Can the Government Take Away Your Citizenship? Grounds and Process

Yes, the U.S. government can take away your citizenship, but only in narrow circumstances that almost always come back to fraud during naturalization or your own voluntary acts done with the intent to give up your nationality. There are two legal paths. Denaturalization strips citizenship from someone who obtained it through the naturalization process. Expatriation applies to any citizen, including those born in the U.S., who voluntarily performs certain acts intending to relinquish their nationality. Both come with real legal protections, and the government’s power here is far more limited than most people assume.

When Citizenship Can Be Revoked After Naturalization

Denaturalization targets the naturalization itself, not something the person did years later. The question a court asks is whether citizenship was properly granted in the first place. Federal law authorizes revocation on the ground that the naturalization order was “illegally procured” or obtained through concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation.¹

“Illegally procured” covers cases where the person simply wasn’t eligible when they naturalized. Maybe they hadn’t lived in the U.S. long enough, or they didn’t meet the good moral character requirement. Citizenship should never have been granted, regardless of whether the applicant tried to deceive anyone.

Concealment and misrepresentation are different. These involve actively hiding something or lying during the application or interview. A fact is “material” if it would have naturally influenced the government’s decision. Hiding a serious criminal history, lying about how long you’ve lived in the country, or concealing ties to a prohibited organization are the kinds of things that trigger denaturalization. The misrepresentation has to be willful, not an innocent mistake.¹

There is no general statute of limitations. The government can bring a denaturalization case decades after someone naturalized. For the core grounds of fraud and concealment, no clock runs in the person’s favor.

What the Government Has to Prove in Court

Denaturalization is a courtroom proceeding, not a letter from a bureaucrat. The government files a civil lawsuit against the individual in a U.S. District Court, typically initiated by a U.S. Attorney’s office. The person receives formal notice and has 60 days to respond.¹

The government carries a heavy burden. Courts require “clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence,” a standard far higher than what applies in typical civil cases and just below the criminal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The individual has the right to legal representation and can mount a full defense. Even if the government proves a material misrepresentation, the person can still fight the case by showing they actually met all the statutory requirements despite the lie.

One important gap: because denaturalization is technically a civil case, there is no automatic right to a government-appointed attorney. If you can’t afford a lawyer, you aren’t guaranteed one the way a criminal defendant would be. That is a significant practical barrier in a proceeding where the stakes are about as high as they get.

If the court rules against the person, the order takes effect as of the original date of naturalization. The person reverts to whatever immigration status they held before naturalizing, most often lawful permanent resident status, though depending on the circumstances it could leave them subject to removal proceedings.²

When Voluntary Acts Cost You Citizenship

Expatriation works completely differently. It applies to every citizen, whether born in the U.S. or naturalized, and it turns on the person’s own voluntary conduct and intent. Federal law is explicit: a citizen loses nationality only by “voluntarily performing” certain acts “with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality.”³ The government cannot strip citizenship from a native-born or naturalized citizen as punishment. Intent is everything.

The acts that can trigger expatriation under the Immigration and Nationality Act are:

Formal renunciation before a U.S. diplomatic or consular officer in a foreign country, signing a formal oath of renunciation.
Naturalizing in another country after age 18 with the intent to give up U.S. nationality.
Taking a formal oath of allegiance to another country after age 18.
Serving in a foreign military, particularly if that country is in conflict with the U.S. or if you serve as an officer.
Accepting a position in a foreign government after acquiring that country’s nationality, or taking any foreign government post that requires an oath of allegiance.
Committing treason, attempting to overthrow the U.S. government by force, or conspiring to do so, if convicted by a court.

Each of these is spelled out in 8 U.S.C. § 1481.³ A critical point that trips people up: simply holding dual citizenship does not cause you to lose U.S. nationality. Becoming a citizen of another country, by itself, is not enough. The State Department must find that you did so with the specific intent to abandon your American citizenship.

How the State Department Handles Loss of Nationality

Expatriation is handled administratively by the U.S. Department of State, not by a court. The process typically begins when a consular officer learns that a citizen may have performed one of the statutory acts. The officer gathers facts, usually conducts an interview, and tries to determine whether the act was voluntary and whether the person intended to relinquish citizenship.

If the officer concludes that a loss of nationality occurred, the individual is asked to sign a statement confirming their actions and intent. The findings then go to the Department of State in Washington, D.C. for a final decision. If approved, the Department issues a Certificate of Loss of Nationality, the official record that the person is no longer a U.S. citizen.⁴

The determination is considered final, but it can be challenged. A person can request an administrative review by writing to the Department of State or emailing the Loss of Nationality Administrative Reviews office. The Department can also reopen cases on its own initiative to ensure consistency with governing law.⁵ Beyond administrative review, a person can file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking to regain citizenship, though that path is expensive and procedurally difficult.

In any dispute over whether someone lost their nationality, the burden falls on whoever claims the loss occurred, and the standard is preponderance of the evidence. There is a legal presumption that a person who performed an expatriating act did so voluntarily, but the individual can rebut that presumption by showing the act was done under duress or without genuine intent to give up citizenship.³

What Happens to Family Members

Denaturalization can reach beyond the person losing citizenship. If a spouse or child derived their own U.S. citizenship through that person’s naturalization, their status may be at risk too. The rules turn on why the naturalization was revoked.

If the parent or spouse lost citizenship because of concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation, the derived citizen loses U.S. citizenship as well, whether they live in the U.S. or abroad.
If the revocation was based on illegal procurement (the person simply wasn’t eligible), the spouse or child’s derived citizenship is not automatically lost.
If the revocation was based on joining a prohibited organization within five years of naturalization, or on a dishonorable military separation, the derived citizen loses citizenship only if they were living outside the United States at the time of revocation.

When a family member’s citizenship is revoked, that person reverts to whatever immigration status they held before naturalizing. A spouse or child also cannot use the revoked person’s naturalization as a basis for any future citizenship claim, even if their own citizenship survives the revocation.²

Tax Consequences to Plan For

Giving up U.S. citizenship voluntarily triggers a separate set of IRS rules that catch many people off guard. Under the expatriation tax provisions of IRC Section 877A, certain former citizens are classified as “covered expatriates” and face a mark-to-market exit tax. This treats worldwide assets as if they were sold on the day before expatriation, and unrealized gains above an exclusion amount are taxed.⁶

You are a covered expatriate if you meet any one of these tests:

Your net worth is $2 million or more on the date of expatriation.
Your average annual net income tax over the five years before expatriation exceeds a specified threshold, which was $206,000 for 2025. The IRS adjusts this figure annually for inflation; the 2026 threshold had not been published as of the most recent available IRS guidance.
You fail to certify that you’ve met all federal tax obligations for the five years preceding expatriation.

For the 2025 tax year, the exclusion amount that reduces the deemed-sale gain was $890,000.⁶ Gains above that exclusion are taxable. If you are considering renunciation, talk to a tax professional well before starting the process, because the exit tax can create a significant and unexpected liability.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1451 – Revocation of Naturalization
2
USCIS. Chapter 3 – Effects of Revocation of Naturalization
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1481 – Loss of Nationality by Native-Born or Naturalized Citizen
4
U.S. Department of State. Relinquishing U.S. Nationality Abroad
5
U.S. Department of State. Administrative Review of Loss of Nationality Determination
6
Internal Revenue Service. Expatriation Tax