Effects of Renouncing American Citizenship

It is a known fact that one can become a citizen of the US by birth or through Naturalization. Getting citizenship through US citizen parents are also possible depending on satisfying certain requirements. If you qualify on your own eligibility, you have to file Form N-400, the citizenship form. While there are millions waiting to get naturalized, there is a very small percentage of persons who want to renounce their US citizenship without knowing of effects of renouncing.



Section 349(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) governs the ability of a US citizen to renounce his/her US citizenship.



If you want to renounce your American Citizenship, you should do so voluntarily and should appear in person before a US consular or diplomatic officer. You have to do this in a foreign country (normally at a US Embassy or Consulate) and you should also be prepared to sign an oath of renunciation. If you do not do so as mentioned above, Renunciations have no effect legally. It is important to note that US citizens cannot effectively renounce their citizenship by mail, through an agent, or even while being in US. In fact, US courts have held certain attempts to renounce US citizenship to be ineffective on a variety of grounds.



Renounce All Rights and Privileges :



As a US citizen if you want to renounce your citizenship, you cannot retain some of the privileges of citizenship, as this would lead to logical inconsistency with the concept of renunciation. In such case, The Department of State will not approve a loss of citizenship.



Statelessness :



You should be aware that, unless you already have a foreign nationality, you might be left stateless if you intend to renounce your American citizenship. It would result in the lack the protection from any government. Furthermore, you will also experience extreme difficulty during your travel, as you may not be entitled to a passport from any country.



Considering that you are not stateless, you have to get a visa to travel to the US, or show that you are eligible for admission pursuant to the terms of the Visa Waiver Pilot Program (VWPP). If you are considered ineligible for a visa or the VWPP to come to the US, under certain circumstances you could eventually be barred from entering the US. Nonetheless, renunciation of US citizenship will not prevent a foreign country from deporting you back to the United States in some non-citizen status.



Tax and Military Obligations :



Renouncing your US citizenship will have no effect whatsoever on your US tax or military service obligations. Adding further to this, renouncing American citizenship will not allow you to avoid possible prosecution for crimes which you may have committed in the US. You cannot escape the repayment of financial obligations that you previously incurred in the US or what you incurred as a US citizen abroad.



Minor Children :



You can renounce your citizenship and cannot renounce US citizenship on behalf of your minor children. Before an oath of renunciation will be administered to a person under the age of eighteen, he/she should be able to convince a US diplomatic or consular officer that he/she fully understands the nature and consequences of the oath of renunciation. He/She should also convince that he/she is not subject to duress or undue influence, and is voluntarily seeking to renounce his/her citizenship.



Irrevocable :



Another important fact that would make you think twice is that renunciation of American citizenship is irrevocable, except as provided in section 351 of the INA. It cannot be canceled or set aside. However, if you renounced your US citizenship before the age of eighteen, you have the option of having that citizenship reinstated if you let your desire known to the Department of State within six months after reaching the age of eighteen.



If you are contemplating renouncing US citizenship, it is vitally important to consider the effects of renouncing as described above before arriving at such a conclusion.



It is a known fact that one can become a citizen of the US by birth or through Naturalization. Getting citizenship through US citizen parents are also possible depending on satisfying certain requirements. If you qualify on your own eligibility, you have to file Form N-400, the citizenship form. While there are millions waiting to get naturalized, there is a very small percentage of persons who want to renounce their American citizenship without knowing of effects of renouncing.