Posted on 06/08/2008 3:25:27 PM PDT by null and void
No idea.
It’s probably highly classified...
“This one’s so “extremely proud” of her GREEK heritage that she wants to go live in...... PARIS.”
I’ve found myself agreeing with you on a regular basis, lately. :) That’s the first thing that caught my eye, as well.
GMTA....... “great minds think alike” :^)
“For example, at different times I have worked legally in France and in the UK.”
I have, as well, with a visa.
And I actually looked long and hard at dual-citizenship and couldn’t pull it off. I see a lot of scorn coming from those on this forum, but when you date a French girl for 2.5 years who is finishing up school in the UK and working for her dad’s company...
A rare case? Sure! And you may disagree with me, but I say if you can pull it off, why not? More options in life never seemed a bad thing to me. And it sure would have given me more options and better pay than my visa did.
I think a lot of these kids will be back before long, anyway. But I wouldn’t have traded living and working in London for the world. Every Wednesday night the Victoria & Albert museum would be open late, and a jazz quartet would be playing...and there I’d be. Or reading in Brompton Oratory... I saw more history in that time in England than perhaps I’ve seen since.
Ah, the relaxed, peaceful, more civilized life of a continent that enjoyed near-constant war and violence until the United States, at its own expense, began securing it.
The Supreme Court has basically set the standard here. The US Constitution enumerates who is an American. Other countries have their own criteria. So, being a “dual national” is for most people an accident of birth. I am American, born in the USA to an American born mother (who’s father was a career Air Force officer). But my mom married a French man, and French law states that the children of a French father are French. Shortly after my birth my father, who has since naturalized American, filed my birth certificate at the French Consulate.
Anyone who has a nationality in addition to their American can file the birth certificates of their children at the Consular’s office and it will make obtaining passports and proving citizenship much easier. If my father had not filed the records when I was born, then I would have had to prove his citizenship, his marriage to my mother and my birth to them both during their marriage.
For the record I have had my French passport for over 15 years now, renewed it once, but I have never in my life ever used it. And I can’t imagine going to Europe at this point, trying to exchange dollars to Euros. Unless they were paying me in Euros to go there, I don’t think I would be willing to “try my luck” in the job market over there right now. And starting a business - fuhgettaboutit! Too many regulations and they are almost all in a foreign language!
OK, so one of my grandmothers was born in Ireland, came here around age 3 or 4. We’ve always considered ourselves Americans period. Well, ‘cept on Paddy’s Day.
I have NO interest in becoming an Irish citizen, but because of that one grandparent, if I were so inclined, I could take up dual citizenship ? And, if I were to become a dual citizen, then as an Irish citizen myself, my kids would then be eligible dual citizenship if they chose? But if I chose not to, my kids could never take on Irish citizenship ? Is my understanding correct ?
It really helps with the quality of life thing if your country has little or no outlays for national defense but instead has it guaranteed by the taxpayers of another country 3000 miles away.
, and that it was a good place to have and raise children because of the way their social systems work.
Good for a welfare queen, maybe. If you actually work for a living in Europe, you are taxed through the nose. If Europe is such a wonderful place to have children, then why aren't they having any? In fact, the tax burden is one of the primary reasons that a majority or close to it of children born in European cities are immigrants, often Muslim. For the social consequences of that situation, I refer you to Mark Steyn's America Alone.
...I would gladly trade in some of my material possessions for a little flat, a scooter and more vacation.
Emphasis on the "little." I've actually lived in Europe and I know how tiny the average European apartment is.
America peaked long ago. As the next generations of uneducated dolts come of age, the country will be truly lost.
Entirely possible. But, again, for all America's pathologies, I don't see an equivalent to the nightly car-burning festivals in Paris. America's inner cities are horrifically violent, but by and large it is an intra-underclass violence without a political component that European inner-city violence has.
I wonder what Kenya's criteria are.
When I was a kid Americans could count on our government to protect them when abroad.
*sigh* Not any more.
Volunteering to be French is wrong.
It's my understanding that you have to maintain a US residence in order to vote. That is, you vote in a state, not in the United States. E.g., a natural born Puerto Rican over the age of 35 is eligible to run for president, but can't vote for himself unless he moves to the mainland first.
I personally ascribe huge quality-of-life points to Europe’s historic cities. I’d never consider living in Europe’s suburbs...as they are the same soulless wastelands as they are here, IMO. So, when the U.S. gets almost as bad or as bad as Europe, then it’s time to consider moving.
LOL, well I prefer to think of the French side of me as the French who helped us defeat the British to attain independence, who gave us the Statue of Liberty as a token of appreciation for awakening their people to Liberty.
And most importantly I take with me the fact that my father LEFT FRANCE to LIVE AND WORK AND RAISE A FAMILY in the United States. People who think they can move and work in France or UK may find that its not much better and possibly worse than the USA if all you want is a modest life. But if you strive to achieve you will find glass ceilings in Europe such as regressive taxation and stifling regulation that discourage entrepreneurship and in some cases individual achievement. Only a few will find a better life over there - those who are truly being paid more for their abilities. Most people would be better off in the USA.
But anyway, French I am according to the French, and I still have a lot of family in France - aunts, uncles, first cousins and more extended family. But my roots are firmly American. I chose to take possession of a passport that I am legally entitled to... that’s about as far as I’ve taken the matter in the 15 odd years since I obtained it.
Exactly. I wouldn’t want to travel on a Foreign passport because I am American. Anyway if I ever got in some kind of jam or medical problem I would want to call on the American embassy for help. I suppose in a 3rd country I could call on 2 embassies but really I am American I live in America I work in America I speak English... etc. So its only natural I would want American help. If some French dude showed up to help airlift me out of a disaster area I would have problems communicating.
Also I imagine that if one tried to enter Europe with an EU passport but leave with an American one, they would wonder how you ever got into the EU and probably hold you up. Then you would have to show them your 2 passports and suddenly you have to explain why you are carrying 2 passports.
And coming into the US with a foreign passport? Madness! Nope there are many reasons why I never used my French passport not even to check into a hotel, as ID, to rent a car or anything.
I’m not sure the State Department is the “controlling legal authority”, but just out of curiosity in what way do they ‘recognize’ Israeli dual citizenship that they don’t recognize others?
I’m not sure the State Department is the “controlling legal authority”, but just out of curiosity in what way do they ‘recognize’ Israeli dual citizenship that they don’t recognize others?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.