Yes, the United States allows dual citizenship. Federal law does not require you to choose between your U.S. nationality and another country’s, and the government has no mechanism to strip your citizenship without your voluntary, intentional consent. That said, holding two passports does not cut your obligations to the U.S. in half. If anything, it doubles the paperwork.
What the Law Actually Says
No statute declares dual citizenship legal, and none forbids it. The Department of State puts the position plainly: U.S. law does not require a citizen to choose between U.S. citizenship and another nationality, and it does not block citizens from acquiring foreign citizenship by birth, descent, or naturalization abroad.1U.S. Department of State. Dual Nationality The federal government tolerates the status without encouraging it.
The constitutional backstop is Afroyim v. Rusk, a 1967 Supreme Court decision that overturned a law allowing the government to revoke citizenship for voting in a foreign election. The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause “completely controls the status of citizenship” and prevents Congress from forcibly destroying anyone’s nationality.2Library of Congress. U.S. Constitution – Fourteenth Amendment A later case, Vance v. Terrazas (1980), added that the government must prove both that a person performed an expatriating act and that they specifically intended to give up their citizenship when doing so. The upshot: you keep your U.S. citizenship unless you clearly and deliberately let it go.
How People End Up With Two Citizenships
Most dual citizens did not apply for the status. They inherited it, were born into it, or picked it up on the way to becoming American.
Born in the United States
The Fourteenth Amendment grants citizenship to all persons born on U.S. soil and subject to its jurisdiction.3Constitution Annotated. Citizenship Clause Doctrine A baby born in a U.S. hospital to foreign parents is a U.S. citizen at birth. If the parents’ country also claims the child as a national, that child holds two citizenships from day one, and no one files anything to make it happen.
Born Abroad to a U.S. Citizen Parent
A child born outside the United States to one American parent and one foreign parent generally acquires U.S. citizenship at birth, provided the American parent lived in the U.S. for at least five years before the birth, with at least two of those years after age fourteen.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1401 – Nationals and Citizens of United States at Birth If the country of birth also grants citizenship based on where the child was born, dual status is automatic. Parents document U.S. citizenship by applying for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad at the nearest embassy or consulate.
Naturalizing as a U.S. Citizen
Naturalization applicants take an oath that includes renouncing “allegiance and fidelity” to foreign states.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America The words sound final. In practice, the U.S. government does not verify that new citizens actually cancelled their original nationality with their home country, and if that country still considers them a citizen, they still are. The oath is treated as a statement of allegiance rather than a legal act that ends foreign status. It works the other way too: an American who naturalizes in another country does not automatically lose U.S. citizenship.1U.S. Department of State. Dual Nationality
Whether your original country actually lets you keep its citizenship after you naturalize elsewhere is a question for that country’s law, not U.S. law.
Which Passport to Use
Federal law makes it illegal for a U.S. citizen to enter or leave the country without a valid U.S. passport, with narrow exceptions.6eCFR. 22 CFR Part 53 – Passport Requirement and Exceptions Dual citizens are not exempt. When boarding a flight to the U.S. or crossing a U.S. border, you must present your U.S. passport, even if you also hold a foreign one. Using the wrong document can mean delays, questioning, or denied boarding.
Your other country of nationality often has a mirror rule requiring you to enter and leave on its passport. The standard approach is to carry both and present the right one at each border. Traveling between third countries on your foreign passport is fine under U.S. law.1U.S. Department of State. Dual Nationality
Taxes Follow You Everywhere
The United States is one of the few countries that taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live.7Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad A dual citizen living and working in another country still owes the IRS an annual return, even when the other country has already taxed every dollar earned.
Two mechanisms soften the blow. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion lets qualifying dual citizens exclude up to $132,900 in foreign-earned wages for the 2026 tax year, provided they meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test.8Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 Foreign tax credits also offset U.S. tax with taxes already paid abroad. Between the two, many dual citizens overseas owe little or no additional U.S. tax. The filing requirement does not go away.
Foreign Bank Accounts
If the combined value of your foreign accounts exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year, you must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) electronically with the Treasury Department.7Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad The $10,000 threshold is low enough to catch ordinary checking and savings accounts in your other country.
Separately, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) requires foreign banks to identify accounts held by U.S. persons and report them directly to the IRS, or face a 30% withholding tax on certain U.S.-source payments.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1471 – Withholdable Payments to Foreign Financial Institutions Your foreign bank likely already knows you are American and may ask for a U.S. taxpayer identification number. Some foreign banks refuse to open accounts for Americans at all because of the compliance burden.
FBAR penalties are steep. A non-willful violation can carry a penalty of up to $16,536 per annual report for 2026. Willful violations can reach the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the account balance at the time of the violation.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5321 – Civil Penalties Because penalties apply per year, falling behind for several years compounds quickly.
Selective Service for Men
Male dual citizens between 18 and 25 must register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of turning 18, even if they live outside the United States.11Selective Service System. Who Needs to Register Dual nationals living abroad can register using a foreign address. Missing the window is technically a felony carrying a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years in prison. The more common consequence is losing eligibility for federal employment, federal job training, and federal student financial aid, and, for immigrants, being blocked from naturalizing.12Selective Service System. Benefits and Penalties
Consular Help Has Limits
Traveling to your other country of citizenship is where dual status can turn risky. That country’s government may treat you exclusively as its own national and refuse to recognize your U.S. citizenship at all. The State Department warns that local authorities may not notify the U.S. embassy if you are arrested, and consular officers may not be allowed to visit you in custody.13U.S. Department of State. Dual Nationality
U.S. embassies will still request access on a courtesy basis, but they have no legal right to demand it when the detaining country is also your country of nationality.14Foreign Affairs Manual. Introduction to Arrest and Detention The risk narrows to that one country. In a third country where you hold neither nationality, both of your governments can generally offer assistance.
Security Clearances and Federal Jobs
Dual citizenship does not automatically bar you from a federal security clearance. The Department of State applies a case-by-case “whole person” assessment, and the same adjudicative standards run across federal agencies.15U.S. Department of State. Dual Citizenship – Security Clearance Implications Specific conduct is what raises concerns: using a foreign passport, serving in a foreign military, drawing benefits from another government, voting in foreign elections, or holding political office abroad are all listed as potentially disqualifying under the foreign preference guideline. Mitigating factors include dual status that arose solely from birth or parentage and willingness to renounce the foreign nationality. When doubt about allegiance remains, the decision goes against the applicant.
Giving Up U.S. Citizenship
Some dual citizens eventually decide to end their U.S. status, often to escape the lifelong filing obligations. The process is governed by 8 U.S.C. ยง 1481, which lists acts that end nationality when performed voluntarily with the intent to relinquish citizenship.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1481 – Loss of Nationality by Native-Born or Naturalized Citizen The most common route is appearing before a U.S. consular officer abroad and signing a formal oath of renunciation. The processing fee stood at $2,350 for many years and was significantly reduced in early 2026. After the ceremony, the consular officer forwards the oath and a Certificate of Loss of Nationality to the State Department for approval.17eCFR. 22 CFR Part 50 Subpart C – Loss of Nationality Approval can take several months.
Renouncing can also trigger an exit tax. The IRS treats “covered expatriates” as if they sold all their worldwide assets at fair market value the day before expatriation and taxes the resulting gain. You qualify as a covered expatriate if your average annual net income tax liability for the five preceding years exceeds roughly $206,000 (adjusted for inflation), your net worth is $2 million or more on the date of expatriation, or you fail to certify five years of federal tax compliance.18Internal Revenue Service. Expatriation Tax An exclusion shelters the first portion of gain from the mark-to-market calculation, set at $890,000 for 2025.19Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8854 Gains above that are taxed as ordinary income. For anyone with meaningful assets, renunciation is a tax planning event long before it is a consulate appointment.