3 Citizenships

[VickyP 34]

Hi guys .

Right now I am waiting on an approval of my ROC.

I always had a question in my mind and sadly I never could find the answer.

Well I was born and raised in Germany, my parents are from Greece. Since both countries are in the EU, I never needed the German citizenship. In 2005 I decided oh well, let me just get it, since I am feeling more German than anything else.

The 1982 Kids weren't getting the German citizenship automatically.

Here my question: If I decided to apply for the USC, do you guys think I could also apply to keep my German? I know that I would never loose the Greek since Greece has a different Greek by blood law.

I do know that Germans by birth can apply to keep it with having good reasons but how is it with people that didn't have it by birth?

That subject is confusing me and I can't really find the answer lol.

Thanks in advance

Edited November 23, 2013 by VickyP

[Justine+David 218]

I believe there is a yahoo group that deals with keeping German citizenship. There is a member here who got it a couple of years ago. His name used to be "Just Bob" but I think it's something else now, if anyone else remembers what it is? He's very helpful.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

To keep German citizenship you will need to get special permission beforehand. The permission is a long word I can't remember, but it is abbreviated BBG (that can help for searching on VJ). Just Bob is now called Brother Hezekiel, but I haven't seen him post in a long time. He has (or had) a group called zwei passe to address this very problem.

You will need that permission before you become a USC or else your German citizenship will be terminated.

[VickyP 34]

Thanks guys

[Nica_In_Love 98]

Yep, like the guys stated, Just Bob was/is a good source for that info. But maybe this helps:

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/zweipaesse/info

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/241744-dual-americangerman-citizenship-beibehaltungsgenehmigung/

[NickD 203]

Kind of forced on you whether you want to maintain citizenship in another country or not. Wife wants to be a US citizen by choice so got that. She naturalized in Venezuela and owns a $350,000 condo we cannot sell or if could, could never get our money out of that country the way it is now. If she does not maintain her Venezuela citizenship, that condo will be taken away from her.

It was not her choice to be born in Colombia, but that is where her family is at. Thanks to our DOS with an agreement they made with Colombia and her place of birth in her US passport is in Colombia, she had no choice but to renew her citizenship in that country before she could get a Colombian passport. The only way they would admit her. They knew our hands were tied, so charged us a small fortune for this.

Just saying, its not a question of choice, take it no further than this.

Ha, that word is "Beibehaltungsgenehmigung", from what I recall, this has to be done before you get your US citizenship. Contact your nearest German consulate for the details.

They sure don't post big signs on issues like this, can also look up your country in the DOS website and learn the agreements made between the various countries. Something we should have done before my wife and I tried to visit Colombia. I had no problems with entering, but she sure did. But after a half an hour of discussion on this issue, did finally admit her. The only way she could renew her Colombian citizenship was to be in Colombia. Can't do this through are not so local Colombian consulate.

What a week that was in Bogota, couldn't just visit one office but had a have a dozen scattered all over Bogota and had to visit each one in steps. Good thing I had a couple of thousand US dollars in my wallet, without that, couldn't do anything. They love US dollars.

Now my wife has no problems entering Colombia with her Colombian passport. But can't leave with it because it doesn't have a US visa in it. So has to show her US passport as well, but can't just leave with her passport, because it has her place of birth in it. So has to show both.

Can only visualize our ambassadors getting together, getting stone drunk at taxpayer expenses, then coming up with all these laws.

[mivingon 0]

@VickyP

I have two also, German and British.

If you apply for the US Citizenship and want to keep your German one you have to apply for a "Beibehaltungsgenehmigung".

I did that, now I have three.

No problem at all.