On renouncing US citizenship (Aug 97)

Re: US/Israel dual nationality
Dual nationals can get exemptions from serving in the Israeli army (usually 3 years compulsory service for men, 2 for women). It’s not always easy (I speak from experience), but possible.

Go to the closest Israeli consulate and ask. It helps if you’ve spent most of your life abroad, your Israeli citizenship is mostly an accident of birth (eg., parents are not Israeli citizens and were simply living in the country temporarily for school or work when you were born) and/or are over 25 years old. Be prepared to deal with a bureaucracy that would shame even the IRS.

Or, if you don’t ever plan to go to Israel, you could just ignore it. They can’t come after you. Warning: they will let you into the country without any problem but on the way out, if they see you were born in Israel (or know some other way that you are a dual national) they will check to see if you’ve done your reserve duty (typically a few weeks each year) before letting you leave. If you have not (and cannot produce a military exemption), you will not be allowed to board your flight and may be forced to serve all accumulated reserve time before being allowed to leave the country.

Good Luck!

Kyberneticist
Member posted 11-30-1999 03:18 PM

Then you are no longer eligible for any type of non-resident visa to the United States. Please see http://www.state.gov and the INS site.