Any Disadvantages to Dual Citizenship: have USA; add Philippines?

[rbroome]

@robert_columbia

One thing that could bite you is if you need a (US) security clearance to do your job, they may be uneasy about giving a clearance to a dual citizen to the point where you might need to renounce it in order to get the clearance. I believe I used to know a dual US/Australian citizen who couldn’t get a US clearance, but I’m not sure how hard he tried. If the US doesn’t trust Aussies (one of their greatest and most intimate allies) with their secrets, I don’t know who else they would trust.

uneasy isn’t the word. I have dealt with this issue several times in the last few years. Dual citizenship is a non-starter. After you get past (with difficulty) the “don’t bother applying ever” stage, we find a grudging allowance that a US citizen with a foreign passport can bring the passport in to the security officer’s office, sign a letter renouncing the foreign citizenship, cut the passport up in the presence of the officer, and then be allowed to apply. The process isn’t pleasant, easy, or quick. And yes, everyone involved realizes none of these steps prevent the individual from going down to the foreign embassy and getting a replacement passport. That makes the security officer even grumpier. You don’t want to deal with a grumpy security officer…

[Bullitt]

@thelurkinghorror

The US and other countries may ask you to renounce foreign allegiances as part of the oath, but it is not binding. They want you to serve the US if the two nations came to blows, say.

If a future situation ever caused conflicting needs and intentions, no question about it, I’d support the USA, even take up arms if need be.

[Bullitt]

@MikeS

Apparently The Philippines allows natural-born citizens (like the OP) to re-acquire their Philippine citizenship by taking an oath. This wasn’t originally the case, but a law was passed to this effect in 2003.

@quant18

Yes, as MikeS points out, the law that the OP is talking about is Republic Act 9225.

This law only applies to those Filipinos who became naturalized citizens of another country after 2003. Doesn’t apply to me. I was naturalized on 10-May-1972.

[Bullitt]

@robert_columbia

One thing that could bite you is if you need a (US) security clearance to do your job, they may be uneasy about giving a clearance to a dual citizen to the point where you might need to renounce it in order to get the clearance. I believe I used to know a dual US/Australian citizen who couldn’t get a US clearance, but I’m not sure how hard he tried. If the US doesn’t trust Aussies (one of their greatest and most intimate allies) with their secrets, I don’t know who else they would trust.

@rbroome

uneasy isn’t the word. I have dealt with this issue several times in the last few years. Dual citizenship is a non-starter. After you get past (with difficulty) the “don’t bother applying ever” stage, we find a grudging allowance that a US citizen with a foreign passport can bring the passport in to the security officer’s office, sign a letter renouncing the foreign citizenship, cut the passport up in the presence of the officer, and then be allowed to apply. The process isn’t pleasant, easy, or quick. And yes, everyone involved realizes none of these steps prevent the individual from going down to the foreign embassy and getting a replacement passport. That makes the security officer even grumpier. You don’t want to deal with a grumpy security officer…

This consideration is fairly serious, being a former DoD contractor SW engineer working on the USAF SCN system, with a clearance. One never knows what the future holds. I may reenter that world one day.

[Koxinga]

Not sure if this applies to your parents, but were Filipinos born before 1946 considered US nationals or have other exceptional status vs. other immigrants? I was just curious, and the answer didn’t seem immediately Google-able.

[Bullitt]

The tax implications are some things that never crossed my mind. I plan to continue living and working in the US, but I have at times entertained the notion of retiring in the Phillipines where the USD goes farther. If I ever worked for a Filipino company, taxes could come into play.

[Bullitt]

@Koxinga

Not sure if this applies to your parents, but were Filipinos born before 1945 considered US nationals or have other exceptional status vs. other immigrants? I was just curious, and the answer didn’t seem immediately Google-able.

I’m guessing no. My parents were born in 1932 and 1939, and they were also naturalized on the same day that I was.

[MikeS]

@echo7tango

This law only applies to those Filipinos who became naturalized citizens of another country after 2003. Doesn’t apply to me. I was naturalized on 10-May-1972.

I’ll defer to your expertise, since you’ve probably looked into this already, but everything I’ve found online seems to imply that it applies. Here’s the full text of the law (the previous sites I & quant18 linked to were missing some crucial lines.) In particular, see section 3:

Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, natural-born citizens of the Philippines who have lost their Philippine citizenship by reason of their naturalization as citizens of a foreign country are hereby deemed to have re-acquired Philippine citizenship upon taking the following oath of allegiance to the Republic:

[oath goes here]

The law doesn’t mention anything about the date of loss of citizenship, nor does the FAQ on the law from the L.A. consulate, nor does the similar FAQ from the Frankfurt Consulate.

ETA: you should contact the nearest Philippine consulate for a definitive answer, of course. That is, if you haven’t already.

[Bullitt]

@MikeS

I’ll defer to your expertise, since you’ve probably looked into this already, but everything I’ve found online seems to imply that it applies. Here’s the full text of the law (the previous sites I & quant18 linked to were missing some crucial lines.) In particular, see section 3:The law doesn’t mention anything about the date of loss of citizenship, nor does the FAQ on the law from the L.A. consulate, nor does the similar FAQ from the Frankfurt Consulate.

ETA: you should contact the nearest Philippine consulate for a definitive answer, of course. That is, if you haven’t already.

What I’m reading from that 2003 law is this key phrase (emphasis mine, and includes link):

“Natural born citizens of the Philippines who, after the effectivity of this Act, become citizens of a foreign country shall retain their Philippine citizenship upon taking the aforesaid oath.”

I want to correct myself, too: the accurate naturalization date for me was 03-May-1972.

[grude]

@rbroome

uneasy isn’t the word. I have dealt with this issue several times in the last few years. Dual citizenship is a non-starter. After you get past (with difficulty) the “don’t bother applying ever” stage, we find a grudging allowance that a US citizen with a foreign passport can bring the passport in to the security officer’s office, sign a letter renouncing the foreign citizenship, cut the passport up in the presence of the officer, and then be allowed to apply. The process isn’t pleasant, easy, or quick. And yes, everyone involved realizes none of these steps prevent the individual from going down to the foreign embassy and getting a replacement passport. That makes the security officer even grumpier. You don’t want to deal with a grumpy security officer…

Wouldn’t this basically effect anyone born of a non-US citizen parent? As most countries have jus sanguinus laws allowing parents to pass on citizenship to their children under certain conditions? Whether you hold a passport doesn’t really matter, the country still considers you a citizen whether you do anything or not.

So basically because of no action of your own, only the fact you were spawned by a non-US parent you are being discriminated against?

I’d think that should be a case for the supreme court.

[suranyi]

@grude

Wouldn’t this basically effect anyone born of a non-US citizen parent? As most countries have jus sanguinus laws allowing parents to pass on citizenship to their children under certain conditions? Whether you hold a passport doesn’t really matter, the country still considers you a citizen whether you do anything or not.

So basically because of no action of your own, only the fact you were spawned by a non-US parent you are being discriminated against?

I’d think that should be a case for the supreme court.

I don’t think so. I’m a US citizen, born in Pennsylvania. When I was born, my parents were not yet citizens – they were legal resident aliens, a couple of years away from their naturalization. From what I understand now, because of their birth country’s jus sanguinis laws, I am eligible to claim citizenship of their country if I want to. I haven’t done so.

Nevertheless, I was able to obtain a top secret security clearance at one time. The background check did go into detail about my parents’ background, and I did have to provide the security people with my parents’ naturalization certificates (thank goodness they still had them, 25 years later).

Now, if I actually had gone to the trouble of claiming that second citizenship, and getting a passport from that country, things might have been different. But just because it was possible did not create a barrier.

[grude]

@suranyi

I don’t think so. I’m a US citizen, born in Pennsylvania. When I was born, my parents were not yet citizens – they were legal resident aliens, a couple of years away from their naturalization. From what I understand now, because of their birth country’s jus sanguinis laws, I am eligible to claim citizenship of their country if I want to. I haven’t done so.

Nevertheless, I was able to obtain a top secret security clearance at one time. The background check did go into detail about my parents’ background, and I did have to provide the security people with my parents’ naturalization certificates (thank goodness they still had them, 25 years later).

Now, if I actually had gone to the trouble of claiming that second citizenship, and getting a passport from that country, things might have been different. But just because it was possible did not create a barrier.

I had a REALLY astute immigration officer notice I said I only held US citizenship, yet my birth certificate said my mothers nationality is German.:dubious: That means you have German citizenship too she said, I told her I had never pursued that in any form or fashion and then she asked me to go get some kind of proof of that from the German consulate. I just about pleaded not to be put through that nightmare and she relented.