If dual citizenship is legal now, then why do people who want to become naturalized US citizens still have to take an oath giving up their old citizenship?
The Afroyim Supreme Court ruling, which paved the way for dual citizenship after foreign naturalization, dealt specifically with the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship to people “born or naturalized in the United States.” The court did not prohibit Congress from establishing prerequisites to naturalization. Hence, it is still OK for Congress to require prospective new citizens to be willing to renounce their old citizenships. Incidentally, this asymmetry may explain why many immigration lawyers in the US are seemingly unaware of the laws permitting dual US/other citizenship. They spend all their time dealing with people who want to become US citizens or permanent residents — and since the US requires a renunciation of prior citizenship as part of the naturalization procedure, these lawyers may incorrectly assume the law works the same both ways and thus misadvise someone who is already a US citizen that he can’t become a dual citizen. Be very mindful of this point if you look f
Related Questions
- If dual citizenship is legal now, then why do people who want to become naturalized US citizens still have to take an oath giving up their old citizenship?
- How would you improve the citizenship test for people wanting to become US citizens?
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