Us Citizenship

If someone is a citizen of two countries at the same time they are considered to have dual citizenship. Many people do not realize that it is possible to be a citizen of more than one country. In fact there are people that are considered to have multi-citizenships because they are citizens from more than two countries. The laws governing how someone becomes a citizen varies from country to country and as a result someone can legally fall under two country's laws for citizenship and have dual citizenship.

Let's take a closer look at how dual citizenship works. If your parents are legal US citizens long enough prior to your birth, you are automatically a US citizen at your birth. This holds true regardless of what country your mother gives birth to you. Let's say that your parents are on a vacation in another country and you are born during the vacation. You will automatically be a US citizen at birth because both of your parents met the legal requirements for citizenship. Yet, if the country that you are born has laws that your birth on their soil makes you an automatic citizen, and this results in having dual citizenship at birth. You will be a legal US citizen and a legal citizen of the country you were actually born. This is the most common way that people obtain dual citizenship. They are born in one country that automatically gives them citizenship at birth and they are legal citizens of another country because of their parents' citizenships.

Another method to obtain dual citizenship is through being a citizen in one country and then applying and receiving citizenship in another country. The majority of countries do not have laws that cause you loose citizenship in their country if you become a citizen of another country. For example, you could be a natural born citizen in United States. Then later you can go through the naturalization process to become a Canadian citizen. Neither Canada nor the United States will revoke your citizenship for this situation. The end result is that you have obtained dual citizenship by now being a citizen of both the United States and of Canada.

Some countries do have laws that try to reduce the number of people that dual citizenships. There is a process called renunciation in order to be naturalized and obtain citizenship within a specific country. The United States will not revoke your citizenship if you go to another country and become a citizen there. However, if you come from another country and wish to be naturalized and obtain US citizenship, you will renounce the previous country and give up your citizenship in that country. For example, if you are a citizen of Canada and decide to obtain US citizenship, you will renounce your Canadian citizenship as part of the United States' naturalization process. When you become a United States citizen you will not receive dual citizenship because you will no longer legally be a citizen of Canada. This applies to other countries as well when you wish to obtain US citizenship.

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