"For millions of Europeans who braved the Atlantic Ocean for a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and dreams of a lavish life, there was little thought of ever emigrating back. Yet for a new generation of Americans of European descent, the 'Old Country' is becoming a 'new country' full of promise and opportunity. The creation of the European Union and its thriving economy is very appealing for Americans in a global economy and with an EU passport, you can live and work in 27 countries."
So states reporter Andrew Abramson in the Palm Beach (Florida) Post in an excellent article published on June 07, 2008.
Equally appealing is the realtive ease with which some non-EU citizens can claim citizenship based on their blood lines. Ireland, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Holland, Finland, Germany and Norway all, to some degree, will grant citizenship based on parents' or grandparents' citizenship in those countries.
And as the value of the euro, the currency shared by 15 EU countries, rises and America's economy slumps, it's an attractive alternative to the rapidly deteriorating U.S. dollar.
Dual Citizenship
In an ever-more global world economy, dual citizenship is becoming commonplace.
In 1996, for example, only seven out of 17 Latin American countries allowed some form of dual citizenship; by 2003, 15 did. In 2006 India changed its policy to allow dual citizenship. That means every major country whose nationals migrate to the U.S. in large numbers now allows dual citizenship, except for China, South Korea and Cuba.
Dual citizenship (or dual nationality as it is also known), simply means that a person legally is a citizen of two countries at the same time, qualified as such under each nation’s law. This status may result automatically, as when a child born in a foreign country to a U.S. citizen may become both a U.S. citizen (by parentage) and a citizen of the country where he or she is born (by virtue of birthplace).
Or it may result from operation of law, as when a U.S. citizen acquires foreign citizenship by marriage to a spouse from another nation, or a foreign person naturalized as a U.S. citizen retains the citizenship of their original country of birth.
Under U.S. law, a second passport does not jeopardize American citizenship. However, U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must by law use their U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States. But the important point is that officially acquiring and using a legal foreign passport does not endanger U.S. citizenship. In 1967 in the case of Afroyim vs. Rusk, U.S. Supreme Court justices ruled 5-4 that it was constitutional to hold dual citizenship.
Goodbye U.S.A.
Since the United States government doesn't keep statistics on dual citizens, it's impossible to know exactly how many people have applied for citizenship in Europe. But it's estimated that more than 40 million Americans, (many of them Mexican Americans), are eligible for dual citizenship, and a growing number of Americans want to try their luck elsewhere. Each year an estimated 250,000 Americans leave to live abroad permanently.
The Passport Book
If you are interested in the possibility of claiming sual citizenship based on your own status, I recently completed the 6th edition of my popular publication, The Passport Book.
Click here for The Passport Book. http://web-purchases.com/190SGOPS/W190H721/
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