[Rhodes22-list] Legal: Ben Please Help

[Herb Parsons]

I think that the whole "dual citizenship" thing is misunderstood by many.

When I turned 18, I was sent documentation asking me to claim a country 
for my citizenship (I can't really remember the details, they weren't 
very important to me at the time). I was born to American parents, both 
legal adults (at the time, 21 was the age of majority), one of whom was 
stationed on an American Army base, but I was actually born in a 
civilian hospital.Seeing as how I left Germany at the ripe old age of 13 
months, when I was 18 it seemed to make sense to me to claim American as 
my citizenship (I really wanted to vote in the next election, in '86). I 
DID toy with the idea, for a few brief moments, of claiming German 
citizenship, just for the notoriety (I was 18, single, and realized that 
almost ANY "difference" could get you talking to a girl), but even at 
that young age, I figured the pitfalls outweighed the benefits (but 
then, who knows for sure?).

I was then under the impression that one could not have dual citizenship 
if one of the countries was the US. I've since though, have had several 
people tell me that they had a similar experience, and others insist 
that they hold dual citizenship. I've not seen any consistency in the 
other countries involved, in other words, I couldn't confidently say you 
CAN hold dual citizenship with the US and Canada, but not with the US 
and Germany, as I've seen claims both ways.

I'd say that it would be interesting to hear from an immigration lawyer 
on it sometime.


Bill Effros wrote:
> Ben,
>
> My mother was born in NYC in 1917 to Dutch parents with a business in 
> the United States.  After WWI she went to Holland with her parents, and 
> enjoyed the benefits of Dutch citizenship.
>
> In 1938, before her 21st birthday, her parents arranged for her to 
> return to the United States to claim her American Citizenship, which she 
> would otherwise have  lost, owing to her exercise of Dutch Citizenship.  
> She traveled to the United States on a US Passport, and remained here as 
> a United States citizen.
>
> It was my understanding that she was not eligible to run for President 
> of the United States because she was a Dutch citizen as a child and had 
> to reclaim her American citizenship, and thus became a "naturalized" 
> rather than "native born" citizen.
>
> Do I have this wrong?  Is there still a chance for my mother to become 
> President?
>
> Bill Effros
>
>
>
>
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