Dual Citizenship After Naturalization: What US Law Allows
Liberty Lane Prep is an independent study resource. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or the Department of Homeland Security. This page is informational only and isn’t legal advice; questions about your specific country’s citizenship rules belong with that country’s consulate or an immigration attorney.
U.S. law does not require a naturalized citizen to give up any other citizenship, and the U.S. government does not track or enforce the renunciation language in the Oath of Allegiance. Whether you actually keep your original citizenship depends entirely on that other country’s own laws, not on anything the U.S. does or requires (U.S. Department of State, Dual Nationality).
This surprises a lot of applicants because the Oath of Allegiance, which every naturalized citizen recites, includes a line renouncing “all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty.” Reading that line literally, it sounds like a legal requirement to give up your other citizenship. In practice, the U.S. government treats it as a formality it doesn’t enforce, and has for decades.
Does the Oath actually cancel your other citizenship?
No. Taking the Oath of Allegiance does not cancel, suspend, or affect your citizenship in any other country. The U.S. government has no mechanism to notify a foreign government that you’ve naturalized, and doesn’t ask you to surrender a foreign passport, notify a foreign consulate, or take any additional renunciation step. The Oath’s renunciation language has been treated as symbolic rather than operative since a series of federal court decisions established that the U.S. cannot force a choice between citizenships. Whether your original citizenship survives your naturalization is a question your other country answers, not the United States.
Which countries let you keep your original citizenship, and which don’t?
This is the part that actually matters, and it has nothing to do with U.S. law. Some countries, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and many others, freely permit dual citizenship and take no action when a citizen naturalizes elsewhere. Other countries, including several in Asia and the Middle East, automatically strip citizenship from anyone who voluntarily naturalizes in another country, regardless of what the U.S. requires. A short list is not a substitute for checking directly:
| What your other country does | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Permits dual citizenship outright | You keep both; no action needed on either side |
| Requires a retention application or fee after naturalizing elsewhere | You must file with that country’s government to avoid automatic loss |
| Automatically revokes citizenship on foreign naturalization | You lose that citizenship the moment you take the U.S. Oath, unless a specific exemption applies |
Check directly with that country’s embassy or consulate before you naturalize if keeping your original citizenship matters to you; U.S. sources, including this one, can’t tell you what another country’s law does.
Do you have to give up a foreign passport?
No. The U.S. does not require you to surrender, cancel, or stop using a foreign passport as part of naturalizing. Many dual citizens continue to use their other country’s passport for travel to that country, since some countries require their own citizens to enter on that country’s passport regardless of what other citizenship they hold. What you cannot do is enter or exit the United States itself on anything other than a U.S. passport once you’re a U.S. citizen; U.S. law requires U.S. citizens to use a U.S. passport for U.S. entry and exit.
What obligations come with keeping U.S. citizenship as a dual national?
Holding a second citizenship doesn’t reduce any U.S. citizen obligation. Dual citizens still owe U.S. federal taxes on worldwide income regardless of where they live, still register for Selective Service if they’re a male between 18 and 26, and remain subject to U.S. law wherever they are. The IRS and the Selective Service System don’t make exceptions for citizens who also hold another passport.
Is dual citizenship at risk of changing under U.S. law?
There is ongoing legislative and public discussion around proposals like the Exclusive Citizenship Act, which would restrict dual citizenship in various ways, but as of this writing no such bill has become law, and current U.S. practice, allowing dual citizenship without restriction, remains unchanged. Anything you read framing dual citizenship as newly at risk under U.S. law is describing a proposal, not current law; verify the status of any such bill directly before treating it as settled.
Frequently asked questions
Does the U.S. recognize me as a dual citizen on official documents? The U.S. generally treats you as a U.S. citizen for all purposes within U.S. jurisdiction and doesn’t formally record or track a second citizenship on your naturalization certificate or U.S. passport.
Can dual citizens vote in both countries? That depends on the other country’s law, not U.S. law. The U.S. places no restriction on a dual citizen voting in another country’s elections; some countries restrict or bar voting rights for citizens who’ve naturalized elsewhere.
Does dual citizenship affect eligibility to run for U.S. president? The natural-born-citizen requirement for U.S. president is a separate constitutional question from dual citizenship generally, and naturalized citizens, dual or not, are not eligible for that specific office regardless of how long they’ve held U.S. citizenship.
Will USCIS ask about my other citizenship during the naturalization interview? The N-400 does ask about your immigration and travel history, but holding another citizenship is not a bar to naturalizing and is not treated as a negative factor in that interview.
If my other country revokes my citizenship when I naturalize, can I get it back later? That depends entirely on that country’s law and process, often called citizenship retention or restoration, and has nothing to do with U.S. immigration law. Contact that country’s consulate for its specific procedure.
Bottom line: U.S. law lets you keep any other citizenship after naturalizing and doesn’t enforce the Oath’s renunciation language, but whether you actually keep it depends on your other country’s law, so check with that country’s consulate before you assume anything either way.