Replies

As Ms. Saberi is a dual "citizen" it makes me wonder which passport she used to re-enter Iran. If she used her Iranian passport it would be much easier for that government to persecute her unjustly.

Of course to me this is just another reason that the USA should not allow dual "citizenship" under any circumstances.

> As Ms. Saberi is a dual “citizen” it makes me wonder which passport she used to re-enter Iran. If she used her Iranian passport it would be much easier for that government to persecute her unjustly.

Multiple citizenships can be problematic.

Having multiple citizenships means that you are subject to all of the laws of all of the countries you are a citizen of. And when you are on their soil, they can make it stick, no matter which passport you used to enter the country.

Usually that doesn’t present itself as problematic: you live in one of your countries and abide by their laws, and for the most part what happens in your other country or countries doesn’t matter.

But, say, one of your countries passes something like Compulsory Military Service and you happen to be in the age group that it applies to, you need to think carefully before traveling there. If it becomes known that you are actually a citizen of that country your holiday can be interrupted and you can be forced to serve for whatever the period of service is.

A bigger problem would be if one of your countries goes to war with the other. Probably wise in that case to renounce citizenship with one of the two warring sides.

Of course to me this is just another reason that the USA should not allow dual "citizenship" under any circumstances.

Whether you are a citizen of a foreign country is up to the laws of that particular foreign country, not the USA.

Some countries have laws where if you are just born there, you are a citizen of that country for life, regardless of where you live, what other countries you're a citizen of, etc.

Therefore the only law that can really be crafted to stop dual-citizenship is to not allow anyone seeking US citizenship that comes from one of the countries of origin that has "citizen for life" laws.

I highly doubt a law like that will fly too well with immigrants (legal immigrants who went through the process, not these illegals) who truly want to become citizens, but because of where they were born, they get kaboshed.