Guess I don't understand the fascination with dual citizenship with Spain or Portugal. Spain is run by communists so that seems like you are playing with fire.

Portugal I just don't know enough about, but we know a couple who has dual citizenship there. He's Norwegian and she's American but their second home is in Portugal. So, really, he has citizenship in three countries I guess.

It's an insurance policy.

During the Biden/Harris regime, I took legal action in Naples to acquire formal acknowledgment of my Italian and EU citizenship. I was frightened by the sound of the cackling.

Vestal_Flame said:

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It's an insurance policy.

During the Biden/Harris regime, I took legal action in Naples to acquire formal acknowledgment of my Italian and EU citizenship. I was frightened by the sound of the cackling.

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If you are responding to me, I get that thus why I answered No to your third question. If you are going to do it though, pick a country that isn't diametrically opposed to sustaining their own existence...like Spain.

The nice thing about a Spanish passport is that you are not choosing one country. You are choosing 30. That aside, I have a damn-near Jacksonian opinion of Spain.

I think the phrase "owing no allegiance to other nations" should apply across the board. If you are a citizen of the US you should have no other allegiance to another nation. Which would preclude dual citizenship.

Vestal_Flame said:

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1. As an Italian citizen living abroad, I receive free admission to museums owned by the Italian Republic.

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lol

Don't knock it.

I paid tens of thousands of dollars (in legal fees and related costs) in order to save, possibly, tens of euros (in museum admission)!

Vestal_Flame said:

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The nice thing about a Spanish passport is that you are not choosing one country. You are choosing 30. That aside, I have a damn-near Jacksonian opinion of Spain.

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For now. That could change. The EU is increasingly starting to question their free movement experiment. If someone is going to do this, you should pick a country to offset the risk of Schengen and other free movement rights going away.

Until Oct 2025 there was the Ley de Memoria Democratica. If your grandparent or parent was born in Spain and a Spanish citizen, and the parent qualified (if using the grandparent) and held a passport, then the grandchildren also qualified but the link had to be unbroken meaning one parent had to use it also. It couldn't skip from grandparents to grandkids.

Thats how I got it.

AgBQ-00 said:

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I think the phrase "owing no allegiance to other nations" should apply across the board. If you are a citizen of the US you should have no other allegiance to another nation. Which would preclude dual citizenship.

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I understand your point. But maintaining an original passport does not mean your allegiance is with another country. Like the examples I mentioned, there are practical reasons for having it, while maintaining no allegiance to them.

And this is a very minor point/example...but it would hurt US Soccer if we can't get an additional passport. All the players, playing in the best leagues in Europe need one, or they have to wait until it's too late to play over there. Their allegiance is with the U.S., but they maintain the second passport for their job.

Frequent benefit I used to use extensively of having Mexican citizenship was much cheaper and more liberal hunting and fishing licenses and rules. Plus I could have firearm transferred/assigned into my name for transportation purposes so going from one hunting spot to another was a no sweat deal. Not only does Mex have onerous gun control laws, it has extremely onerous gun transportation laws.

I could hunt and fish without a government mandated outfitter, and I could spearfish and catch lobster with my regular license.

dual citizenship isn't that big of a deal, unless they are an elected official or working for any government entities.

then its a conflict of interest.

I enjoy both countries immensely. We have family in Spain, so that is an easy choice. The slower pace of life in both places coupled with the various destinations and ease of travel is hard to beat. We did 4 weeks in Portugal two years ago and I was sold, since then I've made it my mission to retire for at least a part of the year in Cascais.

BMX Bandit said:

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can anyone give a reason why you need to be a dual citizen?

We require those becoming citizens to renounce all others, there's no reason to allow citizens to make new allegiances.

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Makes entry and re-entry to certain countries much easier because you don't need a visa. If you're a dual citizen of an EU country, you can enter the EU on your EU passport and have all the benefits of being an EU citizen and freedom of movement while you are there.

It isn't about allegiance so much as it is about being able to choose how you travel and go around a lot of administrative hurdles.

Most of the responses are unrelated to the OP's question. I believe that a candidate for public office or citizens who enlist in the military should be required to renounce foreign citizenship to discourage a conflict of loyalty because of the contentious world today. On the OT, my father's family eventually had dual citizenship and none of them ever benefited from it. His brother was not naturalized until 1943 when he was a combat engineer in North Africa and the Army found out his draft was fraudulent. My uncle thought it was funny because he had tried to enlist 3 times before he was drafted. Because it was not possible to vet everyone--everyone got draft notices in WWII including my 52-year-old British grandfather who was blind in one eye. Imagine a draft in America now when there are over 20 million illegal aliens.

Identity is a tricky construct.

I speak French with an accent that makes it pretty easy to detect that I did not learn the language in the New World.

I am clearly not "from" a French-speaking country, but my French is not "American."

As a result, it is not uncommon for me to be asked if I am British.

I generally reply, "No, I am a Texan." On my travel backpack, the flag patch is the De Zavala flag.

So, that probably tells you more about my allegiance than could be learned from any passport. I tend to like the company of Bavarians, because they understand that distinction on an instinctive and visceral level.

Vestal_Flame said:

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Identity is a tricky construct.

I speak French with an accent that makes it pretty easy to detect that I did not learn the language in the New World.

I am clearly not "from" a French-speaking country, but my French is not "American."

As a result, it is not uncommon for me to be asked if I am British.

I generally reply, "No, I am a Texan." On my travel backpack, the flag patch is the De Zavala flag.

So, that probably tells you more about my allegiance than could be learned from any passport. I tend to like the company of Bavarians, because they understand that distinction on an instinctive and visceral level.

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This is confusing. If you didn't learn French in the Western Hemisphere and didn't learn it from a French speaking country then where did you learn it? Italy? Do you speak Italian?

I learned in Paris, but I am clearly not French. I overpronounce, which means that I am not a native speaker. But I use a mix of French and Belgian slang and obscenity that seldom comes out of the mouth of an American.

1. No
2. No
3. No

I'm a dual citizen (EU Member State) and I believe there should be restrictions (e.g. holding public office, security clearance, etc.) but not an outright requirement to renunciate citizenship held since birth.

It looks like we've got:

Yes - about 10-12.
No - about 3
splits - about 3

Note that, if the 'starred replies' are counted, then the numbers substantially exceed what I expected (80% - Y).

It would have been interesting to take the poll in January of '24.

Citizenship gives you the right to vote.
If someone gets a dual citizenship for the sake of convenience but has no other loyalty to the country, would you want them voting in your country's elections?

For those who have dual citizenship, do you vote in both countries' elections?

It depends on the vote/election. If it's something that I fundamentally understand and feel strongly about I vote. If it's something that has no direct impact on me as a citizen abroad I generally don't vote. I will say I generally only receive ballots for national elections.

When the paperwork is finished, I will vote in Italian elections.

Re: Portugal, that seems to have become one of the preferred options of fatalistic liberals who are convinced America is imminently going to become the Republic of Gilead. I know several in my extended network who either have moved or are currently pursuing moving to Portugal to join one of the growing expat communities there.

If you are trying to escape patriarchal society, I do not recommend moving to Italy. Portugal may be easier for liberals.

https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2025/PT

I'm a dual US/UK citizen and have a British passport (since birth). Off the top of my head here are the benefits.

1. Access to both embassies when in a foreign country.

2. Free healthcare when I visit the UK

3. No need to get an ETA when traveling to UK

4. Right to live in the UK without a visa.

Right now it is very difficult to get a long-term visa for the UK. My wife and I are planning to move within the next 5 years or so. Because I am a UK citizen, she can get a spousal visa and we can move fairly easily. It also means I have the "right to rent" so we can rent flats as opposed to airBnB when we visit for longer periods.

BMX Bandit said:

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can anyone give a reason why you need to be a dual citizen?

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Cause I like to party

For congresscritters, i can see an argument for no dual citizenships, conflict of interest potential is very high

For regular joes, seems like a solution in search of a problem.

A lot of liberals/expats were pretty upset when Portugal changed its residency requirement for citizenship from five years from date of residency application to ten years from receipt of residency. Bureaucracy in the EU is no joke and that is a huge time commitment with no guarantees.

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For regular joes, seems like a solution in search of a problem.

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It is an asset that is profoundly useful in a limited set of circumstances. The consensus advice seems to be that a second passport is not worth the trouble if it costs more than 10% of your total liquid net worth.

If you want to live overseas, having a local passport is a chainsaw that cuts through a lot of bureaucratic difficulty.

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4. Right to live in the UK without a visa.

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My younger child is in love with London and therefore thinks that Brexit was a real tragedy.

Vestal_Flame said:

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4. Right to live in the UK without a visa.

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My younger child is in love with London and therefore thinks that Brexit was a real tragedy.

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I mean for a lot of people it was. The Scottish Independence movement gains support every day it seems. They would like to separate and rejoin the EU. Generally speaking they get ****ed over by Westminster on a lot of things, especially energy costs.

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The Scottish Independence movement gains support every day it seems. They would like to separate and rejoin the EU. Generally speaking they get ****ed over by Westminster on a lot of things, especially energy costs.

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I will never be heard to criticize a man who wants to separate himself from Great Britain.

In answering your question

1. No
2. No
3. No


I can understand people wanting to answer yes for the first question especially in terms of loyalty to the U.S. I think for a lot of people it comes down to culture and identity. I think it would be different if we were a homogenous nation with a shared cultural background or history. People like to say we are a melting pot but its really more of a mixed salad when it comes to culture in the U.S. Because we historically arrived from other places, we carry parts of those places with us.

Immigrant Diasporas have always held a prominent place in our culture and I think retaining one's citizenship goes hand in hand with that. It also doesn't make anyone less of an American in my opinion.



Additionally, I don't see how someone could be against dual citizens from birth but still be in favor of buying a golden passport. Whatever your feelings are, I think your answer has to be the same for question 2 and 3.

Vestal_Flame said:

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The Scottish Independence movement gains support every day it seems. They would like to separate and rejoin the EU. Generally speaking they get ****ed over by Westminster on a lot of things, especially energy costs.

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I will never be heard to criticize a man who wants to separate himself from Great Britain.

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Plus I would get a Scottish passport!


Honestly I think Texans and Scots have a lot more in common than people realize.

• Previously independent countries
• Strong and independent
• Proud of their heritage
• Culture is unique and separate from the rest of the country
• Both are hard for outsiders to understand when talking

Scotland is basically the Texas of the UK.