callé

does anyone know this by chance? I wont give up my British citizenship and I definately want to get Australian citizenship when I'm eligible. problem is I've lived in the US for so many years and paid in so much social security that I dont want to loose the money that I would get back from it when I retire. So although I've never bothered with it before, I found out that I have to obtain citizenship here in the US before I leave here so I can keep my benefits. I know you can have dual, but does anyone know about 'tri'?

OzTennis

I'm not sure but Rupert Murdoch had to renounce his Australian citizenship and take up US citizenship to run businesses in the USA. A gut feeling tells me that one of the three wouldn't permit tri-citizenship but I'll leave it to the experts.

OzTennis (dual Australian/British and not looking for the trifecta!)

callé

thanks for that. Its what I've been thinking but need to find out for sure. Guess I'll have to give up the money! I should get out and buy myself another lottery ticket tonight or maybe two

OzTennis

Of course they do everything bigger in the States so you'll be able to win ''zillions" on the lottery there!

Don't take my 'gut feeling' as gospel, wait for the experts to pronounce.

OzTennis

bundy

I have a friend who was born in NZ to an English mother and a Canadian father, but grew up in Oz. I'm fairly sure he has NZ, Canadian and British passports, but I could be wrong...

Peter

http://travel.state.gov/dualnationality.html
The American take on it.

marco121068

I think the Aussies have recently changed their rules and allowed their citizens to have dual nationality so I suspect that's why Murdoch had to renounce his.

I'm pretty certain you can have "tri nationality" - try a search on the immi board - I think there was a discussion about a month ago.

Marco

Salli

My husband has British, Canadian and Irish....we're going to apply for Australian as soon as we are eligible....I think he just likes to collect passports!

bundy

Sounds good to me! I have a Jersey passport which just confuses the hell out of everyone

Salli

I didn't know they even existed!

bundy

Oh yes. British Islands passport. Looks the same, but totally different wording. It's always a talking point at passport control. Not dual citizenship, of course.

CPW

As far as I know, broadly speaking, any country that allows or tolerates dual nationality has no problem with multiple nationality. (Some countries have specific arrangements with other countries, which complicates things slightly.)

However, UK, the USA and Australia certainly accept multiple citizenship as much as they accept dual citizenship, so on the face of it I see no reason why you couldn't have all three citizenships, provided of course that you fulfil all the criteria for naturalisation in the USA and, in the fullness of time, in Australia.

callé

a big thank you for all your replies. maybe I wont have to depend on the lottery after all! from reading about this on the British consulate site, there doesnt seem to be a worry about it. But on the US side, that bit about they can drop you if you willingly apply for another, has me a little worried. Thats my money. Ive worked hard for it all these years!
BTW if I do win the lottery, you can all reap your small rewards

JAJ

The US sees naturalising in a foreign country as causing loss of US citizenship only if you intend to give it up as a result. State Department policy is now that US citizens naturalising elsewhere are presumed to intend to remain Americans unless otherwise indicated.

It's very important for a dual US/other citizen to always show a US passport to US officials, and to abide fully by US tax (including filing for federal tax while overseas, even if you don't need to pay anything), Selective Service and other regulations applying to US citizens.

Despite the tax obligations, US citizenship is usually worth having, for most people. Still get professional advice on the subject if it's important.

Green Card holders are expected to live in the US, so if you move overseas you can lose your GC fairly quickly. And getting it back is often difficult/impossible.

When a foreigner becomes a US citizen, he is obliged to renounce 'all foreign allegiances' as part of the US naturalisation oath. However, Britain has ignored this since 1949, and Australia since 2002. The US does not expect newly naturalised citizens to renounce their citizenship under the law of their old country, and it is not illegal for a US citizen to possess a foreign passport or use it outside the United States.

Rupert Murdoch became a US citizen in 1985 or so, and his Australian citizenship was automatically revoked. This was as a result of Australia's pre-2002 law. He would probably be eligible for resumption if he really wanted his Australian citizenship back.

A good site covering US law is http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

In the specific case mentioned, a British person who naturalises as a US citizen, and then subsequently becomes an Australian citizen, can have triple citizenship.

Jeremy

joh117

I am interested in this too. We both have british passportsand will get Australian citizenship once here 2 years but we have the opportunity to go for Sri Lankan (where hubby was born) it will only benefit us for extended holidays in the country but will look into this further

Jo