Reacquisition of U.S. Citizenship and Other Issues
Posted Mar 23, 2001

Under certain circumstances, in general, when voluntarily renouncing U.S. citizenship, a Certificate of Loss of Nationality can be issued, which terminates a person's U.S. citizenship. In December 2000, DOS provided guidance on regaining U.S. citizenship, and also discussed reissuance / revalidation of nonimmigrant visas.

First of all, certain acts that, before 1990, could result in a loss of citizenship are now held not to have that effect. Specifically, DOS presumes that a person who (a) becomes a citizen of a foreign country, (b) takes a routine oath of allegiance to another country or (c) accepts a non-policy position with a foreign government, does not intend to renounce her/his U.S. citizenship. A person who lost U.S. citizenship because of one of the above reasons before the standard was changed in 1990 can write to the DOS in Washington, DC to request reconsideration. DOS will review the evidence of the person's intentions at the time.

One who makes a formal renunciation of citizenship or who loses citizenship based on taking a policy-level position with a foreign government can also request review if s/he can show evidence dating back to the relevant time, to indicating there was no intention to renounce U.S. citizenship.

Dual Nationality

DOS does not keep a list of other countries' laws and policies on dual nationality. It is up to each country to develop its own policy on that point, and of course the rules change frequently. Persons wishing to find out whether they will lose their prior nationality if they become U.S. citizens should contact their country's Embassy or Consulate in the U.S.

Nonimmigrant Visa Reissuance (formerly referred to as Revalidation)

Back in December of 2000, the processing time for reissuance of visas in the U.S. was five to six weeks. More recently, we at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy have noted that many requests are processed in as little as three weeks.

During Fiscal Year 2000 (October 1, 1999 to September 30, 2000), DOS processed 53,837 visa reissuance applications. More than half of those were H1B visas.