Of course, it’d cause untold problems. But in principle, could someone renounce their citizenship? And if I did so, what would my national status be? Would I be deported (and where to?)?
Having known someone who did, I can tell you some of what happens. He took the precaution of becoming a Canadian landed immigrant (more or less analogous to a US green card. That meant that he could in principle travel, on special stateless person papers issued by Canada that basically said they would take him back. Without that no country would admit you unless it was prepared to take you permanently.
If you stayed in the US and were stateless, you could not leave since no country would allow you in for the same reasons. Beyond that, I have no idea if you could legally work or get welfare or anything like that. You are not the same as an illegal alien, but also not the same as a green card holder. You would have to examine the law.
Zev Steinhardt
Cecil speaks, with commentary by a certain reader. More than anyone needs to know about it.
Zev Steinhardt
Sweet meeting of the minds, here… 
Wow, a triple! Good work, guys!
Thanks, all. I’d assume it’s pretty similar over here (although there may be European complications).
I should say so. I will tell the the most crap sounding story that is actually true you will ever here in your life.
A man has has been stuck in the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris since 1988 because his citizenship status got really screwed up during a trip and, once he landed in Paris, there was no legal way for him to leave.
That story is up to date as of 2003 or so and I would guess it still is. He eventually just went crazy and declined efforts for various governments to help him.
Mmm, i’d heard about that guy. Seems he used to actually want to get into the UK ( I think it was there ) but by now he’s lost his marbles. Good ol’ bureacracy!
Source: CNN - 27 March 2006
You can’t get a closer update than that!
Here’s a guy who tried to do something similar, as a tax protest:
*On September 28, 1999, the [Cleveland Municipal] Court entered judgment for plaintiff [the State of Ohio] against defendant in the sum of $482.10, with statutory interest to run from the date of judgment. The Court now has before it a “Certified Demand for Proof of Jurisdiction,” " Nunc Pro Tunc Estoppel at Law and Public Notice Recission Affidavit" and other documents prepared by Robert Z. Manashian, apparently a principal of defendant, and filed on October 17, 2002. Manashian (hereinafter “defendant”) asserts, among other things, that he is a “state citizen and principal… not a sub class U.S. citizen [but] a Sovereign American Citizen ‘only’ [and] no longer a 14th Amendment citizen.”
The Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure do not contemplate such documents. The Court will treat them as a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction over the person under Civ.R. 12(B)(2), and will rule accordingly…
Even if the Court were persuaded of the validity of defendant’s assertion of sovereignty - which it definitely is not - it would avail him nothing against a lawful judgment entered against him more than three years earlier.
To evade that judgment, defendant wishes to set himself outside the structure of ordered liberty provided by the laws of this state and this nation. President George Washington once warned, “If the laws are to be trampled upon with impunity, and a minority (a small one too) is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put, at one stroke, to republican government.” Flexner, Washington: The Indispensable Man (Little, Brown and Co. 1969), p. 316. It is hard to conceive of a minority smaller than one.
Defendant is a citizen of this state unless and until he establishes residency in another state, or in another country. He is a citizen of the United States unless and until he undertakes those steps provided under Federal law for revocation of citizenship - and, incidentally, subjects himself to deportation. 8 U.S. Code 1229, 1481; see also Afroyim v. Rusk (1967), 387 U.S. 253. Clearly, defendant wishes to have his cake of citizenship and eat it too. He wishes to live in this state, drive on its roads, walk on its paths, be protected by its constitution, laws, courts and officers, and enjoy all of its rights and blessings, while shirking its responsibilities - including the responsibility to pay his lawful debts. This is repugnant to both the letter and spirit of the law, and this, the Court will not permit him to do…
Defendant’s filings are a nullity, of no legal force and effect whatsoever. The Court’s judgment of September 28, 1999, stands.
State of Ohio v. Bob Manashian Painting* (2002), 121 Ohio Misc.2d 99.
Didn’t Lee Harvey Oswald renounce his U.S. citizenship, and then get it back?
Source: McAdams's Kennedy Assassination Home Page Index
Source: Lee Harvey Oswald in Moscow Part 1
Source: Ibid.
Don’t assume that. There’s no reason why the citizenship laws of another country should be modelled on those of the US.
Irish citizens, for example, cannot renounce Irish citizenship. No matter what they do, and where, they will always be Irish citizens. Equally, they cannot be deprived of Irish citizenship by a government decision.
So nobody can answer the question raised in this thread without first asking “what is the citizenship that you wish to renounce”?
Year ago Gary Something (Stile ?) renounced his American citizenship to become Citizen of the world. The experiment failed and he regained his citizenship. That’s all I can remember, but somebody probably remember the story…
Whatever the master says, I have three children and four grandchildren, all dual (Canada/US) and no one gives a hoot. Well, there was one. My son interviewed with the NSA and they told him that to work for them he would be required to renounce his Canadian citizenship. People kept telling me that at age 21 (or maybe 18) they would be “required” to choose. Well, nobody asked and they didn’t volunteer.
I was astonished that there is no way to renounce, while remaining in the US. Of course, they couldn’t send you anywhere since no place is obligated to take you. It certainly doesn’t avoid taxes since all residents are subject to tax. As for taxing non-citizen non-residents, lots of luck. They are certainly not going to extradite you for that, not from Canada anyway.
Incidentally, the guy I know who renounced eventually got the draft-dodging charges dropped (Jimmy Carter’s amnesty), became a Canadian citizen ASAP and now travels freely anywhere (anywhere you travel freely, anyway).
They used to remove your citizenship automatically if you applied for and received a foreign citizenship (the applied for was crucial; if the citizenship was awarded automatically, this didn’t apply). That hasn’t been true for a couple of decades at least. SCOTUS ruled that absent a specific showing of intent to renounce, they couldn’t just take it away. At that point, the state dept gave up.
Although it is off-topic, I might mention that the current president of Latvia used to be a Canadian citizen. She had to renounce that citizenship in order to become the head of another state. But she was told that she get it back in a week if she asked for it. Of course, that is not the usual situation of a renunciant.
Thanks, Duckster, for clearing the matter up.