# Immigration/Citizenship Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724 "2008-03-17T23:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thorium_Indium_Potassium)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/1 "2008-03-17T23:44:39Z")
Long story short: my husband is Spanish and we just found out that he qualifies for citizenship. We thought he needed to be a permanent resident for 5 years, turns out it’s only 3 because we’re married and I’m a citizen. Our question is this: can he maintain his Spanish citizenship if he chooses to obtain his US citizenship? And if we have kids after he becomes a US citizen, do they still have the ability to have dual citizenship with Spain? We have differing opinions on these - I say no, he says yes. Which of us is correct? (btw - he wrote the Spanish embassy to get the official answer, but if any dopers can help us out in the meantime, we’d appreciate it). ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/2 "2008-03-18T01:40:32Z")
Completely non-definitive answer, but a step in the right direction, research-wise: [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdualcitizenship.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdualcitizenship.html) And my non-cited and non-provable understanding is the US doesn’t recognize any dual citizenships. If you become a US citizen, they don’t recognize any past citizenship. But that doesn’t mean the country you’re “renouncing” will stop seeing you as their citizen. So asking the Spanish embassy how they’d view your husband is a good idea, though the US will most likely see him as a US citizen and ONLY a US citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@Thorium\_Indium\_Potassium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thorium_Indium_Potassium)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/3 "2008-03-18T02:27:01Z")
Thanks filmyak. Looks like he might be right. Drat. I’m really bad at admitting I’m wrong. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/4 "2008-03-18T02:34:23Z")
Yes, it depends on Spain. The US doesn’t force you to actually give up your citizenship. I know this because my brother had dual citizenship until he was 18 - Korea forced him to choose one or the other, but the US didn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/5 "2008-03-18T03:49:22Z")
This site [http://www.spainview.com/national.html](http://www.spainview.com/national.html) says Spain doesn’t recognise dual citizenship, which pretty much jibes with what every other source I checked says. The Spanish Ministerio de Justicia says dual citizenship is allowed “in certain cases”, which usually means in the case of a dual-citizen minor who has reached their majority but not chosen anything yet. So he’d have to renounce his Spanish citizenship, but the US doesn’t care if he actually does so, and the Spanish do but probably won’t check unless he re-enters Spain and shows his US passport or applies for a job or something. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/6 "2008-03-18T04:11:27Z")
I was just trying to do something similar to this but with Belgium. I was claiming Belgium citizenship through my father. The Belgium Consul told me that the Belgium government recognizes my claim and that if I went through all the steps I might be granted Belgium Citizenship and could keep my US also. That being said, I could also claim UK citizenship through place of birth, but I could NOT keep the UK one and Belgium at the same time. FWIW A Coworker (US Cit) of my husband got a Spanish passport through his father who was Spanish. As others have said, I think it depends on Spain. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/7 "2008-03-18T05:44:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Spanish nationality is lost by emancipated people who while habitually living abroad: > > - Voluntarily acquire another nationality > - Exclusively use the foreign nationality they had before emancipation. > Loss of nationality will be effective after a period of three years, counting from the moment of acquisition of a foreign nationality or emancipation of the Spanish one. Source: [http://www.spain-visas.com/Spanish-Citizenship-and-Spanish-Nationality-pag7.htm](http://www.spain-visas.com/Spanish-Citizenship-and-Spanish-Nationality-pag7.htm) [QUOTE=eenerms] That being said, I could also claim UK citizenship through place of birth, but I could NOT keep the UK one and Belgium at the same time. [/QUOTE] And if the UK and Belgium don’t talk to each other who is to know if you claim citizenship of both? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/8 "2008-03-18T05:49:10Z")
From [this site](http://www.euhome.info/spain_citizenship.htm) > [@](#): > > LOSS OF SPANISH NATIONALITY > HOW IS SPANISH NATIONALITY LOST? > Spanish nationality is lost by emancipated people who while habitually living abroad: > > - Voluntarily acquire another nationality > - Exclusively use the foreign nationality they had before emancipation. > Loss of nationality will be effective after a period of three years, counting from the moment of acquisition of a foreign nationality or emancipation of the Spanish one. > According to the above-mentioned, the acquisition of Latin American nationalities does not cause the loss of the Spanish nationality by origin. A standing act of renounce to Spanish nationality will have to be put forward by the person concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/9 "2008-03-18T12:36:32Z")
And here’s a link to a column by the **Perfect Master** that eventually wanders into this issue (with more snark than in **Bricker’s** excellent piece, of course): [How do I go about renouncing my U.S. citizenship?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_229.html) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/10 "2008-03-18T13:16:19Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] And if the UK and Belgium don’t talk to each other who is to know if you claim citizenship of both? [/QUOTE] They do. EU member states now issue a common passport (with the issuing state listed on the front and inside); the EU states share immigration info and such. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-citizenship-question/441724/11 "2008-03-22T03:02:16Z")
Its entirely up to the Spanish, but my guess is yes. Uncle Sam isn’t going to send a letter to the Embassy of Spain and say that your hubby is a citizen. Spain would have to have a specific law that says taking citizenship in another country would invalidate his citizenship. From personal experience, Mrs Slug and I were under the impression that by taking US citizenship that her Russian citizenship would lapse. It didn’t. So we are probably about 24 months into the process of renouncing it. Pain in the butt.