Yes, the United States allows dual citizenship. No federal law forces you to choose between being American and holding citizenship in another country, and the State Department’s official position is that it neither encourages nor discourages dual nationality.1U.S. Department of State. Dual Nationality You can acquire a second passport, naturalize elsewhere, or be born with two nationalities, and none of that automatically costs you your American citizenship.2USAGov. How to Get Dual Citizenship or Nationality What the law permits and what dual citizenship demands of you day to day are two different things, though. Two passports come with obligations in taxes, travel, and military registration that catch people off guard.
How People End Up With Two Citizenships
Most dual citizens didn’t apply for the status. They inherited it.
A child born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen regardless of the parents’ nationality. If those parents come from a country that also claims the child through bloodline, the child is a dual national from birth without filing anything.
A child born abroad to at least one American parent generally acquires U.S. citizenship at birth, provided the American parent lived in the U.S. for a qualifying period before the birth.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 US Code 1401 – Nationals and Citizens of United States at Birth If the country of birth also grants citizenship by soil, that child holds both nationalities immediately.
Foreign nationals who naturalize as U.S. citizens take an Oath of Allegiance that includes language renouncing “all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty.”4eCFR. 8 CFR 337.1 – Oath of Allegiance That sounds like the end of dual citizenship. In practice it usually isn’t. Many countries don’t recognize the U.S. oath as valid renunciation under their own laws, and the U.S. government doesn’t ask for proof that your former country actually cancelled your citizenship. So you often remain a citizen of both in each government’s eyes.
Going the other direction, a U.S. citizen who voluntarily naturalizes in another country does not lose American nationality. The only way that happens is if you specifically intend to give up your U.S. citizenship when you naturalize, and the government can prove that intent.1U.S. Department of State. Dual Nationality That’s a high bar, and it’s why involuntary loss of citizenship is extremely rare.
Which Passport You Use at the Border
Federal law requires every U.S. citizen to enter and leave the country on a valid U.S. passport.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1185 – Travel Control of Citizens and Aliens That rule applies even if your other passport would let you skip a visa or move through immigration faster somewhere else. At the American border, you present your American passport.
The workaround most dual citizens use is simple: carry both. Use the foreign passport to enter your other country of nationality as a citizen. Use your U.S. passport at U.S. ports of entry. That’s how the system is designed to work. Trying to enter the U.S. on a foreign passport can trigger secondary screening and questions from Customs and Border Protection that the right document at the right border avoids entirely.
Taxes Follow You Everywhere
This is where dual citizenship gets expensive, and it’s the part people miss. The United States taxes citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live. An American citizen living and working entirely in another country still owes the IRS an annual tax return reporting every dollar earned.6Internal Revenue Service. US Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad
Foreign Account Reporting
If your foreign bank and financial accounts exceed $10,000 in combined value at any point during the year, you must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, commonly called an FBAR. The penalty for non-willful failure starts at a statutory base of $10,000 per violation and is adjusted for inflation; the current maximum exceeds $16,000 per unreported account, per year. Willful violations carry far steeper penalties.7Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a separate requirement. You file Form 8938 with your tax return if your foreign financial assets exceed certain thresholds. For dual citizens living abroad, the trigger is $200,000 on the last day of the tax year (or $300,000 at any point during the year) for single filers, and $400,000 on the last day (or $600,000 at any point) for married couples filing jointly.8Internal Revenue Service. Summary of FATCA Reporting for US Taxpayers The FBAR and FATCA have different thresholds and different forms. You may owe both.
Relief From Double Taxation
Being taxed on worldwide income doesn’t necessarily mean paying twice on the same money. The foreign earned income exclusion under 26 U.S.C. § 911 lets qualifying citizens living abroad exclude a significant portion of their foreign earnings from U.S. tax. The base exclusion of $80,000 is adjusted annually for inflation and now exceeds $130,000.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 911 – Citizens or Residents of the United States Living Abroad You can also claim foreign tax credits for income taxes paid to another country, which reduce your U.S. bill dollar for dollar.
For Social Security specifically, the United States has totalization agreements with 30 countries that prevent you from paying into both systems on the same earnings.10Social Security Administration. US International Social Security Agreements Canada, the U.K., Germany, Japan, and Australia are covered. If your other country of citizenship isn’t on the list, you may contribute to both.
Passport Revocation for Tax Debt
The IRS can ask the State Department to revoke or deny your passport if you have a seriously delinquent tax debt. The statutory threshold is $50,000, adjusted for inflation, and it applies once the IRS has filed a tax lien or issued a levy.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7345 – Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Tax Delinquencies If you’re relying on a foreign passport, losing the U.S. one still creates a problem, because you’re legally required to enter and leave the U.S. on your American document.
Selective Service for Male Dual Citizens
Male dual citizens between 18 and 26 who are U.S. citizens or reside in the United States must register with the Selective Service System.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3802 – Registration This applies even if you live abroad. Failing to register is a federal offense punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3811 – Offenses and Penalties Beyond the criminal exposure, non-registration creates a permanent barrier to federal employment, federal student aid, and certain immigration benefits.
A revised version of the statute takes effect in late 2026 shifting to automatic registration, meaning the Selective Service System will register eligible men itself. The requirement still applies only to men as of 2026.
Actions That Can Still Cost You U.S. Citizenship
Federal law lists specific acts that can result in losing U.S. citizenship, but only if you perform them with the intent to give up your nationality. The list includes naturalizing in another country, swearing allegiance to a foreign government, serving in a foreign military, and accepting certain foreign government positions.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1481 – Loss of Nationality by Native-Born or Naturalized Citizen
Foreign military service is the one people ask about most. Serving in a foreign military that is fighting the United States, or serving as a commissioned or noncommissioned officer in any foreign military, is on the expatriating-acts list. Routine enlisted service in an allied military rarely results in loss of citizenship in practice, because the government still has to prove you intended to relinquish. The risk climbs sharply if you hold a command position or serve a country in active conflict with the U.S. Treason and attempts to overthrow the government are also on the list, with criminal prosecution on top of expatriation.
The U.S. Embassy Cannot Always Help You
Here’s a limit most dual citizens don’t think about until it matters. When you’re in your other country of nationality, U.S. consular protection largely evaporates. Local authorities may not recognize your American citizenship at all, and the State Department warns that police, prison officials, or courts in your other country may refuse to notify the U.S. Embassy or allow consular access.15U.S. Department of State. Dual Nationality
The same logic runs through military obligations, tax duties, and exit requirements in your other country. Being American doesn’t exempt you from what that country demands of its own citizens.
Federal Employment and Security Clearances
Dual citizenship does not legally disqualify you from federal employment, but it creates real friction in the security clearance process. Evaluators look at whether there is any doubt about the individual’s “unquestioned preference for and allegiance to the United States,” and when doubt exists, the determination goes in favor of national security.16U.S. Department of State. Dual Citizenship – Security Clearance Implications The clearance gets denied.
Factors that raise concerns include using a foreign passport, voting in foreign elections, accepting foreign government benefits such as retirement or education benefits, and holding political office abroad. Willingness to renounce the foreign citizenship helps, but isn’t always enough. In one documented case, a naturalized citizen willing to surrender a foreign passport but unwilling to fully renounce the foreign citizenship was denied clearance because evaluators couldn’t confirm a clear preference for the United States.16U.S. Department of State. Dual Citizenship – Security Clearance Implications
For federal jobs that don’t require a clearance, dual citizenship isn’t a practical obstacle. For roles at the State Department, intelligence agencies, or the Department of Defense, expect your other nationality to be examined closely.
Renouncing U.S. Citizenship
Some dual citizens eventually decide to give up American nationality, often to end the worldwide tax filing obligation. Renunciation requires appearing in person before a U.S. consular officer abroad and making a formal declaration. As of April 13, 2026, the State Department charges $450 to process a Certificate of Loss of Nationality, down from the previous fee of $2,350.17Federal Register. Schedule of Fees for Consular Services – Fee for Administrative Processing of Request for Certificate of Loss of Nationality
The administrative fee is the easy part. The expensive part is the exit tax. If you qualify as a “covered expatriate” (net worth of $2 million or more, or average annual federal income tax over the past five years exceeding $211,000), the IRS treats you as though you sold all worldwide assets the day before renouncing. The resulting unrealized gains are taxed, though the first $910,000 of gain is excluded for 2026.18Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8854 Certain dual citizens who held their other nationality from birth and never had substantial connections to the U.S. tax system may qualify for an exception to covered expatriate status.
Renunciation is permanent. Once the State Department issues the Certificate of Loss of Nationality, you cannot reclaim U.S. citizenship by changing your mind. Work through the tax implications with a qualified advisor well before appearing at the consulate.