Citizenship
Citizenship: becoming an American & dual nationalities
The process of becoming an American citizen is referred to as the Naturalization process. Depending on where in the country you file your application, the period of time between filing out the application and the interview to become an American citizen can vary from five months to over two years.
This process does take time. First, you will need to get an appointment letter from U.S. of Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly known as the INS. They will require you to have your fingerprints taken before coming in for an interview. The ceremony for receiving the naturalization certificate will usually take place from 1 to 180 days after the interview. In some U.S. of Citizenship and Immigration Services district offices, it can take up to two years. Of course, it all depends on the number of applications in different states from people who want to become an American citizen.
Duel nationality: how does it work?
Dual nationality means that a person is a citizen of two countries at the same time.
Each country has its own citizenship laws. Persons may have dual nationality by operation of different laws rather than by their own choice. For example, a child born in a foreign country to U.S. citizen parents may be both a U.S. citizen and a citizen of the country of birth.
A U.S. citizen may also acquire foreign citizenship by marriage, or a person naturalized as a U.S. citizen may not lose the citizenship of the country of birth. U.S. law does not
require a person to choose one citizenship or another. Also, a person who is automatically granted another citizenship does not risk losing U.S. citizenship. However, a person who acquires a foreign citizenship by applying for it may lose their U.S. citizenship. In order to lose U.S. citizenship, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily, by free choice and with the intention to give up their
U.S. citizenship.
Dual nationals owe allegiance to both the United States and the foreign country and required to obey the laws of both. Either country has the right to enforce its own set of laws. Most U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States but dual nationals may also be required by the foreign country to use its passport to enter and leave that country. Use of the foreign passport does not endanger U.S. citizenship.
Information on losing foreign citizenship can be obtained from the foreign country's embassy and consulates in the United States. Americans can renounce U.S. citizenship in the proper form at U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.
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