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CoronaKid

Can a USA/Germany dual citizen pass dual citizenship onto descendants?

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If someone is born to a US citizen and German citizen, then that person has citizenship in Germany and the USA for life.

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A child born to an American parent and a German parent acquires both American and German citizenship at birth, regardless of place of birth [...] he/she may keep both citizenships his/her entire life.

Here's the source.

 

However, if that person then gives birth to a child of their own at a later time, does that person also get both citizenships? It seems like that would continue forever, for all descendants. I imagine that there must be something which invalidates it, however according to that site, it seems like it would continue forever.

 

I imagine that it might be the case that only one citizenship can be considered per parent. However, even if that were the case, the dual citizenship could still be passed down if the descendants always procreate with an American or German (and then choose the opposite citizenship to represent for the purpose of this law).

Edited by CoronaKid
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12 minutes ago, CoronaKid said:

If someone is born to a US citizen and German citizen, then that person has citizenship in Germany and the USA for life.

Here's the source.

 

However, if that person then gives birth to a child of their own at a later time, does that person also get both citizenships? It seems like that would continue forever, for all descendants. I imagine that there must be something which invalidates it, however according to that site, it seems like it would continue forever.

 

I imagine that it might be the case that only one citizenship can be considered per parent. However, even if that were the case, the dual citizenship could still be passed down if the descendants always procreate with an American or German (and then choose the opposite citizenship to represent for the purpose of this law).

You should have read the rest of the links on the page you mentioned.

At point 4 it describes the cases when the child was not born on US soil that is the more complicated case.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Acquisition-US-Citizenship-Child-Born-Abroad.html

 

Don't know the German rules so that is an open question.

 

 

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Yea, it seems like there's a stipulation:

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Child Born Abroad in Wedlock to a U.S. Citizen and an Alien

For birth on or after November 14, 1986, the U.S. citizen parent must have been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for five years prior to the person’s birth, at least two of which were after the age of 14.

Source

 

So that would mean that the only stipulation (for the US citizenship at least), is that if births occur outside of the US, the person needs to have lived in the US for at least 5 years before giving birth to subsequent children. That's not too bad, and would still surprise me, since it would still seem fairly easy to pass on dual citizenship indefinitely.

Edited by CoronaKid
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For Germany, a child born to German Citizens abroad does not automatically acquire German citizenship:

 

Im Ausland geborene Kinder, deren deutsche Eltern bzw. deutsche Mutter oder deutscher Vater am oder nach dem 01.01.2000 (Inkrafttreten der Staatsangehörigkeitsrechtsreform) im Ausland geboren wurden, erwerben grundsätzlich nicht mehr die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit. Etwas anderes gilt nur, wenn sie dadurch staatenlos würden, oder wenn die deutschen Eltern oder der deutsche Elternteil die Geburt innerhalb eines Jahres der zuständigen Auslandsvertretung anzeigt (§ 4 Abs. 4 Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz – StAG).

Source: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/service/konsularinfo/staatsangehoerigkeitsrecht

 

@ Admins - I hope it's OK to post German content since we're in a regional subforum, but please remove if not :)

 

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32 minutes ago, CoronaKid said:

If someone is born to a US citizen and German citizen, then that person has citizenship in Germany and the USA for life.

Here's the source.

 

However, if that person then gives birth to a child of their own at a later time, does that person also get both citizenships? It seems like that would continue forever, for all descendants. I imagine that there must be something which invalidates it, however according to that site, it seems like it would continue forever.

 

I imagine that it might be the case that only one citizenship can be considered per parent. However, even if that were the case, the dual citizenship could still be passed down if the descendants always procreate with an American or German (and then choose the opposite citizenship to represent for the purpose of this law).

The first quote you have .. the next word in that sentence is IF.. there are conditions to passing on citizenship. ... usually related to how you received your citizenship and whether you have met in country residency requirements .., these will be different for each country. Read the whole section on its entirety. You must meet the IF requirements in order to pass on the right to hold citizenship. 

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6 minutes ago, Quarknase said:

For Germany, a child born to German Citizens abroad does not automatically acquire German citizenship:

 

Im Ausland geborene Kinder, deren deutsche Eltern bzw. deutsche Mutter oder deutscher Vater am oder nach dem 01.01.2000 (Inkrafttreten der Staatsangehörigkeitsrechtsreform) im Ausland geboren wurden, erwerben grundsätzlich nicht mehr die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit. Etwas anderes gilt nur, wenn sie dadurch staatenlos würden, oder wenn die deutschen Eltern oder der deutsche Elternteil die Geburt innerhalb eines Jahres der zuständigen Auslandsvertretung anzeigt (§ 4 Abs. 4 Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz – StAG).

Source: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/service/konsularinfo/staatsangehoerigkeitsrecht

 

@ Admins - I hope it's OK to post German content since we're in a regional subforum, but please remove if not :)

 

From that quote, it would seem that you only need to register the birth within a year.

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7 minutes ago, Lil bear said:

The first quote you have .. the next word in that sentence is IF.. there are conditions to passing on citizenship. ... usually related to how you received your citizenship and whether you have met in country residency requirements .., these will be different for each country. Read the whole section on its entirety. You must meet the IF requirements in order to pass on the right to hold citizenship. 

Yea, each country has some restrictions it seems, but they seem to be the same restrictions placed on the original parents. So it doesn't seem to be more restrictive of future generations.

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16 minutes ago, CoronaKid said:

From that quote, it would seem that you only need to register the birth within a year.

Correct, and I believe the child then needs to choose when they reach the age of 18. Germany is not too fond of "Mehrstaatigkeit" (multi citizenship). The only exception for US/DE dual citizenship in this scenario (I believe) is, if the child either grew up in Germany (and the second citizenship is that of the parents), or attended school/professional training in Germany.

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52 minutes ago, Quarknase said:

For Germany, a child born to German Citizens abroad does not automatically acquire German citizenship:

 

Im Ausland geborene Kinder, deren deutsche Eltern bzw. deutsche Mutter oder deutscher Vater am oder nach dem 01.01.2000 (Inkrafttreten der Staatsangehörigkeitsrechtsreform) im Ausland geboren wurden, erwerben grundsätzlich nicht mehr die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit. Etwas anderes gilt nur, wenn sie dadurch staatenlos würden, oder wenn die deutschen Eltern oder der deutsche Elternteil die Geburt innerhalb eines Jahres der zuständigen Auslandsvertretung anzeigt (§ 4 Abs. 4 Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz – StAG).

Source: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/service/konsularinfo/staatsangehoerigkeitsrecht

 

@ Admins - I hope it's OK to post German content since we're in a regional subforum, but please remove if not :)

 

Actually, now that I read it again, it looks like this only applies to the future children, not this first child. It says "For children born abroad, whose german parents (or rather, german mother or german father) were born abroad on or after 1/1/2000, no longer acquire German citizenship."

 

So that only applies if the german parent(s) were also born abroad. Even so, it says that the birth would just need to be registered within a year, so it's not a deal breaker by any means, as long as the parents are informed and take action.

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My neighbor was German (work permit) and wife Phillipino

Their child was born here and they have returned to Germany but the following applies to the child

 

For citizens born in the United States, the only ways that citizenship can be lost are through an affirmative action on the part of the citizen to renounce his or her citizenship or through the committing of several actions listed in § 349 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA).

 

So, if he has a child of his own ,   the child ,  even if born outside the US can have US citizenship if he meets certain conditions:

 

In general, these laws require that at least one parent was a U.S. citizen, and the U.S. citizen parent had lived in the United States for a period of time. 


 

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14 minutes ago, CoronaKid said:

Actually, now that I read it again, it looks like this only applies to the future children, not this first child. It says "For children born abroad, whose german parents (or rather, german mother or german father) were born abroad on or after 1/1/2000, no longer acquire German citizenship."

 

So that only applies if the german parent(s) were also born abroad. Even so, it says that the birth would just need to be registered within a year, so it's not a deal breaker by any means, as long as the parents are informed and take action.

Yes. My understanding from OP’s initial post was that they’re asking about that (if someone that acquired DE/US dual citizenship through birth, not location) would give birth to a child. If I misunderstood, my apologies :)

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17 minutes ago, Quarknase said:

Yes. My understanding from OP’s initial post was that they’re asking about that (if someone that acquired DE/US dual citizenship through birth, not location) would give birth to a child. If I misunderstood, my apologies :)

Ah no, sorry, I was just being specific in my analysis. In this question, every generation is important. I was just clarifying what scenario that rule applies to.

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1 hour ago, CoronaKid said:

Yea, each country has some restrictions it seems, but they seem to be the same restrictions placed on the original parents. So it doesn't seem to be more restrictive of 

Edited by Lil bear
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Just now, CoronaKid said:

How so? Every rule so far seems to apply to each generation equally.

I didn’t explain my answer properly and haven’t got the time to do to right now .. so I deleted it 

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