Passports?

This is probably been answered before, I just can't find the thread(s) for it.

Can I choose to be a dual national, or do I have to give up my U.S. passport, when I get my SET(M)? I'm almost certain that I don't have to relinquish my passport, but, I'm wondering if they'll make me choose now, with the new government in and it's new rules. It's gonna come up next November for me, and I want to know now before it gets too close and too traumatic.

If there are other threads/answers, can the moderators please post those, as well as any links or answers anyone may have? I checked the UKBA site, but, that wasn't any help at all.  Thanks for the help!

SET(M) is the form you fill out to get ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain).  It's permanent residence, not citizenship.  If you want to naturalise, that's another application, another fee, and at least another year's residence. 

However, you can be a dual national and don't need to relinquish your American citizenship if you choose to naturalise as British. 

No, you do not have to give up your US passport when you fill out the SET(M) form - actually, this would be a bit silly, since your ILR has to go into your US passport... you're just getting permanent residence in the UK, not UK citizenship (you will still be a US citizen living in the UK using your US passport).

The only way you can lose your US citizenship is if you officially renounce it in person in front of a US consular officer (and you have to pay to be able do it!). Even if you gain UK citizenship later down the line, you will not have to sacrifice your US passport nor give up your US citizenship unless you chose to do so (although most people will not want to do this anyway because it would mean never being able to live in the US again without getting a visa to live there!).

From the US Embassy in London:

Dual Citizenship
In the 1980's, the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. citizenship is a constitutional right that cannot be taken away from a citizen who does not intend to relinquish it. Therefore, such actions as naturalization in a foreign country, travel on a foreign passport, employment with a foreign government, and voting in a foreign election do not automatically jeopardize American citizenship. However, please note that all U.S. citizens, even dual nationals, must enter and depart the United States on U.S. passports. .

Thanks for your answers! I was just talking to a work mate, who said that her aunt who lives in the US but is a UKC had to give up her passport, because she had to claim citizenship in the States. I was worried for myself, but, always knew that I wouldn't have to. Maybe she didn't get the full story from her aunt? I don't know. Oh well.

Once upon a time the US government played their cards pretty close and people were led to believe that you could not hold another passport as well as a US one.  I remember worrying that if I so much as voted in local elections in the UK that the US would track me down and confiscate my US passport! So I never sought British citizenship.

ETA: My children were allowed dual nationality (having been born in the UK to a British father and an American mother) but the rule was then that once they reached 21 (or maybe it was 18 -- don't remember) they would have to choose which nationality they wanted to have and drop the other.  Something about they would then have to live in the US for 5 or 6 years before being bona fides.

ETA: My children were allowed dual nationality (having been born in the UK to a British father and an American mother) but the rule was then that once they reached 21 (or maybe it was 18 -- don't remember) they would have to choose which nationality they wanted to have and drop the other.  Something about they would then have to live in the US for 5 or 6 years before being bona fides.

Being 'bona fides' -- I think you mean that they need to live in the US for a minimum of 5 years in order to be able to pass along their US Citizenship to their children.

Thanks for your answers! I was just talking to a work mate, who said that her aunt who lives in the US but is a UKC had to give up her passport, because she had to claim citizenship in the States. I was worried for myself, but, always knew that I wouldn't have to. Maybe she didn't get the full story from her aunt? I don't know. Oh well.

My aunt lives in the US and holds both UK and US citizenship... and she still has both her UK and US passports... so I don't think your work mate got the whole story; either that, or she misinterpreted the story.

If her aunt did have to 'give up' her passport, that would mean that she would also have had to give up her UK citizenship (which you can only do by filling out a form, paying a fee (currently £208) and officially renouncing it in front of a UK government official... it's not something you do lightly)... so it would now be impossible for her to be a UK citizen living in the US, because if she had given up her passport, she would no longer be a UK citizen, she would just be a US citizen.

My aunt lives in the US and holds both UK and US citizenship... and she still has both her UK and US passports... so I don't think your work mate got the whole story; either that, or she misinterpreted the story.

If her aunt did have to 'give up' her passport, that would mean that she would also have had to give up her UK citizenship (which you can only do by filling out a form, paying a fee (currently £208) and officially renouncing it in front of a UK government official... it's not something you do lightly)... so it would now be impossible for her to be a UK citizen living in the US, because if she had given up her passport, she would no longer be a UK citizen, she would just be a US citizen.

Unfortunately, ksand24, for some reason, there are loads of misconceptions with citizenship and passports. I am eligible for dual citizenship from being born in the US and my parents' country of origin and understood since I was little that dual citizenship was allowed. However, so many people tried to tell me differently that I started to believe it  Even now, since I have two Americans, one expired with my visa and the other valid, I get officials asking me to check and see if that is 'kosher.'

US makes it quite hard to lose American citizenship  Funny thing, for example is that many dual Japanese-American citizens found a way to keep both even though Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship. Apparently, they inform the Japanese consulate that they are keeping their Japanese passport, but since the US doesn't regard 'force' as a valid means of renouncing citizenship, they get to keep their American citizenship as well.