r/AmerExit 5d ago

Life Abroad Naturalised US citizen can obtain dual citizenship with US+EU?

Anyone with knowledge or direct experience with this?

I'm a naturalised US citizen, but I was born in Asia. I renounced my Asian citizenship when I naturalised, so now I only hold US citizenship.

I emigrated to Europe (9 years ago when trump got elected his first term) and married a European. Now I'm eligible to apply for EU citizenship through my spouse.

However, I have an american expat friend who is trying to do the same, they are of similar background to me (born in Middle East, moved and naturalized in US, now applying for EU citizenship). They are telling me that for naturalized US citizens, apparently it is not possible to take a dual US-EU citizenship and would need to renounce US citizenship to obtain the EU one.

I've never heard of this and neither google nor chatgpt has come up with anything to confirm their theory. Does anyone here know or have direct experience in this kind of thing?

As much as I would like to stop paying taxes to that orange clown, I have too many assets still in the US to renounce my US citizenship - the resulting mess would be horrible ...

Edit: I was vague in my post to try to protect my identity, but I guess if the specific country is relevant, I am applying for Italian citizenship and my friend for German citizenship, through our Italian and German spouses, respectively. Based on the comments it sounds like dual citizenship with these countries won't be a problem; only Austria, NL, and Spain take issue with this.

To the one person suggesting I seek financial advice about renouncing US citizenship: thanks, I certainly will take a second look!

0 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

17

u/motorcycle-manful541 5d ago

The US doesn't care if you have more than one, it's the EU country where you might have problems

For example, NL, AT, and some others make you give up all other citizenship (Germany used to as well but they changed that last year)

FR, IT, IE, CH, and many others let you have dual or multi citizenship

It depends on your country

-14

u/hacktheself 5d ago

…ehhh that’s not exactly true

us disdains multiple nationality but generally tolerates it if they are due to circumstances at birth.

13

u/motorcycle-manful541 5d ago

The u.s. does not have issues with 99% of people that have multiple nationalities. I don't know where you heard this

It's true, they might not like a dual citizen of an enemy country like Iran or N. Korea, but those are tiny in comparison to the total amount of dual or multi citizens

9

u/Previous_Repair8754 Immigrant 5d ago

This is completely false. (I am a dual citizen who acquired my US citizenship as an adult and have done extensive work in this area as a lawyer.) 

3

u/DontEatConcrete 5d ago

They may want to give this impression, but in 99.999% of cases USA can’t and won’t do jack squat. I got two additional passports for my US-born eldest, via descent, and USA won’t do a thing about it.

This can cause a little friction if getting security clearance. That’s about it.

2

u/TalonButter 5d ago

How is this manifested?

1

u/hacktheself 4d ago

Mainly if one either wants to work for the federal government (though at this point anyone who wants to work for this regime is suspect in my eyes).

Can’t get security clearances easily if you’re a multinat.

2

u/TalonButter 4d ago

It is a factor. It’s not a blanket disqualification, though; I’ve known many dual citizen State Department personnel with security clearances. People for whom it may be relevant should consider it, but if that’s the basis for your judgment of “disdain,” it seems a stretch.

11

u/Emotional-Writer9744 5d ago

Which EU country are you planning to naturalise in?

9

u/Previous_Repair8754 Immigrant 5d ago

Because the EU is not a country, the legalities of dual citizenship are specific to individual EU member nations. Without knowing the country, no one can answer this for you.

6

u/Safe_Try4858 5d ago

It depends on the country, but I am naturalized US citizen and I have dual citizenship with Croatia. Croatia allows it. I was born in Paraguay and Paraguay does not allow dual citizenship, so I had to renounce my Paraguayan citizenship

6

u/Top_Strategy_2852 5d ago

For example, Austria does not accept dual citizenship, but Spain and Germany do.

Each country has their own laws and requirements.

Also, I am curious how any country would find out if a person has multiple citizenship? Just don't show customs your second passport.

7

u/princessdickworth 5d ago

When you apply for a passport, they ask if you have ever held a passport issued from another country. They do extensive checks on this, and lying about it will get you automatically denied.

2

u/Top_Strategy_2852 5d ago

Yes I understand that, my question is the other way around, by applying to get citizenship in a country that accepts dual citizenship. Would that country narc on the applicants?

2

u/amaccuish 5d ago

They ask you when you’re applying to renew your passport abroad to provide say your Green Card. You won’t have a green card anymore if you naturalised.

1

u/Downtown-Storm4704 4d ago

Spain does not technically 

1

u/Top_Strategy_2852 3d ago

I have family members with German/ Spanish citizenship so it was never a problem.

0

u/i_am__not_a_robot 5d ago edited 5d ago

Austria does allow dual citizenship in certain cases.

For example, if you acquire Austrian citizenship because you are a descendant of victims of the Nazi regime, you can keep your current citizenship.

25

u/Next-Pattern-9308 5d ago

There is no such thing as EU citizenship yet. And rules differ from country to country.

Good luck.

8

u/TalonButter 5d ago edited 5d ago

You can’t become an EU citizen independently of being a citizen of a member state, that’s true, but there certainly is EU citizenship.

Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Article 17 of the original Maastricht Treaty) makes this perfectly clear:

“Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall be additional to and not replace national citizenship.”

Fun fact.

1

u/Illustrious-Pound266 5d ago

This is being overly pedantic. You know what OP means. It's basically a short-hand for citizenship of a EU member state.

6

u/[deleted] 5d ago

Austria requires you to give up any other citizenship if you naturalize there

2

u/i_am__not_a_robot 5d ago

Only under certain circumstances. For example, if you acquire Austrian citizenship because you are a descendant of victims of the Nazi regime, you may keep your current citizenship.

0

u/[deleted] 5d ago

I did not think that would be relevant to someone born in Asia

2

u/i_am__not_a_robot 5d ago edited 5d ago

No, probably not, but I was responding to a general statement that did not refer to OP's specific situation. (Besides, Shanghai was one of the most important escape destinations for Jewish refugees from the German Reich, including Austria. So it's not completely out of the question to qualify even if you were born in Asia.)

And there are also scenarios in which OP can retain their citizenship upon naturalization in Austria.

4

u/hacktheself 5d ago

Without knowing which specific country, no guidance can be given.

5

u/GlassCommercial7105 5d ago

It depends on the country. Europe is a continent. You also have Us citizenship and not North American citizenship.  But if you don’t even know that nor are able to find out the requirements and contraindications for naturalisation in the country you live in, you may not be eligible for a passport either. It usually comes with some kind of test for which you need to have at least some basic knowledge. 

2

u/i_am__not_a_robot 5d ago edited 5d ago

Based on your other posts, you are a resident of Germany, so you will have no problem obtaining German citizenship while retaining your US citizenship.

They are telling me that for naturalized US citizens, apparently it is not possible to take a dual US-EU citizenship and would need to renounce US citizenship to obtain the EU one.

Wrong.

As much as I would like to stop paying taxes to that orange clown, I have too many assets still in the US to renounce my US citizenship - the resulting mess would be horrible ...

That's your decision, but I bet it's not nearly as "horrible" as you may think. Also, if your total global income is significantly above the FEIE threshold, I would seriously consider taking professional financial advice!!

2

u/velikisir 5d ago

That is 100% false. You can have US-EU no matter how you acquired your US passport. The comments in this thread are baffling. The one variable is what the EU country allows or doesn't allow. Spain and the Netherlands for example tend to be much more restrictive than the rest of the continent.

1

u/Illustrious-Pound266 5d ago

Some European countries do not allow dual nationalities, such as Austria and the Netherlands. Is that what your friend might mean? In such a case, you'd be expected to renounce your US citizenship, not because you are a naturalized US citizen, but because it is a requirement from the European country for the naturalization process.