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Overview. Dual citizenship, also called dual nationality, describes a person who is a national of two countries at the same time. United States law permits it. Nothing in the Immigration and Nationality Act forbids a United States citizen from holding another nationality, and the Department of State confirms that United States law places no obstacle in the way of acquiring a foreign nationality and obliges no one to choose between the two.
How dual nationality arises. It usually arises through the automatic operation of two legal systems rather than by any deliberate election. A child born in the United States is a citizen at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment and 8 U.S.C. 1401(a), and may at the same moment inherit a parent's nationality under that parent's national law. A child born abroad to a United States citizen parent may acquire citizenship at birth under 8 U.S.C. 1401(c) through (g), with 1401(g) conditioning transmission on the citizen parent's prior physical presence in the United States for five years, two of them after the age of fourteen, and 8 U.S.C. 1409 supplying separate rules for children born out of wedlock; such a child commonly also holds the nationality of the country of birth. A child who is a permanent resident may acquire citizenship automatically under 8 U.S.C. 1431 once the statutory conditions are met, or through an application by a citizen parent under 8 U.S.C. 1433. A permanent resident who naturalizes ordinarily keeps the earlier nationality unless the other country's own law removes it.
The other nationality is governed entirely by the other country's law. The United States takes no position on whether a person should hold a second nationality and cannot determine whether that nationality continues, lapses, or is forfeited. Each country decides for itself who its nationals are, on what terms the status may be kept, and what consequences follow from acquiring another nationality. Anyone with an interest in a foreign nationality should put the question to that country's own authorities, ordinarily its embassy or consulate, and should not assume that the answer supplied by United States law carries over.
The naturalization oath. Every applicant for naturalization must take the oath of allegiance prescribed by 8 U.S.C. 1448(a) and set out verbatim at 8 C.F.R. 337.1(a), which includes a promise to renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty. That clause is a condition of admission to United States citizenship. It is not one of the formal acts of renunciation of United States nationality listed in INA 349, and it does not of its own force extinguish the other nationality, because only the law of the country concerned can do that. Many countries disregard the oath altogether, with the result that a naturalized citizen often remains a national of the country of origin whatever the oath says.
Loss of United States citizenship requires intent. Under INA 349, 8 U.S.C. 1481(a), a national loses United States nationality only by voluntarily performing one of seven listed acts with the intention of relinquishing that nationality. Both elements must be present. The listed acts include naturalizing in a foreign state on one's own application after the age of eighteen, taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign state after that age, certain foreign military service, certain foreign government employment, formal renunciation, and conviction of specified offenses against the United States. Performing one of these acts without the intention of giving up United States nationality does not cause loss.
The administrative presumption of retention. By regulation at 22 C.F.R. 50.40(a), a citizen who naturalizes in a foreign country, takes a routine oath of allegiance, or accepts non-policy-level employment with a foreign government is presumed to intend to retain United States citizenship and need submit no evidence of that intent. The presumption runs in the citizen's favor, but it can be displaced: the same regulation provides that a person who affirmatively tells a consular officer, after committing a potentially expatriating act, that the intention was to relinquish United States citizenship will lose it. Outside those three categories, a consular officer examines whether evidence of an intent to relinquish exists.
Burden and standard of proof. Where loss of nationality is placed in issue, 8 U.S.C. 1481(b) puts the burden on the party claiming that loss occurred and sets the standard at a preponderance of the evidence. The statute presumes that an expatriating act was performed voluntarily, but that presumption may itself be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence showing that the act was not voluntary.
Conduct wrongly believed to end citizenship. Voting in a foreign election has not been an expatriating act since 1978, when Congress struck the provision that had covered it. Holding or using a foreign passport does not appear on the statutory list at all. Ordinary employment with a foreign government below the policy level falls within the presumption of retention. Standing as a candidate for foreign office, including the highest office of a foreign state, is not a potentially expatriating act; only accepting the office and performing its duties is, and then only with the required intent. Foreign military service is potentially expatriating under 8 U.S.C. 1481(a)(3) only where the forces are engaged in hostilities against the United States or the person serves as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer, and intent must still be shown. Service as an officer, and any policy-level foreign government post, nonetheless warrant legal advice beforehand.
Renunciation is a deliberate formal act. A citizen who genuinely wishes to give up United States nationality does so under 8 U.S.C. 1481(a)(5) by appearing before a United States diplomatic or consular officer in a foreign state and renouncing in the prescribed form. The narrow alternative at 8 U.S.C. 1481(a)(6) applies only within the United States in time of war and requires the approval of the Attorney General. Loss is not automatic: the Department of State must approve the request and issue a Certificate of Loss of Nationality before the loss becomes administratively final, and if the request is denied the person remains a United States national. Administrative review of the determination may be requested.
Limits on where loss can occur. Except for renunciation inside the United States in wartime and for conviction of the offenses listed in the statute, 8 U.S.C. 1483(a) provides that no national can lose United States nationality while within the United States or its outlying possessions, although loss may take effect if the person afterwards takes up residence abroad. No rule requires a dual national to choose one nationality at the age of eighteen. The only age-related provision in this part of the Act is 8 U.S.C. 1483(b), a narrow protection for a person who asserts a claim to United States nationality within six months of turning eighteen against certain acts committed before that birthday.
Denaturalization is a separate mechanism. Expatriation under INA 349 is the loss of a citizenship validly held. Revocation of naturalization under 8 U.S.C. 1451 is different in kind: a civil action in federal district court to set aside a naturalization order on the ground that it was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation, operating retroactively to the date of the original order. It concerns the integrity of the naturalization itself and has nothing to do with holding a second nationality.
Documentation is not status. A passport is evidence of nationality rather than the nationality itself. A United States citizen remains a citizen whether or not a current passport is held, and an expired passport does not disturb the underlying status. Holding two passports does not by itself establish two nationalities, and holding only one does not disprove a second. A certificate of naturalization and a Consular Report of Birth Abroad are likewise evidence of a status that already exists in law.
Entering and leaving the United States. 8 U.S.C. 1185(b) makes it unlawful for a United States citizen to enter or depart the United States without a valid United States passport, subject to exceptions the President may prescribe. Those exceptions appear at 22 C.F.R. 53.2 and cover such matters as direct travel between parts of the United States, certain closed-loop sea voyages, merchant mariners, and designated trusted-traveler arrangements. A dual national therefore cannot enter the United States on the foreign passport. The other country may equally require that its own passport be used to enter and leave its territory, and using the foreign passport for travel between two foreign countries is not inconsistent with United States law.
Permanent residence and citizenship are not equally secure. A lawful permanent resident can lose that status by abandoning residence in the United States, and prolonged absence carries a genuine risk. A citizen stands in a wholly different position, because citizenship cannot be lost through absence, residence abroad, or the passage of time, but only through intentional expatriating conduct or through revocation of an improperly obtained naturalization. The two situations are often confused, and the difference between them is among the strongest practical reasons for naturalizing.
Obligations that follow United States citizenship. Citizenship carries duties that do not depend on where the citizen lives. United States citizens are subject to federal income tax on worldwide income, together with associated reporting obligations, regardless of country of residence, and registration with the Selective Service System is required of male citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six under 50 U.S.C. 3802(a), including those residing abroad. Duties owed to the other country of nationality, such as compulsory military service or its own tax rules, are that country's affair and may be enforced when the person is within its territory. Consular assistance from the United States is frequently limited in the country of a person's other nationality.
Tax consequences of giving up citizenship. Expatriation is a taxable event for some individuals. 26 U.S.C. 877A imposes mark-to-market treatment on those who meet the statutory definition of a covered expatriate, and separate reporting requirements apply. These rules are technical and the governing thresholds are revised from time to time, so anyone contemplating renunciation should obtain advice from a qualified tax professional before acting rather than relying on a general description of the subject.
Citizenship at birth in the United States. Citizenship acquired by birth in the United States rests on the Fourteenth Amendment and on 8 U.S.C. 1401(a), neither of which has been amended. Executive Order 14160, published at 90 Fed. Reg. 8449, directs federal agencies not to issue or recognize documents of United States citizenship for two described categories of children born in the United States more than thirty days after the order was signed, and it has been the subject of litigation. Because the position is contested and may change, the state of the law on this point should be confirmed with counsel and with the responsible agencies rather than assumed.
Related pages. U.S. Citizenship introduces this part of the handbook, and Naturalization Requirements sets out the eligibility rules for becoming a United States citizen. Questions about a particular situation may be raised through the contact page.