Am I eligible for dual citizenship in the U.S. and Spain?

Question

I was born in the U.S. to an American father and a Spanish mother, so I am currently an American citizen. As far as I understand, Spain does not recognize dual citizenship with the U.S. However, the information on the web has suggested that I may be able to assume Spanish citizenship without technically renoucing my American citizenship. Anybody with experience in this...? Please help!

Answer 1

You should contact someone in the Spanish embassy to get this information.  Some countries don't recognize dual citizenship, so your best bet is to go straight to the source.  I believe in Spain, they may want you to renounce your US citizenship.

It is not illegal to have dual citizenship in the US.  They have actually loosened the laws on that.  Although, they frown upon it it is acceptable.

Answer 2

The United States does not recognize dual citizenship, either.

Answer 3

You are entitled to US citizenship by birth in the US, and you are probably entitled to Spanish citizenship from your mother.  Although it is true that Spain does not recognize dual citizenship with the US and that Spanish citizenship is revoked upon the acquisition of foreign citizenship, it might still be worth asking the nearest Spanish consulate if you can apply for it anyway; after all, you were not naturalized as a US citizen, you acquired that citizenship - as it were - involuntarily.

Although this is a site that is interested in selling you things, it still has an excellent summary of Spanish citizenship law:

http://www.spain-visas.com/Spanish-Citiz...

Here is the contact information for all the Spanish consular services in the US:

http://www.mae.es/Embajadas/Washington/e...

And by the way, the US does NOT forbid dual citizenship.  Although this official page reads like a dire warning ---

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw...

---in fact you can only lose your US citizenship if you want to do so.

Answer 4

Brief overview on dual citizenship

In general, countries define citizenship based on one's descent, place of birth, marriage, and/or naturalization. That is, you might be a citizen of a given country for one or more of the following reasons:

You were born on territory belonging to, or claimed by, that country (often called ius soli, or sometimes jus soli -- Latin for "right of the soil").

One or both of your parents were citizens of that country (often called ius sanguinis or jus sanguinis -- Latin for "right of the blood").

You married a citizen of that country (though please note that the practice of granting immediate, automatic citizenship to a foreign spouse is far less prevalent today than it was decades ago).

You (or one or both of your parents) obtained that country's citizenship by going through a legal process of naturalization

Countries usually frame their citizenship laws with little or no regard for the citizenship laws of other countries. In my son's case, for instance, the US does not care that Canada thinks he is a Canadian citizen, and Canada does not care that the US thinks he is a US citizen.