Dual citizen-- Can I get in?

cmck_r2-d2

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Mar 14, 2018
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Hi,
I'm a high schooler and for a long time I've been considering attending the Naval Academy, but one bump always comes up-- I'm also a French citizen. I've seen a lot of contradictory stuff as to whether or not I would have to renounce my French citizenship, and can't make clear of it. I don't have a French passport or any intention of getting one, and I don't have any interest in staying a citizen for business reasons, it's just my family and cultural reasons. I know how I consider my loyalties probably does not matter to the military, but I do not consider myself militarily loyal to France, nor would I probably care to vote there.

Is there any hope that I could keep my citizenship? If not I'll still consider the Academy, just it will be harder...decisions, decisions... Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Hi,
I'm a high schooler and for a long time I've been considering attending the Naval Academy, but one bump always comes up-- I'm also a French citizen. I've seen a lot of contradictory stuff as to whether or not I would have to renounce my French citizenship, and can't make clear of it. I don't have a French passport or any intention of getting one, and I don't have any interest in staying a citizen for business reasons, it's just my family and cultural reasons. I know how I consider my loyalties probably does not matter to the military, but I do not consider myself militarily loyal to France, nor would I probably care to vote there.

Is there any hope that I could keep my citizenship? If not I'll still consider the Academy, just it will be harder...decisions, decisions... Thanks in advance for any help.

I’m a US-British citizen and an active duty AF officer. I did not attend any of the service academies, so I can’t speak to their exact process, but I can tell you that I had no problems when it came to commissioning. As a matter of fact, I never had to formally renounce my British citizenship - I was only required to sign a form acknowledging that I would be willing to do so if requested by the US government. However, my US citizenship is through birth, so if you we’re born in France to foreign parents and obtained US citizenship through naturalization, the process could be a little bit different for you.
 
Thanks for replying! I am a born US citizen, so not naturalized. I think I would be willing to say I would be willing to resign French citizenship, but if I wanted to later go into engineering for the US military resigning it would probably be required, right? Also what I would like to do after graduating would be submarines. Does that change anything?
 
I would add that renouncing your French citizenship doesn't mean you can't participate in French culture, travel to France, etc. etc. Seems to me you would be giving up some formal thing you not really interested in anyway, because you think you may lose an intangible, but you really won't. Just one man's opinion.
 
From everything I've seen, the real issue would be securing the security clearance level required for your career path. It may be the case that you may just be able to get by stating your willingness to renounce your French citizenship or you may be required formally renounce it - in either case, a dual-citizenship will make the security clearance process much more complicated and may be limiting your ability to be stationed in certain off-shore locations.

Just weigh the (emotional/familial) benefits vs. the costs of retaining your dual citizenship. Best of luck to you, no matter what you decide.
 
From everything I've seen, the real issue would be securing the security clearance level required for your career path. It may be the case that you may just be able to get by stating your willingness to renounce your French citizenship or you may be required formally renounce it - in either case, a dual-citizenship will make the security clearance process much more complicated and may be limiting your ability to be stationed in certain off-shore locations.

Just weigh the (emotional/familial) benefits vs. the costs of retaining your dual citizenship. Best of luck to you, no matter what you decide.

I have a TS and I never had any issues during the security clearance process, in fact mine was completed long before some of my peers. But again, just my experience, you may have seen otherwise.
 
The instructions in the PTR packet for last year had the following statement under SF-86.

"The possession and use of a foreign passport in preference to a U.S. passport raises doubts as to whether the individual’s allegiance to the United States is paramount. Clearance will be denied or revoked unless the foreign passport is surrendered. Anyone who possesses a foreign passport must return the passport to the appropriate country’s embassy or consulate, requesting a return endorsement. In lieu of returning the passport, it may be brought to the USNA Personnel Security office for documenting and witnessing its destruction. If you choose to return the passport the endorsement will be a prerequisite to any security clearance determination and must be provided to the USNA Personnel Security office when the online SF-86 is submitted."
 
The instructions in the PTR packet for last year had the following statement under SF-86.

"The possession and use of a foreign passport in preference to a U.S. passport raises doubts as to whether the individual’s allegiance to the United States is paramount. Clearance will be denied or revoked unless the foreign passport is surrendered. Anyone who possesses a foreign passport must return the passport to the appropriate country’s embassy or consulate, requesting a return endorsement. In lieu of returning the passport, it may be brought to the USNA Personnel Security office for documenting and witnessing its destruction. If you choose to return the passport the endorsement will be a prerequisite to any security clearance determination and must be provided to the USNA Personnel Security office when the online SF-86 is submitted."

That's what was explained to DS. He has a German passport. Depending on the country, if you are an officer in a foreign military, your citizenship is automatically considered revoked. Enlisted is generally ok. If DS gets an appointment, he will send his passport to the embassy and a letter stating that he will be working toward becoming an officer in the U.S. military, which is generally automatic loss of citizenship for Germans. Most countries have an embassy website, and you can go there and find out how they handle officers in a foreign military.

Just to muddy the waters, I have a friend with foreign citizenship and he did not have to renounce (I forgot which country). He's an academy grad and served for several years. But that was also a couple decades ago, and I'm not sure what level of security clearance he had.
 
Thanks everyone! So I guess it's kind of wait-and-see, maybe-maybe not? I guess I'll just have to think about it harder, and try to hold on to that citizenship for as long as possible. I'd hate to give it up then not get in, or drop out! Well, thanks again!
 
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