KMT

My fiance lives in Canada, has dual citizenship. Swiss and Canadian. Is this going to just make things more complicated with INS?

Thanks!
KMT

Folinskyinla

Hi:

It shouldn't. There is well established case law that the US considers you to be the national of the country whose passport you use to enter the US.

KMT

That is a relief to know. Thanks for your reply!

Fishy Baby

It shouldn't be a problem. I currently have
dual citizenship, and I'm hoping within a month
or so I'll have triple citizenship :-)))

Hmmmm, I wonder if I can get quadruple

Fishy Baby
Around the K1 World In 97 Days
www.k1.freeservers.com

KMT

Cool.......Thanks...good luck with the triple!

Stephen Gallagher

Folinskyinla wrote in message news:...
    > Originally posted by KMT
    > > My fiance lives in Canada, has dual citizenship. Swiss and Canadian.
    > > Is this going to just make things more complicated with INS?
    > >
    > > Thanks!
    > > KMT
    >
    > Hi:
    >
    > It shouldn't. There is well established case law that the US
    > considers you to be the national of the country whose passport you use
    > to enter the US.

What well established case are you referring to?

Also, if that's true, then why, a few months ago,
did the US deport a man who entered the US on a
Canadian passport to Syria, once they
discovered that he held dual Canadian and Syrian
citizenship?

If what you say is true, then since he presented a
Canadian passport for entry to the US, shouldn't
have been deported to Canada?

Note that he didn't arrive from Syria

Stephen Gallagher

Jo Brayne

they probably suspected or "felt" that the Syrian was using a Canadian passport/crossing to obtain back-door entry into the US.... just a thought... I'll stop there to avoid any further heated discussions, but you get the idea .

I dont know the details but if they checked the issue dates on the passports, and if the canadian one was issued later, they might have been able to tell if that person was a 'naturalized' canadian and a born citizen of another country i.e. Syria, where Syria is further away and possibly more difficult to get into the US from....the INS may have been trying to lower their (perceived) risks.

I had a Syrian student friend in college so I dont know what the requirements are for there .

Stephen Gallagher

    > they probably suspected or "felt" that the Syrian was using a Canadian
    > passport/crossing to obtain back-door entry into the US.... just a
    > thought...

He didn't have a Syrian passport. They knew he
was Syrian because of the birthplace listed in his
Canadian passport. He was transiting the US on his
way from Algeria (I believe) back to Canada.

Still, it doesn't answer my question from earlier,
asking about the "well established" case law that the
US treats a dual citizen who visits the US as
a citizen of the country whose passport he uses
to enter the US.

Stephen Gallagher

Rete

I do know the details and no he was not using a Canadian passport as a back door to the US. He was a well respected engineer from Toronto, Canada with a wife and children. He was returning from a vacation in Europe and he had to change planes in NYC for a plane to Toronto. He never even attempted to leave the airport terminal. He was apprehended upon departure when it was noted that he was born in Syria although he had a Canadian passport and had been a resident in Canada since childhood. He was held without charges by the FBI, the Canadian Consulate was never notified and by law he was either to be returned to the country his flight originated from or to his own country of Canada. Instead they grilled him for days without counsel, insisting he was part of a terrorist group and then deported him to Syria where he is being held on charges because as a Syrian citizen he never fulfilled his military obligations. Remember he had not lived in Syria since childhood, does not have a Syrian passport, was a law abiding Canadian citizen, and all he was doing was changing planes to go home.

This entire scenario is and was an embarrassment to the US for not adhereing to their own rules and regulations and putting a Canadian citizen's life in jeopardy.


Rita

Mrtravel

Stephen Gallagher wrote:
    >
    > > they probably suspected or "felt" that the Syrian was using a Canadian
    > > passport/crossing to obtain back-door entry into the US.... just a
    > > thought...
    >
    > He didn't have a Syrian passport. They knew he
    > was Syrian because of the birthplace listed in his
    > Canadian passport. He was transiting the US on his
    > way from Algeria (I believe) back to Canada.
    >
    > Still, it doesn't answer my question from earlier,
    > asking about the "well established" case law that the
    > US treats a dual citizen who visits the US as
    > a citizen of the country whose passport he uses
    > to enter the US.

I thought he was also carrying an expired Syrian passport.
But, in anycase, the US treats the person based on both passports.
If it was treating him as a Canadian, it would have deported him to
Canada.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Different issues involved. US can deport anywhere they damn please -- there is a statutory provision that they should try to deport to country of nationality first, but this is pretty much optional.

This issue came up in regards the long running Dougherty case back in the 80's. He wanted to be deported to the Republic of Ireland while the US wanted to deport him to the United Kingdom which was willing to provide long term housing in the "Maze".

The law I am thinking about deals with the "E" visa which is dependent upon nationality. There are two cases involving dual nationals -- one Canadian/Italian and the other US/Italian. The Canadian was treated as a Canadian because she entered on it.

Stephen Gallagher

    > > > they probably suspected or "felt" that the Syrian was using a Canadian
    > > > passport/crossing to obtain back-door entry into the US.... just a
    > > > thought...
    > >
    > > He didn't have a Syrian passport. They knew he
    > > was Syrian because of the birthplace listed in his
    > > Canadian passport. He was transiting the US on his
    > > way from Algeria (I believe) back to Canada.
    > >
    > > Still, it doesn't answer my question from earlier,
    > > asking about the "well established" case law that the
    > > US treats a dual citizen who visits the US as
    > > a citizen of the country whose passport he uses
    > > to enter the US.
    >
    > I thought he was also carrying an expired Syrian passport.

No, he wasn't.

S. Gallagher

Mrtravel

Folinskyinla wrote:
    >
    > Hi:
    >
    > Different issues involved. US can deport anywhere they damn please --
    > there is a statutory provision that they should try to deport to country
    > of nationality first, but this is pretty much optional.

However, in this case, they did deport him to a country of his
nationality.
He was still a Syrian citizen. Since they felt he was a threat to the
US, deporting him to his Canadian destination didn't make sense due to
the closeness of the border. Note: I don't have all of the information,
so I am not making a judgement on whether should have been or should
have not been considered a threat.

While he may have been a law abiding Canadian citizen, we do know he
didn't obey the law of Syria regarding military service.

Rich Wales

"mrtravel" wrote:

> He was still a Syrian citizen.

I don't know if the following applies to Syria or not, but there
are some countries whose laws make it difficult or even impossible
to renounce citizenship, even after foreign naturalization.

> While he may have been a law abiding Canadian citizen,
> we do know he didn't obey the law of Syria regarding
> military service.

I'm reminded of a friend of mine (born in the US to Korean parents)
who went to Korea as a missionary, but had to cut his visit short
when the Korean government decided he was one of their citizens and
therefore subject to mandatory military service. My friend wasn't
born in Korea, had travelled to Korea on a US passport, and had
never thought himself to be a citizen of any country but the US,
but none of this made a bit of difference to Korean authorities who
only cared that his father was born in Korea.

Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.