Katadina

Hello All,

You all have been so helpful to me already so I have another question for you.
British Citizenship VS American Citizenship.

Hubby is british with american citizenship. When he became an American citizen they told him they do not recognize british citizenship and his british passport would become null ad void. So all these years we felt he had given up his british citizenship for me.. which was VERY hard for me to swallow.

Now that we are considering a move back he has been doing some research and found that the UK doenst feel the way we thought. That he CAN apply for a new british passport and they arent going to tell him to give up his american citizenship or passport.

They also said after 3 years our kids can have british passports as well.
Some of the posts i have posted have suggested keeping his american citizenship as IF and when we ever wanted to come back to USA then it would be so much easier..But there are alot of good reasons for him to get his british passport back as well.

Soooo 1. can he have both passports ? dual citizenship? or 2. which is better ? staying an american or giving that up ad going back to being a british citizen?

We have kids, we want the best for them.

Thanks so much
Kat

ladyofthelake

Hi
He can have both, lots of people do. If nothing else, it saves the queues at both immigration lines!

Serenity

Definitely can have both! My little boy is a dual UK/US citizen and my US hubs is getting his Brit citizenship as soon as we can afford it! You have to carry a lot of passports when visiting the US and show the right ones at the right time tho!

Also, if your hubs was born in the UK or has lived there as a citizen for 3+ years then your children are automatically entitled to Brit citizenship by descent and can apply for Brit passports as per no. 9 of this on the Brit Embassy website:

http://www.britainusa.com/sections/a...=41001&a=25316

Here is the British Embassy info on dual citizenship in general:

http://www.britainusa.com/sections/a...=41001&a=25317

So if your daughter is coming with you she won't need a visa.

banjo

were you guys married when the children were born? If so, then they are automatically British by decent and they do not need to wait the 3yrs.

Katadina

yes married 20 yrs, kids are 18 and 15 so were good !
thanks so much
K

Katadina

Thanks so much for your help.. I really appreciate it
k

Englishmum

However, when you leave or re-enter the US you must always use your American passports.

Also you enter and leave the UK on your British passports....and of course you get through the immigration lines (queues) more quickly on either side of the Atlantic!

PS: it might be of interest to you to contact Calle by sending her a Private Message - although she posts intermittently now that she's settled in the UK again.

She was born in England but her family moved to the US when she was five years old. However, she never felt entirely comfortable living in the USA and last November she moved back to the UK with her American husband and teenage children (plus their dog!). Calle's mother and sister remain in Florida. They actually sailed on the transatlantic liner the QM2 when they moved to England as it was cheaper than flying and their dog was in the ship's kennels.

They are in the North Midlands and from what I've read on here, they really love living in England. I think her daughter was about 15 years old so it's definitely worth reading her posts.

You can just go to the 'Member List' in the blue box at the top of the page and find Calle's profile and posts (I don't know how to put the 'accent' over the e in Calle!), or to start you off here are some of her recent posts (and you can just click on her name to send her a Private Message):


http://britishexpats.com/forum/searc...earchid=601748 (in particular read "Booked!" and "I'm Home")

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348841 (educating teenagers)

Jerseygirl

As I am soon to find out...hopefully.

JAJ

Who's "they"? If they were American officials then they have no jurisdiction over who is and is not a British citizen.

If they were British officials then they were talking rubbish.

What happened to his old British passport? Did someone confiscate it?

Correct. And the U.S. won't mind either provided he keeps a valid U.S. passport and keeps filing U.S. tax while living outside the States (even if she doesn't have to pay anything).


If your husband was born or naturalised in the United Kingdom then the children are already British citizens (by descent).

Just apply for them to have British passports and British style birth certificates from the British Embassy in Washington DC. They won't need a British visa.


Yes he can.

After 3 years living in the United Kingdom you would be eligible for British citizenship yourself. You'd also be able to have dual citizenship.

This site tells you what the U.S. really thinks about dual citizenship:
http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

The bottom line is that Americans can have dual/multiple citizenship without problems provided:
- the other country/countries involved permit this (Britain does)
- they always show a U.S. passport to American immigration officials.
- they file for U.S. tax while living overseas (most expat Americans don't need to pay much unless super-rich)
- they file for Selective Service if required. This may be an issue for your children if you have boys: http://www.sss.gov

JAJ

I would caution that nationality information on British Embassy websites is often an oversimplification and is often wrong in details.

Wikipedia provides a better overview:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nationality_law

The British Embassy have no authority to comment on American law. The statement below is little better than scaremongering:

A US citizen voluntarily acquiring British citizenship may lose his US citizenship; and a dual citizen who makes use of his British citizenship in certain ways, for example joining HM Forces, taking an oath of allegiance to Her Majesty and in certain circumstances exercising other rights or privileges of British citizenship, may jeopardise his US citizenship.

The above statement is, in general, not true if the U.S. citizen concerned intends to keep U.S. citizenship, which is the State Department's working assumption.

The correct version of the law comes from the State Dept website:

Passport
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1753.html
Most U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States. 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.

Public Affairs
http://travel.state.gov/law/citizens...nship_779.html
The Department has a uniform administrative standard of evidence based on the premise that U.S. citizens intend to retain U.S. citizenship when they obtain naturalization in a foreign state, subscribe to routine declarations of allegiance to a foreign state, or accept non-policy level employment with a foreign government.

Military Service
http://travel.state.gov/law/citizens...nship_780.html
Military service in foreign countries usually does not cause loss of citizenship since an intention to relinquish citizenship normally is lacking. Service as a high-ranking officer, particularly in a policy-making position, could be viewed as indicative of an intention to relinquish U.S. citizenship.