Dual Citizenship?

From what I understand once the child is adopted from Bulgaria, they become a US citizen. I do not believe that they will have duel citizenship after you bring your child home. I would suggest you ask your agency about this question or your USCIS case manager.

Your question got me curious so I did some searching around. It appears from reading about the Bulgarian adoption process that your child will enter the US on an IH3 visa, confering US citizenship automatically. Beyond that, I can't find anything that says whether Bulgaria continues to view them as a Bulgarian citizen or not. And since it varies by country it is hard to say. Have you asked your agency? While I wouldn't be concerned about taxes and such, I think it is a very valid question regarding traveling back to Bulgaria.

If they have dual citizenship, it is news to me. When we went to visit DD #2. my DD #1 traveled back to Bulgaria on her American passport.

Hello, Bulgaria has a dual citizenship. I would suggest you contact your agency for details of how to proceed with the request. Hope this help! PS: Bulgaria is a beautiful country! Good luck to all of you!

Hello. The child you intend to adopt will have only US citizenship ONLY because people born outside the US can not have dual citizenship. The child will be able to travel to Bulgaria as easy as any other US citizen, regardless of the fact that it has been born and/or raised in Bulgaria.

Marginal: It is not true that people born outside the U.S. can't have dual citizenship. It happens all the time, with both adopted children and other immigrants. As an example, if an American marries a citizen of certain other countries, the other country may automatically confer citizenship upon him/her. Such an act will not jeopardize his U.S. citizenship, since he did not request such citizenship or take any action that would suggest a desire to forfeit his U.S. citizenship. Some people in the diplomatic service may be considered citizens of multiple countries. My daughter was friendly with a girl, whose father was considered a citizen of three countries. He was a diplomat, born in England, Israeli by choice, and married to an American. He spent several years in the U.S. as an ambassador. He was instrumental in brokering peace treaties between Israel and certain mid-East countries, and worked closely with the U.S. and the U.K. on these issues. With adopted kids, most Asian countries remove a child's citizenship when they are adopted by Americans, so that they do not have dual citizenship. They are U.S. citizens only. This was done with Korea for the past 50 years or so. However, as many Korean adoptees have grown up, they have come to feel that they would feel more connected to their birth culture if they held dual citizenship. With the blessing of the U.S. government, they petitioned the Korean government to allow adoptees to regain their lost Korean citizenship while keeping their U.S. citizenship, and won. I believe that rules are still being developed in Korea to exempt internationally adopted persons with dual citizenship from eligibility for conscription into the Korean military service. On the other hand, children adopted from Eastern Europe are considered, by the Russian government, as remaining Russian citizens even after they are adopted by Americans and become U.S. citizens. They are expected to enter Russia on a Russian passport, even if they will re-enter the U.S. on an American one, if they wish to do a birthland tour. And if they go to Russia, they will have to obey all laws that Russian citizens must obey, including draft laws. The U.S. government has no problem with Russia's request, although they warn parents that, if the children run into any trouble while visiting Russia, the State Department will have somewhat limited ability to intervene, if they are traveling on a Russian passport, even though they are U.S. citizens. Russian-born adopted children can opt out of their Russian citizenship by waiting till they are 18, and going to a Russian Embassy or Consulate to make a formal renunciation. Some Latin countries also consider internationally adopted children as dual citizens, and the U.S. has no problems with it Sharon

Hi Sharon. I was not talking about diplomats, they're above the law. Also, native Americans may have dual citizenship (Canadian and American). Here's the article: [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law#Acquisition_of_citizenship]United States nationality law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/url] It says: "Dual citizenship Physicist Albert Einstein receiving his certificate of American citizenship from Judge Phillip Forman in 1940. He also retained his Swiss citizenship.[23] Based on the U.S. Department of State regulation on dual citizenship (7 FAM 1162), the Supreme Court of the United States has stated that dual citizenship is a "status long recognized in the law" and that "a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both. The mere fact he asserts the rights of one citizenship does not without more mean that he renounces the other," (Kawakita v. U.S., 343 U.S. 717) (1952). In Schneider v. Rusk 377 U.S. 163 (1964), the US Supreme Court ruled that a naturalized U.S. citizen has the right to return to his native country and to resume his former citizenship, and also to remain a U.S. citizen even if he never returns to the United States. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) neither defines dual citizenship nor takes a position for it or against it. There has been no prohibition against dual citizenship, but some provisions of the INA and earlier U.S. nationality laws were designed to reduce situations in which dual citizenship exists. Although naturalizing citizens are required to undertake an oath renouncing previous allegiances, the oath has never been enforced to require the actual termination of original citizenship.[24] Although the U.S. Government does not endorse dual citizenship as a matter of policy, it recognizes the existence of dual citizenship and completely tolerates the maintenance of multiple citizenship by U.S. citizens. In the past, claims of other countries on dual-national U.S. citizens sometimes placed them in situations where their obligations to one country were in conflict with the laws of the other. However, as fewer countries require military service and most base other obligations, such as the payment of taxes, on residence and not citizenship, these conflicts have become less frequent. As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in recent years in the number of people who maintain U.S. citizenship in other countries. One circumstance where dual citizenship may run counter to expectations of government agencies is in matters of security clearance. Any person granted a Yankee White vetting must be absolutely free of foreign influence, and for other security clearances one of the grounds that may result in a rejected application is an actual or potential conflict of national allegiances." So, there's such a law, but it simply has not been enforced ...

Original Poster--I don't think there are any concerns with your children's dual citizenship. They do not have to renounce it if they do not want to and it should not have any affect unless they are getting a high level government security clearance. If you read the law, (not just the portion about the oath of naturalizing citizens) you will see that the US government has no issues with dual citizenship except in security situations. You just need to research Bulgaria's citizenship laws to determine if your children retain it, if they need to do something to keep it by a particular age, etc.Naturalizing citizens take the oath. But adoptees and children born in the US to foreign nationals do not. Whether you have dual citizenship or not depends very little on whether the US government recognizes it but on how the other country confers and recognizes citizenship. In addition, many countries do not recognize renunciation of citizenship.My husband has dual US/UK citizenship. He was born in the US but his father was born in the UK. The UK does not define citizenship by location of birth but by the citizenship of one's parents. All of our children (adopted and biological) are entitled to UK citizenship based on my husband's dual citizenship. There is no oath or other impediment stopping them from seeking a UK passport. It would have no affect on their US citizenship.