On Wednesday, in Johannes Weber v. Department of State, Judge Ellen Huvelle of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted a State Department motion for summary judgment against a pro se litigant who sought to renounce U.S. citizenship in favour of retaining his existing German citizenship. (Pro se is a Latin term for a heretic who refuses to hire a priest to help him complete his obeisance to the paperwork gods).
Note that this is indeed a case of renunciation and not relinquishment: Weber signed an Oath of Renunciation. State denied the renunciation based on the consul’s judgment that Weber lacked full mental capacity at the time. This is unfortunate but sadly to be expected. What really worries me about this case is Huvelle’s entirely unprompted comment that recent, vaguely-defined “affiliation” with the U.S. is grounds for the State Department to determine that a renunciant lacks the required intent to lose citizenship. This is something that even State themselves does not seem to have claimed.
