No — you do not have to give up your citizenship to become a US citizen. U.S. law does not force anyone to choose between American citizenship and another nationality, and the State Department has said as much directly.1Travel.State.Gov. Dual Nationality Whether you actually get to keep your original citizenship, though, is a separate question, and the answer comes from your home country’s laws rather than from anything the United States does.
What the Oath of Allegiance Actually Does
Most of the confusion about this question traces back to the naturalization oath. During the ceremony, you swear to “renounce and abjure absolutely and entirely all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty.”2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC Chapter 12, Subchapter III – Nationality and Naturalization That language sounds like it should terminate your other citizenship on the spot. It doesn’t.
The U.S. government reads the oath as a declaration of primary loyalty, not as a mechanism that cancels a foreign nationality. Nobody from a federal agency contacts your home country after you naturalize. No paperwork gets filed with a foreign embassy. The Supreme Court acknowledged this reality decades ago in Kawakita v. United States, recognizing that a person can “have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both.”3U.S. Reports. Kawakita v. United States, 343 U.S. 717 (1952) The oath binds you to the United States. It does not unbind you from anywhere else.
Your Home Country’s Law Decides Whether You Keep Your Original Citizenship
This is where the real answer lives. Countries fall into roughly three groups:
- Countries that automatically revoke citizenship. Some nations, including China, India, and Japan, terminate your citizenship the moment you voluntarily acquire another. If you’re from one of these countries, becoming a U.S. citizen means losing your original nationality by operation of that country’s law, not because the United States asked for it.
- Countries that fully permit dual citizenship. Many nations, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and most of Latin America, allow their citizens to hold multiple nationalities without restriction.
- Countries with conditions. Some allow dual citizenship but require you to notify the government, pay fees, or follow specific procedures. Miss a step and you can lose the citizenship even in a country that technically permits holding both.
Before you naturalize, contact your home country’s embassy or consulate and ask exactly how their nationality law treats voluntary acquisition of another citizenship. Secondhand information is risky here. The consequences of getting it wrong are often irreversible.
Acts That Can Still Cost You Your U.S. Citizenship Later
Keeping your U.S. citizenship after naturalization requires that you not voluntarily perform certain acts with the specific intention of giving it up. Federal law lists them:4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1481 – Loss of Nationality by Native-Born or Naturalized Citizen
- Voluntarily acquiring citizenship in another country after turning 18.
- Taking a formal oath of allegiance to a foreign government after turning 18.
- Serving as a commissioned or noncommissioned officer in a foreign military, or serving in any capacity in forces engaged in hostilities against the United States.
- Accepting a position in a foreign government if you hold or acquire that country’s nationality, or if the position requires an oath of allegiance.
- Formally renouncing citizenship before a U.S. diplomatic officer abroad, or in writing within the U.S. during wartime.
- Committing treason or attempting to overthrow the U.S. government, if convicted.
The critical word in every one of these is “voluntarily.” The government has to prove both that you performed the act and that you intended to give up your citizenship by doing it. Accidentally triggering one of these provisions is extremely unlikely. Deliberately taking a foreign oath or serving as an officer in a foreign military while trying to hold onto dual status is the kind of situation where you’d want legal advice before acting. If your home country has mandatory military service, talk to an immigration attorney before you go.
What You Take On When You Become a U.S. Citizen
Worldwide Taxation and Annual Filing
The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live or earn it.5Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad Even if you move back to your home country and never earn another dollar in the U.S., you still file a federal tax return every year.6Internal Revenue Service. Reporting Foreign Income and Filing a Tax Return When Living Abroad
That doesn’t automatically mean paying tax twice on the same income. If you live abroad and meet certain requirements, you can exclude up to $132,900 of foreign earned income from your U.S. taxes for 2026.7Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 You may also be able to claim a foreign tax credit for income taxes paid to your other country. Those benefits only become available if you file. Skipping the return doesn’t just risk penalties — it forfeits the tools designed to prevent double taxation.8Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions About International Individual Tax Matters
Reporting Foreign Bank Accounts and Assets
If the combined value of your foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point in the year, you must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The report is due April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15.9Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) It covers bank accounts, investment accounts, and many retirement accounts held in your other country. The penalty for a non-willful failure to file can exceed $16,000 per report, and willful violations carry dramatically steeper consequences.
Separately, if your foreign financial assets exceed $50,000 on the last day of the tax year, or $75,000 at any point during the year, you must also file Form 8938 with your tax return. Married couples filing jointly get double the thresholds: $100,000 and $150,000.10Internal Revenue Service. Form 8938 Filing Requirements for Specified Foreign Financial Assets The penalty for missing Form 8938 starts at $10,000, with an additional $10,000 for every 30-day period you continue to miss it after the IRS notifies you, up to $50,000.11Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8938
The FBAR and Form 8938 overlap but aren’t interchangeable. Filing one doesn’t excuse you from the other. If you’ve kept bank accounts or retirement savings in your home country, both likely apply.
Using Your U.S. Passport at U.S. Borders
Federal law requires U.S. citizens to use a valid U.S. passport when entering or leaving the United States.12eCFR. 22 CFR 53.1 – Passport Requirement; Definitions You cannot use your other country’s passport at U.S. borders, even if it would be more convenient. A first-time adult passport book costs $165, consisting of a $130 application fee plus a $35 acceptance fee.13Travel.State.Gov. Passport Fees Your other country may impose a mirror-image rule requiring its passport at its border. In practice, many dual citizens carry both and use each at the appropriate crossing.
The Consular Protection Gap in Your Other Country
One consequence of dual citizenship rarely comes up until it matters. If you travel to your other country of nationality and something goes wrong — an arrest, a legal dispute, a custody matter — the U.S. embassy may not be able to help you. Local authorities may not recognize your U.S. citizenship at all, particularly if you entered on your other passport.14Travel.State.Gov. Dual Nationality
The principle is longstanding in international law: a country generally cannot extend diplomatic protection to one of its nationals against another country whose nationality that person also holds. So even if you ask police or prison officials to contact the U.S. embassy, they may refuse, and U.S. consular officers may be denied access to you. This is one of the most serious practical downsides of holding two citizenships, and it applies exactly where you’d most want help.