Naturalization of Former U.S. Citizens Following Prior Renunciation of Citizenship

We had an interesting question pop up recently, and I thought I would share it with everyone. An individual came to our office last week in a unique situation. This person became a naturalized U.S. citizen in the early 1980s. However, at some point after naturalizing, he traveled back to his country of birth to work for the government of that country. This work required that he renounce his U.S. citizenship.

 

Fast forward a few decades. This individual became a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. (again) in 2007, and now wants to apply for U.S. citizenship (again). The question is–can he, after having renounced U.S. citizenship once?

 

The answer is yes. Generally, a former U.S. citizen who lawfully renounced his or her citizenship can apply for an immigrant visa, a permanent residence authorization, and, eventually, naturalization. So, assuming the individual otherwise is eligible for citizenship, the fact that he renounced U.S. citizenship once before is not a bar to his naturalization again.

Skip to content