Dual Citizenship

The United States does not formally recognize dual citizenship; however, neither does it act against it. Currently, the United States tolerates the millions of Americans who have dual citizenship. Unlike in the past, the courts maintain that actions that symbolize dual, split, or even [Page 740]the abandonment of American allegiance are not sufficient for compulsory expatriation or any other legal action. Since 1907, Americans who acquired another citizenship have faced the risk of losing their U.S. citizenship. Today the legal standard has changed, and in order to revoke U.S. citizenship, the state has to prove that taking the second citizenship was performed voluntarily and with the intention to relinquish U.S. citizenship. Nevertheless, it is questionable whether Americans have really adopted a political philosophy that embraces multiple national loyalties.

Dual citizenship is the consequence of two phenomena. The first is the movement of people across national borders (and to a lesser extent, the realignment of geographical borders by agreements or wars). The second is the fact that different countries have different policies regarding naturalization—some countries grant citizenship only to those who are born in the state territory (jus soli), others grant citizenship according to descent (jus sanguinis), or according to a combination of the two policies. Therefore, children born in the United States to immigrant parents automatically receive U.S. citizenship regardless of the legal status of their parents and can usually also keep their parents’ citizenship. A child who is born to one parent who is a U.S. citizen and one who is not may get both citizenships; immigrants (from one of the 92 countries that allow dual citizenship) can acquire dual citizenship by naturalization in the United States without voluntarily renouncing their former citizenship; and even immigrants who do lose their former citizenship upon naturalization in the United States may regain it while retaining their U.S. citizenship.

Having dual citizenship can be extremely important for establishing a multicultural society. Benefits include the facilitation of remittances, encouragement of immigration and naturalization, and the development of a sense of civic solidarity. In fact, for those strategic reasons many countries, such as India and Australia, began to permit multiple national allegiances. In March 1998, Mexico departed from its historic hostility to dual citizenship, explicitly in order to foster ongoing nationality links with Mexican emigrants who naturalize in the United States.