[quote=CA renter]
Out of curiosity, if they’re planning to move back to Germany (for an indefinite/extended period of time?), why is she trying to get U.S. citizenship? Wouldn’t it be better for him to get German citizenship (and for her to keep her German citizenship) for all the reasons already stated by spdrun?[/quote]
Dual citizenship is a matter of convenience.
They own a home in USA and they want to come and go whenever they feel like it.
Euro citizens benefit from the visa waiver program to travel to the US, for tourism purposes. But once married to a US citizen, and a potential resident of the USA, the foreigner can no longer travel under visa waiver. She was already detained at the airport, incommunicado, for 1/2 day. Luckily she was not expelled immediately, but given 7 day probation to depart. She did not know and didn’t apply for a formal visa (usually they give a 10 year visa).
But, anyway, she wants to come and go as she pleases without fear of overstaying a visa. A Green Card doesn’t work because it requires 6-month residency to maintain it.
Since 9/11, border patrol is enforcing things to the letter in a very idiotic way. They ask stupid questions when you enter. If you technically travel as a tourist, but if they think you reside here or intend to reside here, then you’re detained, and often deported on the next outgoing plane. Maybe it’s not a problem in CA or NY where people come and go a lot… but in fly-over country, the border agents are bored and have nothing else to do.
There is a larger number of US expatriates in Germany. My cousin loves music, and Berlin is culturally vibrant. There are American bands who play in Europe where American music is popular (I think Europeans romanticize America in a way that we don’t). Many American musicians go as freelancers without any formal visas or anything. http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/ustaxes.html
For her, there seems to be a process that allows keeping German citizenship if one acquires foreign citizenship. Being a dual citizen is always the best option if one views citizenship as a matter of convenience.
OTOH, he’d likely need to renounce his US citizenship if he acquired German citizenship, but he could easily gain permanent residence via marriage without renouncing.[/quote]
Interesting. We know a couple of Germans who have renounced German citizenship and obtained U.S. citizenship. I would think that people would choose dual citizenship whenever possible. But I believe the people we know plan to stay in the U.S., so they might have had different ideas. I agree with you that dual citizenship is almost always preferable, especially if one can maintain access to the benefits available in many European countries.
