gavspen

First off, apologies for posting here, I'm not sure I'm in the right place. I'm not even sure this is the right board, since the lad in question isnt the expat, I am. That said......

I was born in England and my son has citizenship by descent; he was born here in NYC. He is thinking of joining the US Coast Guard, and the question is, Would this jeopardise his UK citizenship?

Thanks in advance

sir_eccles

You usually have to fill in a form to seriously jeopardize such things.

ian-mstm

Not likely, no.

Ian

Bob

Signing up on its own won't no, especially if you naturally got UK citizenship.

British Consul

No.

Dean

gavspen

Thank you Dean. You are a man of few words.

Jerseygirl

His words may be few but he's the man in the know.

nun

The Coast Guard might think dual citizenship is an slight issue, I don't think it's a dis-qualifier, but it makes things complicated if he ever needs a security clearance. Having another citizenship brings up the problem of "foreign preference" so just to be safe I'd make sure he doesn't use his UK passport (or get it renewed) or do anything official with the UK Government like paying NI contributions, although he's probably not eligible to do that.

gavspen

Ah, that's interesting. Obviously I was only thinking about the British Government's point of view, but you bring up a very valid point indeed. They might indeed ask him if he's a dual national and then require him to surrender his other passport.

Actually, years ago, when I was looking into US citizenship for myself, the US government handnt yet fully come around to the idea of dual nationality, and I though it might be possible that I would have to give up my British passport. An official at the British embassy (who asked not to be quoted...lol), said words to the effect of, "Well, if they make you hand it in, you just come back to us with your birth certificate and we give you another one"....haha! He also said, "You can always tell them you lost it". I have a feeling, though, it may be best not to lie when talking to the US Coastguard or the INS

Oh well, off to the US Coastguard site I guess, and find somebody or other to ask there.

md95065

Yes, they could ask him to give up his UK citizenship - they could even require him to do so as a condition of his getting a particular job, but only the person in question can actually relinquish their UK citizenship so nothing about applying for or accepting a job with the US Coast Guard would in and of itself jeopardise someone's UK citizenship.

Relinquishing UK citizenship requires a conscious act on the part of the person doing it - see this link for details.

It is generally not a good idea to lie.

Lying to the Feds is a really bad idea - look what happened to Martha Stewart ...

nun

I don't think the Coast Guard will have too much of an issue with holding dual US/UK citizenship. Don't mention UK citizenship unless it's required as an answer to a direct question or on a form if they ask if you have any other citizenships, and never ever lie!!!! or evade the truth.

The way it goes for a security clearance is that the DOD etc. don't make you relinquish your other citizenship, but they do ask you if you'd be willing to do so. This is to show that you don't prefer your other country of citizenship over the USA. They look at if you use a foreign passport to travel or if you've renewed one since getting US citizenship. they look if you have substantial ties to another country, financial, family etc.

I was recently offered a job that required a secret clearance and I started the clearance process. My employer required me to surrender my UK passport so that I couldn't use it. I looked at all the forms and researched the applications of other dual citizens and decided I couldn't accept the job as I always use my UK passport to enter the EU, my family are all in the UK, I have continued to pay UK NI since coming to the US 25 years ago and I want England to beat the US in any sporting event.....I clearly have a foreign preference.

Errol

[QUOTE=nun;9058349]I don't think the Coast Guard will have too much of an issue with holding dual US/UK citizenship. Don't mention UK citizenship unless it's required as an answer to a direct question or on a form if they ask if you have any other citizenships, and never ever lie!!!! or evade the truth.

http://www.uscg.mil/auxiliary/admini...tizenship2.pdf

Hopefully the link works. It's the application form. There's a section on dual nationality.

Errol

gavspen

[QUOTE=Errol;9059556] Yes, thanks Errol (and others). I had actually found this form, but unfortunately it doesnt say what happens when you answer "Yes"

British Consul

Our position has changed a couple of times on this in recent years. We used to provide you with a letter, free of charge, confirming that you had surrendered your British passport (but you could, of course, apply for a new one at any time), we then withdrew this service and required you to renounce your UK citizenship (you had to pay a fee to do this, but you could apply for citizenship again at a later date). In the new year, we will be returning to our former position for customers in the USA who are required by the US authorities to simply surrender their passport as a condition of employment with them. We will provide a letter, for a fee, confirming that your passport has been surrendered which will satisfy the requirements of the US government whilst not requiring the British national to surrender citizenship.

Details of the change will be shown in the passports section of www.ukinusa.fco.gov.uk soon.

Dean

gavspen

Thanks for the information Dean.

Is the letter itself sufficient documentation of the fact that the holder is entitled to a British passport, or would one have to resubmit all the original birth/marriage certificates, etc.?