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In addition, Edward Snowden, the classified documents leaker living in Russia, confirmed on his Twitter account he has seen Obama’s BC and described it as legitimate.

What Snowden does not understand is that a U.S. born person does not obtain natural born citizenship status in perpetuity. That means the status of natural born citizen can be obtained and then lost forever. It is lost forever when the U.S. SoS, under delegated authority by the POTUS, issues a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN).

Only POTUS and those with delegated authority to act on behalf of the POTUS can issue a CLN. Congress does not have Constitutional Authority to issue a CLN, nor does SCOTUS. The Executive Branch of Government, headed by POTUS, is sole authority when it comes to issuing a CLN.

CLN’s are proprietary and discretionary. A CLN is not subject to FOIA or a subpeona from the Court. If the U.S. State Department complies with FOIA or a subpoena and provides a copy of a CLN, then it is voluntary and decided on a case by case basis.

Published reports of Americans who have renounced their U.S. Citizenship are from Oaths of Renunciation voluntarily submitted to the State Department by a U.S. Citizen who chooses to denaturalized. Oaths of Renunciaton are not proprietary to the Exucutive Branch and are subject to FOIA and Court subpoena. An Oath of Renunciation is a request for a CLN to be issued. The U.S. Secretary of States has sole discretion as to whether or not a CLN is issued. The U.S. SoS is not required to explain their acceptance or denial of a CLN to anyone except the President. When a citizen has requested a CLN and been denied, they can sue in U.S. Federal Court to ask for a writ of mandamus to force the the U.S. Secretary of State to issue a CLN. The U.S. Secretary of State is free to ignore the Court’s opinion with respect to the issuance of CLNs due to the separation of Powers between the branches of government.

Some people, such as the classified document leaker, Edward Snowden, may have been issued a CLN and not no it. The President or U.S. SoS is not required to notify the subject of a CLN. The State Department has policies indicating a former U.S. Citizen will be notified, but those policies can be trumped for national security reasons. A number of people who have effectively renounced their citizen and issued a CLN find out they been issued a CLN after they apply for a U.S. passport and are denied. Moving out of the country, informing the State Department you do not intend to return to the U.S., and letting your passport expire are the first steps to an effective renouncement.

Once a CLN is issued, natural born citizenship status is lost unless POTUS voluntarily withdraw the CLN. Like the issuance of a CLN, withdrawal of a CLN is discretionary cannot be mandated by Congress or the Court. If the President refuses to withdraw a CLN, the only thing a former citizen can do is legally emigrate back to the U.S., become a permanent resident alien, and then naturalize as a U.S. citizen. A naturalized U.S. Citizen is not eligible to be POTUS.