't be further from the truth. Many on the US sub forum on British Expats hold both US and UK.

[Ahoy01 31]

10 minutes ago, chico785 said:

@Eli01, is United Kingdom part of the common wealth?

 

Well not sure how to exactly answer this question. But I would say yes. So there are several ways to define common wealth. One way is, any country that was part of a British empire at one point (this is the definition used to let countries participating in the common wealth games), another way  (or the way I choose to define common wealth in the above post) is any country that has her Majesty (currently Queen Elizabeth) as their head of state.

 

The point to answer you question is there is no common wealth with out the UK, so yes.

 

Now here is an additional piece of information to put your mind at ease in regards to dual citizenship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afroyim_v._Rusk

 

This is the supreme court ruling which allowed for dual citizenship.

Edited January 30, 2018 by Eli01

[Ldn2oc 7]

I naturalized in the US 2 weeks ago and became an American citizen. Meanwhile, I continue to also be a British citizen. Don't get hung up on statements made, there are legal processes in most countries that have to be completed to lose citizenship. A legal process in USA cannot remove the citizenship of another country, and the reverse is also true.

As long as she doesn't go through any legal process in the UK of renunciation, she will continue to be a British citizen in addition to being an American citizen.

[Ahoy01 31]

7 minutes ago, Ldn2oc said:

I naturalized in the US 2 weeks ago and became an American citizen. Meanwhile, I continue to also be a British citizen. Don't get hung up on statements made, there are legal processes in most countries that have to be completed to lose citizenship. A legal process in USA cannot remove the citizenship of another country, and the reverse is also true.

As long as she doesn't go through any legal process in the UK of renunciation, she will continue to be a British citizen in addition to being an American citizen.

 

This is correct for the UK. But there are some countries, where by law you have renounce your citizenship from country A if you gain a citizenship with country B.  In countries like these it is illegal not to renounce your citizenship from country A.

 

But reassured for the OP this is not the case for UK.

[chico785 0]

29 minutes ago, Ldn2oc said:

I naturalized in the US 2 weeks ago and became an American citizen. Meanwhile, I continue to also be a British citizen. Don't get hung up on statements made, there are legal processes in most countries that have to be completed to lose citizenship. A legal process in USA cannot remove the citizenship of another country, and the reverse is also true.

As long as she doesn't go through any legal process in the UK of renunciation, she will continue to be a British citizen in addition to being an American citizen.

thank you.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

She would have to assassinate the Queen herself for that to become even a possibility.