[Rhodes22-list] Legal: Ben Please Help

[Brad Haslett]

Hank,

You are correct.  The US does not recognize dual citizenship.  When
you naturalize as a US citizen you are required to formally denounce
allegiance to all other foreign powers.  Some other countries do
recognize dual citizenship but if you get caught holding a passport
from a foreign country while holding a US passport, "you got some
'esplainin' to do".  We looked into the issue while waiting for my
wife's citizenship to come through (thought it might be good for
business down the road) and were told by an immigration attorney, "not
no, but Hell NO'".

The case with Obama is this, did his step-father adopt him?  No one
knows the answer nor has the legal implications been fully tested..

Brad

On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 5:55 PM, Hank <hnw555 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ben,
>
> I'm not so sure that you are correct.  My wife is originally from Mexico.
> When she received her naturalized US citizenship in 1997, she was required
> by INS to formally renounce hew Mexican Citizenship.  We were told that the
> US does not recognize dual citizenship but that other countries do.  As far
> as the US was concerned, she was solely an American Citizen.
>
> I found this at http://www.richw.org/dualcit/law.html.
>
> " A description of the US naturalization oath is given in Section 337(a) of
> the INA [8 USC § 1448 <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/8/1448.html>(a)].
> Of particular relevance to the dual citizenship issue is that, as part of
> the oath, a new citizen must pledge "to renounce and abjure absolutely and
> entirely all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate,
> state, or sovereignty of whom or which the applicant was before a subject or
> citizen."
>
> However, this state dept webpage seems to refute our experience.
> http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html
>
> Maybe it was a policy of INS back then that is no longer enforced.  Maybe
> two different departments in the same government are contradicting
> themselves?  Nah, that isn't possible.
>
> Hank
>
> On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 6:10 PM, Ben Cittadino <bcittadino at dcs-law.com>wrote:
>
>>
>> Bill;
>>
>> If this question was addressed to me ( and it may not have been ) the
>> answer
>> is that if your mother never "formally renounced" her US citizenship then
>> she was a native born American citizen the entire time although she may
>> have
>> held duel citizenship for part of the time. She can be President.
>>
>> Americans can be duel citizens but often other countries require that you
>> make a choice.  For example I believe Japanese citizens who become American
>> citizens are deemed to have renounced their Japanese citizenship.
>>
>> Also, remember this advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Ben Cittadino
>>
>> 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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>>
>> --
>> View this message in context:
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>> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>>
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