USA Citizenship Application Kit

Dual Citizenship: the status of an individual who is a citizen of two or more nations

The concept of dual citizenship recognizes that a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both. The mere fact that he/she searched the right of one citizenship does not mean that he/she renounces the other.

Nonetheless, official U.S. policy has been to discourage the incidence of dual nationality. The Government accepts but does not recognize or approve of dual nationality. The Government accepts it: "only as the result of separate conflicting laws of other countries."

The only restrictions on dual nationals who are U.S. citizens are that nonimmigrant visas cannot be issued to U.S. citizens and they must enter the U.S. with a U.S. passport.

The following is a partial list indicating which countries recognize dual citizenship. The list is based primarily on a survey of every country in the world. The question presented was "If a citizen of (the country in question) acquires U.S. citizenship, does he or she retain or lose (the country in question's) citizenship? In the list below, "Retain" means that the individual DOES NOT lose his or her prior citizenship upon naturalizing in the U.S. "Lose" means that the individual DOES lose his or her prior citizenship. Where possible, the list in annotated to provide additional relevant information.

If a country is not listed, it either did not respond to the survey or there was no information otherwise available.

List of Countries:

ALBANIA (Retain)
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA (Retain)
ARGENTINA (Retain)
AUSTRALIA (Retain) As of April 2002
AUSTRIA (Lose)
AZERBAIJAN (Lose)
BAHRAIN (Lose)
BARBADOS (Retain)
BELGIUM (Lose)
BELIZE (Retain)
BENIN (Retain)
BOLIVIA (Lose)
BRAZIL (Retain) the individual should declare acquisition of U.S. Citizenship at a Brazilian mission or consulate
BRUNEI (Lose)
BURKINA FASO (Retain)
CAMBODIA (Retain)
CANADA (Retain)
CHILI (Lose)
CHINA PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC (Lose)
COLOMBIA (Retain)
COSTA RICA (Retain) effective June 27, 1995
CROATIA (Retain) the individual must follow specific procedures to renounce
CZECH REPUBLIC (Retain) As per new law signed by President Havel in 1999
DEMARK (Lose)
DOMINICA (Retain)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (Retain)
ECUADOR (Retain)
EL SALVADOR (Retain)
ESTONIA (Retain) 1940 to 1992, as formal release was required (Lose) 1992 to present
FINLAND (Retain)
FRANCE (Retain)
GERMANY (Lose)
GHANA (Retain)
GREECE (Retain)
GRENADA (Retain)
GUATEMALA (Retain)
HONDURAS (Lose)
HUNGARY (Retain) unless it is renounced by a declaration not given in criminal proceedings, and no tax issues apply
ICELAND (Lose)
INDIA (Lose)
IRAN (Retain)
IRELAND (Retain)
ISRAEL (Retain)
ITALY (Lose)
JAPAN (Lose)
KOREA (Lose)
KUWAIT (Lose)
KYRGYZ REPUBLIC (Lose)
LATVIA (Retain)
LESOTHO (Retain)
LIECHTENSTEIN (Retain) but will have diminished rights and protections
LUXEMBOURG (Lose)
MALAWI (Lose)
MALAYSIA (Lose)
MALTA (Retain)
MEXICO (Retain)
MONACO (Lose)
MOROCCO (Retain)
NAMIBIA (Retain)
NEPAL (Lose)
NETHERLANDS (Lose)
NEW ZEALAND (Retain)
NICARAGUA (Lose)
NIGERIA (Retain)
NORWAY (Lose)
PAKISTAN (Retain) as of December 2002
PANAMA (Retain)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA (Lose)
PERU (Retain)
PHILIPPINES (Lose)
POLAND (Retain)
PORTUGAL (Retain)
RUSSIA (Retain) the individual's acquisition of another citizenship will usually not be acknowledged)
RWANDA (Lose)
ST. CHRISTOPHER AND NEVIS (Retain)
ST. LUCIA (Retain)
SAUDI ARABIA (Lose)
SINGAPORE (Lose)
SLOVAK REPUBLIC (Lose) except if the individual became a US Citizen between September 17, 1938 and May 7, 1957 pursuant to a treaty between Czechoslovakia and the United States
SLOVENIA (Retain)
SOUTH AFRICA (Lose) an individual loses citizenship upon becoming a US Citizen; however, citizenship may be retained upon request prior to becoming a US Citizen, or by subsequent application, if the individual was unaware of the loss
SPAIN (Lose)
SRI LANKA (Retain)
SWAZILAND (Lose)
SWEDEN (Lose)
SWITZERLAND (Retain)
TONGA (Lose)
TURKEY (Retain)
UGANDA (Lose)
UNITED KINGDOM (Retain)
URUGUAY (Retain)
VENEZUELA (Lose)
ZIMBABWE (Lose)