Multiple Citizenships by birth?

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Hello,

I am a Canadian who obtained Czech citizenship through my Father some years ago. I am now wanting to apply for American citizenship through my American mother. Does the U.S. Allow 3 citizenships? I will not have obtained my parents citizenship through naturalization nor do I plan on living in the states. I wish to work in the states as I live in a border city.

I am currently checking what the rules are for the Czechs on their side of things.

I guess my question is "Will I be forced to give up my Czech citizenship, to obtain U.S. and keep Canadian"?

I understand this question has been asked recently but Im wondering if my circumstances would warrant a different answer. Thanks for your time!

[canadian_wife 1,831]

I do not believe that the US will force you to give up other citizenship. They will, however, only recognize your US citizenship.

good luck

[BigDaddy28 228]

You should be fine to file for your US citizenship If your mom done her time she is supposed to live in the US. i believe 5 years but i don't know how many after the age 14. Good luck. And no the US will not force you about your multiple citizenships. I know somebody personally who has 3 nationalities, US is one of them. Good luck

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Thanks everyone for the info!

[aaron2020 11,652]

The US does not care about multiple citizenship.

You can be the citizen of a hundred countries and the US is okay with it. As far as the US is concern, you are a US citizen and are treated as such only (i.e. no calls to the Canadian Embassy I you get in trouble in the US, you will be treated like any other US citizen).

Some countries do not allow for multiple citizenship, so you will need to check to see if the Czecks and Canadians.

[aaron2020 11,652]

You should be fine to file for your US citizenship If your mom done her time she is supposed to live in the US. i believe 5 years but i don't know how many after the age 14. Good luck. And no the US will not force you about your multiple citizenships. I know somebody personally who has 3 nationalities, US is one of them. Good luck

The rules for deriving US citizenship from a US citizen parent are not consistent.

For example; if a child is born to a USC mother out of wedlock to a foreign father, then the USC mother only has to live for 1 year in the US before the child's birth.

Be careful since people in VJ seem to apply the 5 years residency rule for a married USC to all other situations.

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I am actually in the group of people who require proof of 5 years residency. That is proving the most difficult since she has not lived in the states since she was 22. I've contacted her work and hoping they have on record her address when she first started there. I also have her grade 12 report card with date. I've no idea where else to get this proof I hope those documents are enough.

[HeatDeath 431]

Per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_nationality_law :

You were born to a Czech citizen, so you became a Czech citizen at birth.

Per 2.2.1 Birth abroad to two United States citizens

You were born abroad to an American citizen who had [presumably] fulfilled the requirements of this section so you [presumably] became a US citizen at birth.

Clear so far. I don't have enough information to analyze your claim to Canadian citizenship. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_nationality_law#Birth_in_Canada , if, at the time of your birth, one of your parents was a Canadian citizen and/or PR, you would be a Canadian citizen at birth by virtue of having been born in Canada.

So you probably became a citizen of all three countries simultaneously, at birth.

This clarifies an important point from your original post: you are not obtaining citizenship to anywhere, and you never have. You've had all three citizenships since birth. You're just obtaining documentation to prove that you have these citizenships. Which is a very important distinction, particularly as far as the Czech republic is concerned.

This is important because according to the Czech Nationality law wikipedia article, Czech law bans acquiring another nationality unless by marriage or birth. The Czech Republic will strip you of your Czech citizenship if you acquire another nationality through any other method. But if you acquired all three nationalities by birth then you're fine.

The Czech Republic is the sticking point here. To answer your specific question, neither the US nor Canada will force you to relinquish their own or either of the other two citizenships. And it looks like the Czech Republic will be fine if you acquired all three citizenships simultaneously at birth. So it looks like you're ok to obtain proof of your US citizenship.

Edited July 23, 2013 by HeatDeath

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Thank you HeatDeath, I have just confirmed that exact point with the Czech consulate in Toronto. They have had numerous changes to their citizenship/immigration laws over the last few years that I was unsure.

It looks like my next challenge is to gather up evidence of my mothers residency and to see if I can attend the interview in Toronto without her as she is too ill and incapable of answering any questions.

Thanks again!

[aaron2020 11,652]

Can you contact the high school on the report card for your mother's records?

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I have tried contacting the school and left a message but I'm wondering if they are on summer break now. In the meantime I'm trying to think of other options. Thanks for the idea though!