Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

Hi,

In the process of submitting to renew my British passport using the new online system, I saw the following line on the declaration form:-

"I understand that by voluntarily applying for a British passport, it may result in losing citizenship of another country"

I received US citizenship through the naturalization process so am somewhat concerned about the possibility of losing it. After going back and forth about whether to include information about my US passport in the application, I decided to fully disclose the fact that I have both UK and US passports.

Anyone have experience regarding this?

Thanks very much

Warren

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

Irrelevant to the UK.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

You won't lose your US citizenship by renewing your UK passport.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

I'd like to think so but the US is getting pretty petty regarding immigrants these days! Wondering if I should wait/cancel my submission and resubmit without the US passport information.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

If you submit without the information, you are lying by omission. Whatever makes you think that the US government or USCIS has anything to do with UK/British passport issuance. Do you honestly think that Homeland Security has access to the UK passport database?

They are referring to people who are from countries that do not allow dual citizenship, i.e. Germany (without first applying for permission) and other countries where you are stripped of your citizenship if you swear to uphold the laws of another country.

Why are you out to make yourself crazy by instilling fear in yourself? And no, the US is not getting pretty petty regarding immigrants these days. They are finally cracking down on those immigrants who obtained the right to live and work here fraudulently or are illegally here in the US. Are you one of them? If not, then worry about something that might actually cause you a problem.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

I became a US Citizen in 2010 and have kept my UK passport. I renewed it last year, including details of my US passport with no issues whatsoever. When I became a US Citizen they made it clear that the US does not recognize any other citizenship that you may have, therefore the US couldn't care less if you have a UK passport. I believe that the UK recognizes your US Citizenship, but not the other way around. You will be fine.

Now I know from an Indian friend that you will loose Indian Citizenship if you become a US Citizen, so I think that if why they make a statement that you may lose citizenship of an other country as clearly some countries rescind your citizenship if you become a citizen of another one.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

That line is for Indian citizens. Neither the US nor the UK care whether you hold a citizenship from another country.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

Thanks, Garrioch01 I appreciate your first-hand experience.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

I just renewed my UK passport and sent a color photo copy of my US passport which I received back. No problems.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

Thanks norfolkbroad

Happy I don't have to find my mothers obstetrician records from 40+ years ago!

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

We have renewed our British Passport twice since becoming US citizens, no problem. There is a section in my US passport covering Dual Citizenship. One of the things it states in that section is that if you are in the country of your other citizenship, then the US Consulate or Embassy in that country cannot assist you if you get into trouble.

In another place in the passport it makes clear that US Citizens are subject to US taxation no matter where in the world they live.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

When I renewed my British passport a couple of years ago, I did it in person, at the Peterborough office. I handed the official my current US passport, but he just waved it away - he wasn't interested in looking at it.

Re: Renewing British passport with US citizenship
 

General rule: each country determines its own rules of expatriation. The UK statement is consistent with that. These days, US law is pretty clear that possessing dual nationality does not, by itself result in an expatriating act. It is notionally possible to take actions that are so fundamentally contrary to American citizenship that expatriation has taken place. Possession of a passport does not fit within that category.

An interesting case is Kawakita v. United States If his actions had been expatriating, he would have avoided a treason conviction.

One of the mother cases on expatriation is Afroyim v Rusk Afroyim involved two people who voted in Israeli elections. Now, in the rubric that G-d has either a sense of humor or extreme irony -- a Nazi war criminal relied on Afroyim to keep his citizenship. See Breyer v. Ashcroft [Even though Breyer kept his citizenship, Germany extradited him for his crimes and he died there awaiting trial]. [A famous British Citizen was also a dual national under the analysis of Breyer -- Winston Churchill.]