3.2.4 Joint US/Australian from a US perspective
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This article is from the soc.culture.australian FAQ, by Stephen Wales with numerous contributions by others.
3.2.4 Joint US/Australian from a US perspective
[ZS] The situation with USA citizenship is that the US constitution
says that anyone born or naturalised in the USA is a citizen. US
citizenship is a right, not a privilege. US citizenship cannot be
taken away from you against your will. However, you still have the
right to renounce it, and other countries often require you to do so
in order to become naturalised. This used to be the case in Australia
up till 1986. The oath of citizenship used to include the phrase
`renouncing all other allegiance'. When the oath was changed in 1986,
it became possible for US citizens to become naturalised Australians
without losing their US status.
The US doesn't like it, and for many years the local US consulates
actively tried to bamboozle USAns into renouncing their US citizenship
if they became Australians. If you sign anything acknowledging that
you have renounced, or give away your US passport, or anything of that
nature, the USA will assume that you have voluntarily renounced, and
it's up to you to go to court and prove otherwise.
I was born in the USA, have lived here since the age of six, and was
naturalised in 1989. The Department of Immigration demanded that I
turn in my US passport, because they had an agreement with the US
embassy to do so, and return the passports to the embassy. I insisted
that I didn't want to lose my US citizenship, and they refused to
process my application until I gave over my passport. They said if I
needed it before the naturalisation went through, I could get it back,
so after a long argument I gave them my passport, and then on the day
before my naturalisation ceremony I went in and asked for the return
of my US passport. On the form they gave me, under `reason', I ticked
`other', and wrote that I wanted it back because I didn't want to lose
it. I don't know whether they read the form or not, but I got the
passport back.
Then I got a letter from the US consulate. The Department had
informed them of my naturalisation, and they asked me to fill in a
questionnaire, with the questions slanted to produce answers that
would constitute voluntary renunciation. I sent them a letter
explaining why I refused to fill in the questionnaire, and setting out
quite clearly the circumstances. I regarded the very fact that I had
my passport as the greatest proof that I wanted to keep it. I got a
letter that my case was on hold.
A few months ago I went in to the consulate to renew my passport, and
they were a bit more helpful. The attitude seems to have changed in
the past few years. They still made me fill in the same
questionnaire, but I did it in front of them, explaining verbally my
objections and putting down N/A all over the place, and waited there
until I got an official determination that I retain my citizenship. I
probably made a nuisance of myself, but I insist on my constitutional
rights. If they don't like it, let them change the constitution.
The dual citizenship FAQ is available : (from Rich Wales) [no relative -ed]
==> on the World Wide Web, http://home.opentext.com/~richw/dualcit.html
==> via Internet anonymous FTP from home.opentext.com as the two files
/home/richw/dualcit.txt and /home/richw/dualcit2.txt
==> via e-mail to me (richw@opentext.com); put "Subject: send dualcit"
in the header of your message
..The US State Department now says that it will assume that a US
citizen intends to =retain= his US citizenship if he (1) is
naturalized in a foreign country, (2) takes a routine oath of
allegiance to a foreign country, or (3) accepts foreign government
employment that is of a "non-policy-level" nature. A person in such a
situation will eventually be asked to fill out a State Department
questionnaire on the subject (e.g., the next time he/she applies for
renewal of a passport); but unless he/she affirmatively intended to
give up US citizenship, no action will be taken to revoke said
citizenship...
The minus side of retaining US citizenship is that the IRS retains
rights to tax worldwide income, and say you must file even when the
deductions cancel out the tax. I have met many US citizens living
outside the US who ignore this - how does this work out when they
apply for passport renewals?
[Any US citizens in Australia care to comment on this last question ? -SW]
* Carol C Denehy <ccd@ccadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au> replied to my above question with :
In reply to the comments on dual citizenship.
I was born an American citizen and lived in the US for the first
43 years of my life. I emigrated and married an Australian citizen.
I now hold a public service job which requires me to be an Australian
citizen. I have read the document on dual citizenship for US
citizens describing the current US policy. I applied for
Australian citizenship last Feb and became a citizen in March
1993.
At the time I became a citizen I notified the US consulate and
said that I did not intend to relinquish my US citizenship.
I had to fill out a questionnaire (which I didn't find slanted
at all). It asked things like did I still have ties to the
US like family and friends, did I intend to vote and file taxes,
did I own property or have bank accounts in the US. I answered
honestly, and subsequently received a letter informing me that
I had not lost my US citizenship. I assume I will have to show
that letter when I need to renew my US passport.
I have voted by absentee ballot for major US elections. I have
filed taxes every year. This is pretty simple although the forms
make it much more complicated that it is (typical IRS). I do
not have to pay any US taxes because of foreign income exemption.
Hope this sheds a little light on the process.
[TT] A couple of years ago my accountant (at Peat Marwick) told
me that a couple of her clients, US citizens but Canadian residents
had taken a trip back to the US, flying via Montreal. They were
stopped at the border (US immigration is done in Montreal) and
prevented from entering - being told that they hadn't filed their
returns for the previous three years, they would not be allowed back
in until they filed. Apparently, IRS records are now accessible by
Immigration and one's tax status can be checked automatically this
way. She tells of several others who have relinquished US citizenship
for the reason that they are fed up with the filing requirement.
[As always, you should DOUBLE CHECK everything told you by anyone
about immigration laws to ANY country - as even the officials
sometimes get it wrong.]
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