cross-posted from citizenshipsolutions
Update January 2018: This post has been updated with some new links and discussion
Part I is here.
Part II is here.
Part III is here.
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PART IV
U.S. Citizenship law of the present – Breaking The U.S. Connection – Relinquishment
Relinquishing acts – How to lose U.S. citizenship – S. 349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act
Once upon a time, the U.S. would “strip citizens” of their U.S. citizenship for voluntarily becoming naturalized citizens of another country. Like many aspects of U.S. nationality law, this was considered to be a “punitive measure”.
Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Afroyim and Terrazas, S. 349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, mandated an automatic loss of U.S. citizenship for those who became citizens of another country. S. 349 now clarifies that, U.S. citizens who become citizens of another country, will lose their U.S. citizenship only if they intended to relinquish their U.S. citizenship by becoming naturalized citizens of the second country. In other words, U.S. citizens have the right to NOT (absent their consent) be stripped of their U.S. citizenship even if they maintain neither ties nor “connection” to the U.S.
U.S. citizenship law of the past – The requirement of a voluntary connection
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