Multiple citizenship Totally Explained

Everything about Multiple Citizenship totally explained

Multiple citizenship, or multiple nationality, is a status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one state. Dual citizenship (being a citizen of two nations), or dual nationality, is the most common type of multiple citizenship.
   Multiple citizenships exist because different countries use different, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, criteria to bestow citizenship. Thus, a person becomes a citizen of multiple countries because countries, not persons, decide who is and who isn't a citizen.
   Individual countries follow their own individual rationales in establishing their criteria for citizenship. Some countries bestow citizenship automatically at birth to persons with a parent who is one of their nationals (jus sanguinis), or to persons born on their territory (jus soli), or through marriage to persons wedding their nationals (jure matrimonii). Other nations (such as Australia) allow the grant of citizenship to be made to the children of citizens under certain circumstances. In addition, citizenship can be granted through naturalization. Once citizenship is bestowed, the bestowing country may or may not consider a voluntary renunciation of citizenship to be valid.
   Some countries consider multiple citizenship undesirable and take measures to prevent it; this may (for example, in Denmark, Japan, Singapore and India) take the form of an automatic loss of a citizenship if another citizenship is acquired voluntarily, or (for example, carrying a foreign passport in Saudi Arabia) criminal penalties for exercising another citizenship. Others may allow a citizen to have any number of nationalities. However, since each country decides for itself who its citizens are, based solely on its own laws and generally without regard for the laws of other countries, it's quite possible for a given individual to be considered a citizen by two or more countries even if some or all of these countries forbid dual or multiple citizenship.
   On the other hand, some countries consider multiple citizenship desirable because it increases opportunities for their citizens to compete and build contacts globally, and/or have taken active steps towards permitting multiple citizenship in recent years (for example, Australia since April 4, 2002.; India, as noted below, has introduced a form of overseas citizenship but this stops well short of full dual citizenship ).
   Many countries, even those which "permit" dual or multiple citizenship, don't "recognize" dual or multiple citizenship under their laws: individuals are treated either as citizens of that country or not, and their citizenship with respect to other countries is considered to have no bearing. This can mean, (for example, in Iran, Mexico, many Arab countries, former Soviet republics) that consular officials abroad may not have access to their citizens if they also hold local citizenship. Some countries may provide access for consular officials as a matter of courtesy, but don't accept any obligation to do so under international consular agreements. The right of countries to act in this fashion is protected via the Master Nationality Rule. In popular discourse, reference to countries that "recognize" multiple citizenship may refer only to the lack of any specific statute forbidding multiple citizenship (leaving aside the difficulties of enforcing such statutes).

Citizenship of multiple countries

Each country has different requirements for citizenship, as well as different policies regarding dual citizenship. These laws sometimes leave gaps where the acquisition of other citizenships don't render the original citizenship invalid, creating a possible situation for an individual to hold two or more nationalities.
The Republic of Ireland extends its citizenship laws to Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Therefore, anyone born in Northern Ireland may, if they wish, exercise an entitlement to Irish citizenship by simply applying for an Irish passport. See Irish nationality law and British nationality law.

Sub-national citizenship

Under the U.S. Constitution (Amendment XIV), all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

Switzerland has a three tier system of citizenship - Confederation, canton and commune (municipality).

Although considered part of the United Kingdom for British nationality purposes, the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have local legislation restricting certain employment and housing rights to those with "local status".

The Australian territory of Norfolk Island has immigration laws which restrict residence in the territory to those with "local status". Most Norfolk Islanders are Australian citizens.

Hong Kong and Macau, each a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, make a distinction in their immigration laws between Chinese citizens with the right to reside in the territory and those without. Chinese citizens with right of abode in these territories can hold a different type of Chinese passport which gives more favourable travel rights internationally.

People from Åland have joint regional (Åland) and national (Finnish) citizenship. People with Ålandic citizenship (hembygdsrätt) have the right to buy property and set up a business on Åland, which Finns without regional citizenship cannot. Finns can get Ålandic citizenship after living on the islands for five years and Ålanders lose their regional citizenship after living on the Finnish mainland for five years.

The government of Puerto Rico began issuing Puerto Rican citizenship certificates in September 2007 after Juan Mari Bras, a lifelong supporter of independence, won a successful court victory which validated his claim that Puerto Rican citizenship was valid and can be claimed by anyone born on the island or with at least one parent who was born there.

Prior to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Czechoslovak citizens also possessed an internal citizenship of either the Czech or Slovak Republic.

Before the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991, Yugoslav citizens possessed an internal citizenship of their own republic (for example Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia etc.) as well as Yugoslav citizenship.

Supra-national citizenship

In European Union law there's the concept of EU citizenship which flows from citizenship of a member state.

The Commonwealth of Nations has a Commonwealth citizenship for the citizens of its members. Some member states (such as the UK and Jamaica) allow non-nationals who are Commonwealth citizens to vote and stand for election while resident there. However, other member states make little or no distinction between citizens of other Commonwealth nations and citizens of non-Commonwealth nations.

Overseas citizenship

There now exists a provision for a new form of Indian nationality, the holders of which are to be known as Overseas Citizens of India. The Constitution of India doesn't permit dual citizenship or dual nationality, except for minors where the second nationality was involuntarily acquired. Indian authorities have interpreted the law to mean a person can't have a second country's passport simultaneously with an Indian one — even in the case of a child who is claimed by another country as a citizen of that country, and who may be required by the laws of the other country to use one of its passports for foreign travel (for example, a child born in the United States to Indian parents) — and the Indian courts have given the executive branch wide discretion over this matter. Therefore, Overseas Citizenship of India isn't a full citizenship of India and thus, doesn't amount to dual citizenship or dual nationality. Moreover, people who have acquired Citizenship in Pakistan or Bangladesh are not eligible for Overseas Citizenship.

Issues

Being a citizen of more than one country can have many advantages as it allows to draw various citizenship benefits from multiple sources. This includes the rights to establish residence, to work, and to acquire property, educational opportunities, eligibility for various government subsidies, including healthcare and retirement, etc. However, it's prudent to realize that each citizenship carries also responsibilities and obligations and that being a citizen of another country may be a liability. There are a number of categories where potential problems call for caution or even for obtaining professional legal counsel.

Security clearance

Dual citizenship is associated with two categories of security concerns: foreign influence and foreign preference. Contrary to common misconceptions, dual citizenship in itself isn't the major problem in obtaining or retaining security clearance in the United States. As a matter of fact, if a security clearance applicant's dual citizenship is "based solely on parents' citizenship or birth in a foreign country", that can be a mitigating condition. However, exercising (taking advantage of the entitlements of) a non-U.S. citizenship can cause problems. For example, possession and/or use of a foreign passport is a condition disqualifying from security clearance and "... isn't mitigated by reasons of personal convenience, safety, requirements of foreign law, or the identity of the foreign country" as is explicitly clarified in a Department of Defense policy memorandum which defines a guideline requiring that "... any clearance be denied or revoked unless the applicant surrenders the foreign passport or obtains official permission for its use from the appropriate agency of the United States Government". This guideline has been followed in administrative rulings

by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals

(DOHA) office of Industrial Security Clearance Review

(ISCR), which decides cases involving security clearances for Contractor personnel doing classified work for all DoD components. One such case is (External Link

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Appearance of foreign allegiance

In addition to the formal adjudicative process of security clearance, there's a matter of public perception for individuals with dual citizenship as demonstrating potential dual loyalty that applies to any government office, even one that doesn't require security clearance.
   In the United States, dual citizenship isn't very common among politicians, although Arnold Schwarzenegger has retained his Austrian citizenship during his service as a Governor of California.
   In Canada, conversely, federal cabinet ministers often have dual citizenship with France or the United Kingdom and this in the past hasn't been an issue to their security clearances . One small controversy did arise in 2005 when Michaëlle Jean was appointed the Governor General of Canada (official representative of the Queen and Canada's de facto head of state in the Queen's absence). Although Jean no longer holds citizenship in her native Haiti, her marriage to French-born filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond allowed her to obtain French citizenship several years before her appointment. A section of the French civil code forbids French citizens from holding government or military positions in other countries and Jean's appointment made her both de facto head of state and commander-in-chief of the Canadian forces. The French embassy released a statement that this law wouldn't be enforced because the Governor General is essentially a ceremonial figurehead. Nevertheless Jean renounced her French citizenship two days before taking up office to avoid controversy.
   Former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner was born in the United Kingdom and retains his dual citizenship to this day. Stéphane Dion, current head of the Liberal Party of Canada and the leader of the official opposition, holds dual citizenship with France due to his mother's nationality; Dion has, however, indicated a willingness to renounce French citizenship if a significant number of Canadians view it negatively, in order not to hamper his party's prospects in a future election.
   The Constitution of Australia, in Section 44, explicitly forbids individuals who hold foreign citizenship from sitting in the parliament of Australia. A court case (see Sue v Hill) determined that Britain is a foreign power for purposes of this section of the constitution despite Australia and Britain holding a common nationality at the time of Australian federation, and ruling that Senator-elect Heather Hill hadn't been duly elected to the national parliament because at the time of her election she was a subject or citizen of a foreign power. (This restriction doesn't apply to members of the state parliaments, who may hold foreign citizenship.)

Taxation

In some cases, multiple citizenship can create additional tax liability. Countries that impose tax will generally use a combination of three factors when determining if a person is subject to taxation:

Residency - they tax anyone who lives there, regardless of citizenship;

Source - they tax income earned there; or

Citizenship - they tax their citizens. Most countries use residency and/or source when determining if a person should be subject to taxation. A few countries, such as the Philippines and the United States, do use citizenship as one of the determining factors for tax liability.
A person with multiple citizenship may have a tax liability to his country of residence and also to one or more of his countries of citizenship; or worse, if he was unaware that one of his citizenships created a tax liability, then that country may consider him to be a tax evader. Many countries and territories have contracted tax treaties or agreements for avoiding double taxation. Still, there are cases in which a person with multiple citizenship will owe tax solely on the basis of holding one of those citizenships.
Example: A person who holds both Australian and United States citizenship, lives and works in Australia. He would be subject to Australian taxation, because Australia taxes its residents, and he'd be subject to US taxation because he holds US citizenship. In general, he'd be allowed to subtract the Australian income tax he paid from the US tax that would be due. Plus, the US will allow some parts of foreign income to be exempt from taxation; for instance, in 2006 the foreign earned income exclusion allowed up to US$82,400 of foreign salaried income to be exempt from income tax. This exemption, plus the credit for foreign taxes paid mentioned above, often results in no US taxes being owed, although a US tax return would still have to be filed. In instances where the Australian tax was less than the US tax, and if there was income that couldn't be exempted from US tax, the US would expect any tax due to be paid.

Other

There may be also problems with conscription, travel restrictions, embargoes and sets of laws issued by multiple governments governing one’s behaviour domestically and while traveling abroad. In extreme cases, such as when the countries of citizenship are at war with each other, a dual citizen’s international status can be very complicated, and, historically, often led to incarceration of the “enemy” citizen, notwithstanding the person’s actual loyalties. If someone faces problems resulting from multiple citizenship, they may choose to resolve them by renouncing the undesirable citizenship(s).
During the heightened interest in security after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the security issue was raised of persons with multiple citizenship traveling under different names — having passports under their old and new names from different countries — and using one kind of passport to exit a country, while traveling on another passport in a different name abroad, and not disclosing this travel upon return. Legislation is being prepared in Canada to end this practice, identify persons traveling abroad under different names and passports, and possible security issues that might arise under the current system.

Examples

Example 1: A person born in Canada to a American father and a Canadian mother would have Canadian citizenship by birth, and may also have US citizenship, depending on certain circumstances (the parents' marital status, date of the child's birth, and whether the US citizen parent has met certain physical presence requirements). If the requirements have been met, then the child would also be a US citizen, and therefore would have dual citizenship. Example 2: A person born in Canada after January 1, 1983 to parents who are respectively a Japanese father and a British mother (otherwise than by descent) is entitled to triple citizenship at birth. Lex sanguinis applies for British and Japanese citizenships through parental blood relationships, and lex soli applies for Canadian citizenship because of birth on Canadian soil. However, according to Japanese nationality law, Japanese citizenship would be lost if British and Canadian citizenships are not renounced between the ages of 20 and 22 (although renunciation of British nationality to a foreign authority isn't recognised under British nationality law). Furthermore, lex sanguinis wouldn't apply automatically to any children born to this person outside the UK. Example 3: A British citizen also holds European Union and Commonwealth of Nations citizenship. In addition, most UK citizens born in Northern Ireland are also entitled to citizenship of the Republic of Ireland. Example 4: A person born in the US to one or both Canadian parents is entitled to both US and Canadian citizenship. A person born outside Canada to a Canadian parent is a Canadian citizen (though, in certain limited situations, the Canadian citizenship of someone born to a Canadian parent outside Canada may expire on the person's 28th birthday). Example 5: A person born in Canada to an Algerian father and British mother automatically acquires the Algerian citizenship and is entitled to British citizenship (in both cases, jus sanguinis). The child also is also entitled to Canadian citizenship (jus soli). Unlike Japan (see Example 2), Algeria allows its nationals to acquire multiple citizenship. The child is also entitled to Russian citizenship (jus sanguinis) and Canadian citizenship (jus soli). However, Morocco and Russia recognize their nationals on their soil as their nationals, which can limit the ability of other countries whose citizenship the child possesses from providing consular assistance to the child when (s)he encounters problems. Russia and Morocco, like Algeria, allow their nationals to acquire multiple citizenship. Example 7: A person born in the UK to a Syrian father and American mother automatically acquires the father's citizenship at birth. The child may also be entitled to United States citizenship (jus sanguinis), depending on the parent's marital status and the amount of physical presence the mother has spent in the U.S. Although America recognizes multiple citizenship, Syria does not, which could create complications for Syrians who also hold non-Syrian citizenship. However, under the Canadian nationality law after 1977, it's essentially impossible to involuntarily lose citizenship unless the citizenship was fraudulently obtained. The same is true under United States nationality law. Example 11: Under the Nationality Law of the Republic of China, a U.S. citizen wishing to obtain Taiwanese citizenship must first give up his U.S. citizenship. However, there's no clause stopping a naturalized Taiwanese from adding U.S. or other citizenship thereafter. Example 12: A person born in France of an American mother and a French father would be a citizen of both countries. Lex sanguinis applies for American citizenship and both Lex sanguinis and lex soli apply for French citizenship. Example 13: A person born in the U.S. to a father who was born in The Bahamas before July 10, 1973 is automatically a Bahamian citizen at birth, pursuant to the Bahamian constitution. This only applies in cases where the parents of the child are married. If the parents of the child are not married, the mother would had to have been born in the Bahamas before July 10, 1973 in order for her child to claim Bahamian citizenship.

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