A Question for the Canadians: Do you plan to become a citizen?

[rhymeswithcandi 0]

Dual citizenship is our plan....then moving back to Canada

I actually voted "no" because I never want to denounce my Canadian citizenship. It was my understanding that one has to denounce citizenship to any other country during the citizenship ceremony. Isn't that the case?

he said yes he is. i think he just wants to do it be cool and say he is a dual citizen. lol

Haha!

[rhymeswithcandi 0]

Yep, due to my wifes work, I have to (thats all I can say,lol) There are other benefits beside being able to vote and not being deported, not exactly sure how it works, but the rules do differ a bit if your significant other dies and ur not a citizen!

I was almost in the same boat as you myself (i think ) Marrying a "foreigner" had a disadvantage for my husband... but he's decided to change careers.

[rhymeswithcandi 0]

I'm thinking no at this point.

And I have changed my mind on things before.

I voted "unsure".

We have been leaning, even before we got engaged, of moving back to Canada at some point in the future.

Hmmm...what to do...time will tell.

We've talked about that as well. We like having the option of moving to Canada sometime in the future.

[utopiacowboy 0]

I actually voted "no" because I never want to denounce my Canadian citizenship. It was my understanding that one has to denounce citizenship to any other country during the citizenship ceremony. Isn't that the case?

No, it is not the case. I became a US citizen in 1983 and I retained my Canadian citizenship. You actually have to file a form with an application fee to surrender your Canadian citizenship. I have gotten my kids Canadian passports without any problems.

[KarenCee 3]

This is an excellent read for those with questions about dual US/Cdn citizenship.

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

[Autumnchik 6]

Dual citizenship is our plan....then moving back to Canada

I actually voted "no" because I never want to denounce my Canadian citizenship. It was my understanding that one has to denounce citizenship to any other country during the citizenship ceremony. Isn't that the case?

That is what my husband and I had thought too ... that, even if it is possible to legally retain Canadian citizenship, that the ceremony requires that you denounce citizenship to any other country.

[KarenCee 3]

If dual citizenship is legal now, then why do people who want to become naturalized US citizens still have to take an oath giving up their old citizenship? The Afroyim Supreme Court ruling, which paved the way for dual citizenship after foreign naturalization, dealt specifically with the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship to people "born or naturalized in the United States." The court did not prohibit Congress from establishing prerequisites to naturalization. Hence, it is still OK for Congress to require prospective new citizens to be willing to renounce their old citizenships.

Incidentally, this asymmetry may explain why many immigration lawyers in the US are seemingly unaware of the laws permitting dual US/other citizenship. They spend all their time dealing with people who want to become US citizens or permanent residents -- and since the US requires a renunciation of prior citizenship as part of the naturalization procedure, these lawyers may incorrectly assume the law works the same both ways and thus misadvise someone who is already a US citizen that he can't become a dual citizen. Be very mindful of this point if you look for a lawyer to discuss a dual citizenship situation with; if you find one who insists it's flatly impossible because US law prohibits it, keep looking.

Also, officials of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) -- formerly known as the INS -- may not always be aware of the full story on dual citizenship, for the same reason. USCIS employees who work as immigration officers at US border checkpoints presumably know dual US/other citizenship is possible -- but USCIS people who handle naturalization applications may not (since, as already mentioned, the US naturalization oath does contain a renunciatory statement which all would-be citizens must agree to make). Keep in mind that the primary US agency which deals with people who already are (or claim to be) US citizens is not the USCIS, but the Department of State. Consular officials at US embassies and consulates overseas work for the State Department.

Many other countries do not recognize the act of renouncing their citizenship as part of US naturalization, so a new US citizen may very likely still be considered a citizen by his old country. This is apparently a big reason why the State Department decided (in 1990) not to go after people any more, as a rule, when they continue to let their old country treat them as a citizen despite US naturalization.

But I thought US law didn't permit one to be a dual citizen -- that if you were (by birth or otherwise), you either had to give up the other citizenship when you came of age, or else you'd lose your US status. And that if you became a citizen of another country, you'd automatically lose your US citizenship. So what's all this talk about dual citizenship? It indeed used to be the case in the US that you couldn't hold dual citizenship (except in certain cases if you had dual citizenship from birth or childhood, in which case some Supreme Court rulings -- Perkins v. Elg (1939), Mandoli v. Acheson (1952), and Kawakita v. U.S. (1952) -- permitted you to keep both). However, most of the laws forbidding dual citizenship were struck down by the US Supreme Court in two cases: a 1967 decision, Afroyim v. Rusk, as well as a second ruling in 1980, Vance v. Terrazas.

Rules against dual citizenship still apply to some extent -- at least in theory -- to people who wish to become US citizens via naturalization. The Supreme Court chose to leave in place the requirement that new citizens must renounce their old citizenship during US naturalization. However, in practice, the State Department is no longer doing anything in the vast majority of situations where a new citizen's "old country" refuses to recognize the US renunciation and continues to consider the person's original citizenship to be in effect.

The official US State Department policy on dual citizenship today is that the United States does not favor it as a matter of policy because of various problems they feel it may cause, but the existence of dual citizenship is recognized (i.e., accepted) as a fact of life. That is, if you ask them if you ought to become a dual citizen, they will recommend against doing it; but if you tell them you are a dual citizen, they'll almost always say it's OK.

Edited February 9, 2008 by KarenCee

[Emancipation 2]

Just to make it easier for both of us.. we plan on both getting dual.. if possible. I of course will always consider my CDN citizenship to be "the official one".. but whatever.. at least I won't have to renew my GC every 10 years.

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

I will never ever give up my Canadian citizenship.

[Allie 5]

Dual citizenship is our plan....then moving back to Canada

I actually voted "no" because I never want to denounce my Canadian citizenship. It was my understanding that one has to denounce citizenship to any other country during the citizenship ceremony. Isn't that the case?

That is what my husband and I had thought too ... that, even if it is possible to legally retain Canadian citizenship, that the ceremony requires that you denounce citizenship to any other country.

At my AOS interview I was told because I was married to a USC I could apply for U.S. citizenship in 3 yrs instead of waiting the required 5 yrs. When I brought up that I would be dual citizenship if I did take out US. citizenship. I don't think she liked it very much.

She proceeded to to give me the U.S Oath of Citizenship about renouncing allegiance to any foreign State or Sovereignty and told me although Canada may still recognize my Canadian Citizenship the U.S only recognizes U.S. citizenship and if you give up U.S citizenship for another country you're not a U.S. citizen

After reading what Karen presented here I think the lady at Immigration needs to brush up on things

[Reba 2]

technically, when you take the oath of naturalization, you have to renounce your other citizenships. Canada would not recognize this renunciation however unless you go thru the formal process with Ottawa. So to the US government, you are a defacto US citizen, and no longer Canadian. To the Canadian government, you are Canadian.

I answered unsure to the poll. I really do not want to get US citizenship, for a host of reasons, the main one being that I just cannot choke down the oath, whether or not renunciation is enforced. The fact thta I'd have to say it, and that at some time in the future I can honestly see them enforcing naturalized citizens to formally renounce prior citizenships and it would come down to a choice. There are a few holier than Georges out there running for office, some with rather skewed and scary views.

However, I want to move back to Canada, hopefully for good, but if for some reason James hates it there, we may have to move back to the US and I'd rather not have to endure yet another immigration ordeal. If I had dual citizenship we could just go back and forth. THAT is the ONLY benefit I can see from it. The previously mentioned estate inheritance thing is rather annoying however, and I think rather rude of the US government to do to non-citizen spouses.

I still have another year before I'm eligible so I guess we'll see where we're at then. I know plenty of Canadians living in the US for several decades who never got naturalized and don't plan to. I don't have a problem renewing my green card every 10 years if for some reason we stay here and my husband is still deemed inadmissable to Canada

[Earmuffs 1]

I have no real reason to go back to Canada.. Both my kids are US citizens as well as my wife.. My grandparents are from the US... Even if I wanted to go back my wife would never follow.. She spent a year in Canada and hates it with a passion.. I cant blame her honestly.. Im not very fond of it either.. say waht you want thats just my opinion..

[MissStacey 1]

I voted yes.

I think being a Dual Citizen would be great. The US is now my home- once I become a Citizen I want to be able to vote.

[BelwinMills 0]

my husband plans not to become a citizen. So he can bring items down for his family with out having to pay.

[LadyNoles 0]

OK I'm all confused loll

I voted yes because I want dual citizenship but why in the world would we have to pay a fee to stay a citizen of our own country ???

And how can we be dual if we have to give up one or another ???