Surrender former Citizenship(s) to become a US Citizen?

[Michelle13 39]

Hello everyone. I am new to this board and perhaps this question has already been asked or that I'm in the wrong place in this message board...

But I have a question directed to those of you who have become US citizens. My question is: did you have to surrender your former home citizenship or did they allow you to hold dual?

I've heard both sides where some strongly believe you must surrender all other citizenships, however I've also heard those who personally know people who were able to maintain both.

Would love to hear your thoughts/experiences.

Thanks so much! <3

[Credo 12]

Depends on your country. My country, you can have dual citizenship with no issue. See the laws of your country for more guidance

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

US doesn't care.

Other countries might care. wikipedia for specific country.

[Boiler 43,401]

UK not a problem having both.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Most western countries - including Canada - don't care about multiple citizenships.

[Penguin_ie 5,984]

Ireland and Switzerland didn't care, so I have three citizenships now, and so do my kids.

[newacct 688]

Hello everyone. I am new to this board and perhaps this question has already been asked or that I'm in the wrong place in this message board...

But I have a question directed to those of you who have become US citizens. My question is: did you have to surrender your former home citizenship or did they allow you to hold dual?

I've heard both sides where some strongly believe you must surrender all other citizenships, however I've also heard those who personally know people who were able to maintain both.

Would love to hear your thoughts/experiences.

Thanks so much! <3

Who has each country's nationality and citizenship is completely determined by that country's laws. US cannot say whether you have other countries' nationality; and other countries cannot say whether you have US nationality.

What some countries do is they require that you voluntarily go through the process to renounce your existing nationalities, as a prerequisite of naturalization. If you voluntarily go through the process to renounce your existing nationalities, then well, you obviously lost them, of your own doing. The US has never required people to do such a thing as part of naturalization in the US.

Voluntarily obtaining a new nationality may cause you to automatically lose your existing nationalities under those countries' laws. You must look at the laws for loss of nationality for your country of nationality to determine if this is the case. The US has nothing to do with this.

[NikLR 13,220]

Canada doesn't care. You keep Canadian citizenship unless you specifically renounce it in writing, or unless it's removed from you because you have another citizenship and committed an act of terrorism.

[ExPatty 502]

I've heard both sides where some strongly believe you must surrender all other citizenships, however I've also heard those who personally know people who were able to maintain both.

The US does not compel anybody to surrender a previous citizenship. Period. In fact, your citizenship is between you and any other country. The US has no say over that relationship. Some countries won't allow multiple citizenships, so if you're from India for example India will have a problem if you become an American. The US doesn't care either way. You need to identify your home country and figure out what they say about it. If it is indeed Canada, you will be a dual citizen, as Canada completely blesses the concept.

http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-and-dual-nationality/dual-nationality.html

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=356&t=5

Edited August 20, 2015 by ExPatty

[Transborderwife 4,666]

The US does not compel anybody to surrender a previous citizenship. Period. In fact, your citizenship is between you and any other country. The US has no say over that relationship. Some countries won't allow multiple citizenships, so if you're from India for example India will have a problem if you become an American. The US doesn't care either way. You need to identify your home country and figure out what they say about it. If it is indeed Canada, you will be a dual citizen, as Canada completely blesses the concept.

http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-and-dual-nationality/dual-nationality.html

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=356&t=5

I wouldn't say Canada blesses the concept totally as you're now considered a second class citizen if you have more than one citizenship

[newacct 688]

I wouldn't say Canada blesses the concept totally as you're now considered a second class citizen if you have more than one citizenship

That "second-class citizen" stuff is a bunch of BS. According to this logic, in every country that is a party to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and which has any kind of stripping of citizenship, dual citizens are "second-class".

[blondedoc 35]

Brazil allows both and if you want to give up from the brazilian citizenchip, you have to make a process for it!

[Michelle13 39]

Ok Great!

Thank you everyone for your input! I really appreciate it!