Dual Citizenship FAQ: Everything Americans Need to Know

Yes, absolutely. The US government recognizes that citizens may hold citizenship in other countries. There is no law against it and no requirement to choose one or the other. The Supreme Court has upheld the right to dual citizenship multiple times.

No. Acquiring another citizenship through descent does not affect your US citizenship in any way. You can only lose US citizenship by formally renouncing it at a US embassy - and even that is a lengthy, deliberate process with a $2,350 fee.

The US taxes citizens on worldwide income regardless of where you live. However, most countries have tax treaties with the US to prevent double taxation. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) allows you to exclude up to $130,000 (2025) if you live abroad. In practice, most dual citizens living in the US see minimal tax impact. See our 2026 Tax Guide for full details.

Simple rules:

• Enter and leave the US on your US passport (always)
• Enter and leave your second country on that country's passport
• For all other countries, use whichever passport gives you easier entry (usually the EU one for Europe)

In most cases, yes. Italy and Poland allow citizenship to pass to children automatically. Ireland requires you to register via FBR before your children are born for them to qualify. The Dominican Republic allows it through either parent. See our guide: Passing Irish Citizenship to Children.

For citizenship by descent, generally no. Italy, Ireland, Dominican Republic, and Poland do not require language proficiency for descent-based claims. (Note: Italy is considering a B1 Italian language requirement for claims beyond the grandchild generation, but this is not yet law.)

There is no requirement to report dual citizenship to the US government. However, if you open foreign bank accounts, you must comply with FBAR (if balances exceed $10,000) and FATCA reporting requirements. See our Tax Guide.

No. No country accepts DNA tests (23andMe, AncestryDNA, etc.) as proof of citizenship by descent. You need official government-issued documents. DNA tests can be useful for genealogy research, but not for the application itself. See: Why DNA Tests Don't Work.

A bill introduced in December 2025 proposed banning dual citizenship for US citizens. Legal experts are unanimous: this bill is unlikely to pass, and even if it did, it could not constitutionally strip existing citizenships or prevent you from confirming descent-based citizenship in another country. Do not let this delay your application.