Becoming a dual citizen???

Question

I'm a teenager but I'm interested in becoming a dual citizen somewhere. I live and was born in America, but one of my mom's grandparents was born in Ireland. If she gains Irish citizenship this way(someone did the same thing in her family a few years back, so I think you can do it) can she pass it down to me?

Are there any down sides as far as taxes go? I won't lose my US citizenship, right?

I would ultimately like to become a dual-citizen(or tri, is that possible?) with Australia, but would I lose my US citizenship?

I just might want to retire or live out there after a career in the military. Would this affect me going into the military or getting it while I'm in the military? Will it affect my pension?

Thanks!

Answer 1

There should be no problem being a dual citizen US and Irish.  It should not affect anything.  Irish citizenship is at http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/home/index.... and it does say you can claim citizenship through a grandparent so you should be ok.

Answer 2

your mother can get irish citizenship because she gets it from her parents. But you CANNOT get it from her because you are already born.

Citizenship can only be passed down to a child born AFTER the parents acquire their citizenship status.

you were born before your mother obtained irish citizenship.  

You can however apply for citizenship on your own.

Answer 3

you have to live in the USA 6 months of the year to have citizenship status

Answer 4

Taxes are not an issue if you have dual citizenship. If you are military you only pay US taxes. Even if you moved to Ireland after retirement there are US tax exemptions that far exceed your retirement pay.

Pension is not an issue. Once you have done your 20 or whatnot it matters not where you live or what passports you hold. It is yours for life no matter what. The US does not really have an issue with dual passports.

Thing is your mother can claim Irish citizenship but she can not pass it down to you. Say she went out and got it. She can pass it down to any further children she has but none born before she got her citizenship. There might be a work around that I don't know about.

There is another consideration here in that dual citizenship can effect your clearances in the military. My English mother became a US citizen because it was effecting his clearance.

I myself was totally eligible for a UK passport for years. But I knew that having the Uk passport would mess me up..... being career military. And we are only talking the UK not Iran. Trust me on this.

I retired out and THEN went for my UK passport which I got. I went back in to the military. But it mattered not at that point as I was already cleared out the butt.

I kew a guy who got his other passport after he retired and went government. That other passport became an issue as well. So I suppose it all depends on your plans.

You should wait until you are farther up the military food chain before you get on the whole dual citizenship thing. Do gather all of the documents you may need now and stash them away as you don't want to be looking for them later.

Answer 5

1) Your mother can get citizenship from her grandmother but you can not get it from her as she didn't have it when you were born.

2) You could get it by naturalization.

3) Triple citizenship is allowed.: I am Irish American, my wife is Taiwanese American. And our children are American, Irish and Taiwanese citizens.