I recently discovered that, because of my heritage, I qualify for German citizenship. My cousin applied, and about a year later, received his approval, so now he and all his children can have German passports. (I don’t know if they actually do.)
This strikes me as rather intriguing, and I’m tempted to do the same myself, although I’m not exactly sure why. I was born in the U.S., have always lived here, and have no plans to move to Germany or Europe.
Are there any particularly good reasons to maintain dual citizenship, or not to? Would holding a German passport simplify (or complicate) travel to or within Europe or elsewhere?
AFAICT, there’s no cost to me, other than waiting for about a year for the paperwork to go through. Would I be subject to German taxes, or have any other obligations to the German government, as long as I continued to reside in the U.S.?
Some countries tax all citizens, no matter where they reside. The United States is one of these, although in practice, there are exclusionary cutoffs, so that many don’t actually pay US taxes, but still need to file every year. You would need to see if Germany does the same. There aren’t many other disadvantages.
Do your research first, but if it’s so easy, go for it.
IANAITABIDLIG (I Am Not An International Tax Attorney But I Do Live In Germany) Germany taxes you if you reside in Germany or are employed here, but not if you live and work elsewhere. However, German men are subject to a period of mandatory military or civil service. It’s worth doing the research to root out any possible cons.
The only pro I can think of is that you could go through the EU citizens’ line at passport control when flying into Europe, but that’s not likely to make a gigantic difference in your life. Of course, if you ever decided to move to Europe, you would have rights to live and work in the EU countries.
– shantih, who will give up her American citizenship when it’s pried from her cold, dead hands
That’s what my cousin told me, and I’d assume so. shantih seems to think so, too.
I’m guessing (and hoping) the German army wouldn’t have any use for an overweight 50-something editor/writer.
That’s the only practical application I could think of, too.
Does anyone know if I have to do all of my traveling on a given trip under the same passport? IOW, can I show European passport control my German passport on the way in, and then show U.S. officials my U.S. passport on the way home? Or does the same passport have to have all of the exit and entry stamps for a given trip?
Right. I’ve never considered it for a minute, but the possibility that I could is somehow very exciting! And you never know! If Sarah Palin is elected president in 2012, I might feel it was time to live abroad.
I wouldn’t give up mine, either. The U.S. State Department says that although dual citizenship isn’t encouraged, it’s permitted:
[emphasis mine] I have no intention of giving up my U.S. citizenship, and you all heard me say it!
My mother was born in Germany and forced to flee during WWII, which is one of the qualifications for German citizenship. She is thinking about going through the same process to restore her German citizenship.
Really? My best friend, a dual citizen, lived in Canada until he was 28 or 29 and never filed with the IRS. When he moved to California he started filing there, adn stopped filing in Canada. Nobody ever said anything.
The biggest pro is access to health care, assuming they can at least to get to Germany. If they lost everything, they might be able to scrounge enough to get to Europe where they would have access to a social safety net while figuring out what to do next.
I’ve had triple citizenship for many years - Canadian, American and Irish… When I go into Canada, I use my Canadian Passport, when I go to Europe, I line up in the “European citizen” line and use my Irish passport, and when I come home to the U.S., I use my American passport. I haven’t found a lot of other uses, other than having something interesting to mention at cocktail parties if I run out of things to talk about…
Only negative I’ve found so far is that I always end up traveling with two passports - so get to worry about not losing two of them on every trip.
I was in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Turkey when I had my son. He had the option of Turkish citizenship when he turned 18. That citizenship would have come with a mandatory 2 year term in the Turkish military. He did not take them up on that kind offer.
He is still at risk if he should ever visit Turkey. This is the travel warning on the U.S. govenment web site:
“Male U.S. citizens over the age of 18 who are also considered to be Turkish citizens may be subject to conscription and compulsory military service upon arrival and to other aspects of Turkish law while in Turkey.”
I have dual citizenship in Canada. Yes, technically you’re supposed to file your taxes in the U.S. as well, because they tax your world-wide income. However, my income is way, way, way below the cut-off for actually paying any taxes.
My cousin, Canadian born but also a Canada-U.S. dual citizen, has never filed in the U.S. at all. She also has never had residency in the U.S. and makes way, way, way less than the cut-off. Technically she is supposed to file, and keeps her income tax records going back 20 years in case anyone from the U.S. ever wants to see them.
Using the shortest queue at passport control is the benefit I use most. Before I got my UK passport I once spent over 2 hours in passport control at Heathrow after we landed just behind a 747 from Russia and another from Korea. The longest I’ve spent in line since then has been about 15 minutes.
It would simplify travel to Europe enormously. You wouldn’t need any kind of Visas or permits, just your passport, to visit or move to any EU country. There may be other countries which you’d have it easier to visit as a German citizen than an US one (it’s the case for Spain, which has a lot of bilateral treaties with her former colonies).
Dual US/Canadian citizen here. I have a US passport and Canadian citizenship ID card and I was assured the last time I crossed the border (which was before I became Canadian) that was all I would need and I know my son and daughter cross the border with nothing else. (I have another son who carries both passports; I don’t know why.) I have always filed US tax returns although I was always below the earned income exclusion and, now that I earn no income, I am still covered by the foreign tax credit and so still pay no US tax (except for what is withheld on a CD from a US bank, but then I get a Canadian tax credit for that).
Usually the border guard asks me about citizenship when I cross the border with my US passport, but I crossed only once–10 days ago–since I became a Canadian and he didn’t think to ask. I am not sure if I am obligated to volunteer that I am now dual.
I didn’t. Going into Canada, I used my Canadian passport to prove citizenship, and into the U.S. I used my U.S. passport to prove citizenship. That’s all they need to know.