With U.S. in slump, dual citizenship in EU countries attracts Americans

Palm Beach Post ^ | Saturday, June 07, 2008 | ANDREW ABRAMSON

[null and void]

For millions of Europeans who braved the Atlantic Ocean for a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and dreams of a lavish life, there was little thought of ever emigrating back.

Yet for a new generation of Americans of European descent, the Old Country is becoming a new country full of promise and opportunity.

The creation of the European Union and its thriving economy is very appealing for Americans in a global economy.

"With an EU passport, I can live and work in 27 countries," said Suzanne Mulvehill of Lake Worth. "With a U.S. passport, I can live and work in one."

Americans can claim citizenship in any of the 27 European countries that are in the EU based on the nationality of their parents, or in some cases, grandparents and great-grandparents. Citizenship in one of those countries allows you to live and work in any EU nation.

Since the United States doesn't keep statistics on dual citizens, it's impossible to know exactly how many people have applied for citizenship in Europe. But it's estimated that more than 40 million Americans are eligible for dual citizenship, and a growing number of Americans want to try their luck elsewhere.

"I have to say that over the past few years, calls I never would have received before have been made to the office," said Sam Levine, an immigration attorney in Palm Beach Gardens. "It's not like a tidal wave, but it's certainly more substantial, and it's remarkable."

He's receiving calls from people like Mulvehill, executive director of the Emotional Institute, a Lake Worth-based company that trains entrepreneurs.

Mulvehill's mother was born in Romania, which became a member of the European Union last year.

She's obtaining Romanian citizenship, which she estimates will have taken about three years, a ton of paperwork, $750 in fees and a trip to the Romanian consulate in Washington.

But once she receives the passport, probably early next year, she'll be able settle anywhere in the EU.

"I recognized for the first time in my life that being American had limits," Mulvehill said, "and that if I really wanted to become what I call a global citizen, then I needed to tap into all my resources to expand my ability to serve entrepreneurs not just in Lake Worth, which is one town, and not just in Florida or in America or North America, but on the globe."

Globalization is a word on the mind of Lauren Berg, a recent college graduate from Michigan who is obtaining Greek citizenship based on her grandfather. She plans to move to Paris, brush up on her French and engross herself in the European business world.

"It's definitely a really good thing to have on your résumé with business going so global," Berg said. "I probably never would have done it if it wasn't for the EU, but at the same time I've always been extremely proud of my Greek heritage."

Dual citizenship once viewed as unpatriotic

But not everyone is so excited about this increasing trend.

"I understand the impulse: You can get a better deal over there," said Stanley Renshon, a professor at the City University of New York and former president of the International Society of Political Psychology. "Whether it's good for the American national community is quite a different question."

Renshon belongs to a faction of immigration experts that believes dual citizenship diminishes the American identity.

"The devaluation of American citizenship for the sake of comparative advantage strikes me as fairly self-centered," Renshon said.

Dual citizenship became a major issue during the War of 1812, when the British military tried recruiting, and in some cases forcing, British-born American citizens to fight on Britain's side.

For years, being a dual citizen was seen as unpatriotic, and until 1967 it was possible for the United States to revoke American citizenship for people who voted in foreign elections.

But in the 1967 Afroyim vs. Rusk decision, Supreme Court justices ruled 5-4 that it was unconstitutional to bar dual citizenship.

"It was the high point of the 1960s and individual rights," said Noah Pickus, the associate director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. "So the notion that you could take a citizenship away from somebody would seem to violate the basic notion of individual choice."

Today, immigrants who become American citizens have to swear that they renounce their previous citizenship, but it's more of a symbolic gesture, and Renshon said it's actually difficult to renounce a citizenship.

One of the biggest advocates of dual citizenship is Temple University professor and author Peter Spiro, who believes that defining one's identity by his citizenship is a thing of the past.

"There are really no harms caused by individuals having additional citizenship these days," Spiro said. "It's the wave of the future, because more and more people are going to have it. It's going to multiply on an exponential basis going forward."

And as the value of the euro - the currency shared by 15 EU countries - rises and America's economy slumps, it's an attractive alternative for Amber Alfano, a recent University of Florida graduate who is becoming an Italian citizen like her father.

"I'm doing it as an exit strategy of sorts," Alfano said. "I like knowing that I have another place to go if things get even worse here, or if I just get tired of running on the American mouse wheel.

"My dad was actually the one who put a bug in my ear about the whole citizenship thing. He said that Europeans are more interested in the quality of life than the quantity, and that it was a good place to have and raise children because of the way their social systems work. I don't care much about the child-rearing part, but I would gladly trade in some of my material possessions for a little flat, a scooter and more vacation."

The grass might be greener ... for now

Levine, the Palm Beach Gardens immigration attorney, was born in Canada and has received calls from people also interested in obtaining Canadian citizenship. He also understands the European appeal. He said he's proud to be an American and proud of what the U.S. has accomplished on a global scale in the last century but that there are some advantages to living elsewhere.

"You have to look at things like how hard people work here and how little vacation time people get here," Levine said. "A lot of people who live in Europe might not make same amount of money as Americans, but in some senses it's a kinder, more gentle lifestyle."

When Alfano went to fill out her paperwork at the Italian consulate in Coral Gables, she said "the waiting room was full of second- and third-generation Americans (of Italian descent) picking up passports."

Pickus said he's heard stories of parents getting their children European citizenship as an 18th birthday present - "We didn't get you a car, but we got you an Italian citizenship."

Some, like seasonal Vero Beach resident Tony Monaco, who has been trying to get Italian citizenship based on his grandfather, bought property in Italy and learned that taxes would be much lower if he was a citizen.

For those who are moving for the EU economic boom, Hudson Institute senior fellow John Fonte - one of the nation's leading immigration experts and critics of dual citizenship - warns that it might not last.

"I think it's a short-term phenomenon," Fonte said. "I don't think the European economy in the long run will do that well because it's a heavy socialist welfare state in most of the countries."

Mulvehill, the Lake Worth entrepreneur trainer, taught a course at Lynn University and encouraged her students to obtain dual citizenship if they were eligible.

"Expand your possibilities. If you can get citizenship, why not?" she said. "The world is a bigger place than America. Look at what technology has done, creating a global economy. That, in my opinion, is what has created this phenomenon."

Every country has its own process for obtaining citizenship.

Ireland, Italy and Greece are among the most lenient in terms of letting an individual claim citizenship not just from a parent but from a grandparent or possibly a great-grandparent.

Even in countries that allow an individual only to claim descent based on a parent, in many cases the new citizen can pass the citizenship on to his child.

Eric Hammerle, a Vero Beach resident whose father was born in Germany, said it was easy for him and his 16-year-old son Nick to become German citizens.

They acquired the necessary documents - birth, marriage and death certificates - and took them to the German consulate in Miami.

"The whole process took about 20 minutes," Hammerle said. "They read over the documents, came back and said, 'Congratulations, Germany has two new citizens.' It was a fee of $85."

[Dagnabitt]

Suzanne has a EU passport mostly so she can be a self-important, wine bar snot

LOL

[Spirochete]

And this little gem:

"My dad was actually the one who put a bug in my ear about the whole citizenship thing. He said that Europeans are more interested in the quality of life than the quantity, and that it was a good place to have and raise children because of the way their social systems work. I don't care much about the child-rearing part, but I would gladly trade in some of my material possessions for a little flat, a scooter and more vacation."

[Aglooka]

“She plans to move to Paris, brush up on her French and engross herself in the European business world.”

Sounds like another upper middle class, white, “progressive.”

Hey, these twits always rant and rave about how Europe is so great. Let them leave!

[CarrotAndStick]

Thanks!

[alecqss]

How does this dual citizenship work? Can one individual hold the passport of two countries? I thought that was illegal.

I've heard of people holding 3 passports, btw... I don't know whether dual citizenship is illegal. All I can say that for naturalized citizens it's an explicit betrayal of the oath they give when getting naturalized. Oath includes renouncing of the loyalty to any other nation, but the US.

[Dagnabitt]

...and the melodic call to prayers echoing through the town

[Enchante]

"Apparently, she doesn't realize that the US is 50 "countries"

Actually, more like 57 or 58, according to the latest Democrat presidential nominee.....

[thundrey]

Don’t knock it. Having dual citizenship opens up a lot of avenues. As an EU citizen you have an automatic right to live and work in any other country in the EU (although for me being monolingual, the only viable alternative is Ireland). I would love to have dual citizenship with Canada, like my cousins do. I wouldn’t feel any sense of torn loyalty, because the best part is you swear an oath of loyalty to the same Queen, so I wouldn’t feel any conflict with my British citizenship...

[Aglooka]

“I don't care much about the child-rearing part, but I would gladly trade in some of my material possessions for a little flat, a scooter and more vacation.”

This is called “sustainable growth.” This is the type of mandatory lifestyle environmentalists want.

[raybbr]

Oh, Brother!

---

Suzanne Mulvehill, MBA, is the founder and executive director of the Emotional Endurance® Institute. She is a world-renown author, international speaker, professor and trainer. She is the creator of the Emotional Endurance® Training Programs. Suzanne has presented at conferences throughout the U.S. and Europe and has trained thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide. Suzanne believes that every person who has the desire to become an entrepreneur also has the ability to do so. Suzanne's emotional endurance training program was designed based on her own struggle leaving her job and becoming an entrepreneur and her experience counseling more than 500 entrepreneurs at the largest Small Business Development Center in the U.S. Suzanne firmly believes that Emotional Endurance® is just as important as business planning when starting and growing a business.

[Gay State Conservative]

With the exception of US/Israeli dual citizenship, our State Department does not officially recognize the concept.

This is a widely held misconception.The State Dept neither "recognizes" nor condemns dual citizenship.It's current legal and that's it.My understanding is (although I'm no Constitutional scholar) that the Constitution can be amended to forbid dual citizenship...which is something that I,a dual citizen,could support if it was also amended to do away with automatic US citizenship by birth,a concept that used to be common in western democracies but it now almost unheard of among such countries.

As a practical matter, if you hold two passports you have to be careful which one you use when entering a country. If, for example, you hold both a US and an Italian passport and you use the Italian passport to enter Germany and you then get in trouble with the German legal authorities you can’t count on the US embassy to help you out.

Nope,not entirely true.Given the scenario you set forth the only place that person would not be able to receive diplomatic protection from US authorities is Italy.In fact,in Germany that person can receive diplomatic protection from US *and* Italian authorities.

[A message]

Yada, yada, yada. I know a Dutch man who moved to the USA and loves it here. He loves the freedom, the space, the buying power and conveniences of our life here. He says his son turned around his life here too when his son realized that you can work hard and make a gob of cash without the government stealing it all.

Bottom line, let the grass is greener on the other side of the fence libtards leave.

Having traveled myself I can unequivocally say.

THERE IS NO BETTER PLACE TO LIVE THAN THE USA.

[Enchante]

This one's so "extremely proud" of her GREEK heritage that she wants to go live in...... PARIS.

So much for that proud Greek heritage.....

Globalization is a word on the mind of Lauren Berg, a recent college graduate from Michigan who is obtaining Greek citizenship based on her grandfather. She plans to move to Paris, brush up on her French and engross herself in the European business world. "It's definitely a really good thing to have on your résumé with business going so global," Berg said. "I probably never would have done it if it wasn't for the EU, but at the same time I've always been extremely proud of my Greek heritage."

[ought-six]

“Sounds like another upper middle class, white, ‘progressive.’”

Who will gladly swap freedom for the promise (never kept) of “security.” Let them immigrate to Europe or any other damn place they want. It’s better for America that those light-weights leave.

[angkor]

If, for example, you hold both a US and an Italian passport and you use the Italian passport to enter Germany and you then get in trouble with the German legal authorities you can’t count on the US embassy to help you out.

I'd not any expert on Old Europe, but last time I was there I went to several EU countries and they barely looked at my passport. It wasn't swiped, stamped, examined, or even handled by a single border official.

By the time I returned back home (here in the USA) the only evidence of my travels was a tiny U.S. customs stamp from the port of entry, which IIRC was JFK. It wasn't even dated.

For example, at different times I have worked legally in France and in the UK.

Working for an NGO in most countries gets you a official diplomatic visa, which can come in handy esp. in third world dungholes. That "gratis consulaire" will certainly speed you through the customs lines at the airport.

[ought-six]

She’s a flim-flam artist! A bunco scammer!

[Gay State Conservative]

Usually, there’s an elaborate procedure to surrender one’s old passport at the consulate of the nation of origin, in order to obtain the new passport from the adopted nation.

I don't know how it is with other countries but to renounce *US* citizenship one must already have citizenship in at least one other country.This is required to prevent creating a "stateless person" who would be someone who might not have the legal right to live *anywhere*.

Having two passports, simultaneously, provides good avenues for criminals.

Agreed.But in my case my Irish citizenship puts this country,at worst,in danger of having to deal with yet another drunken Mick. ;-)

[ought-six]

“THERE IS NO BETTER PLACE TO LIVE THAN THE USA.”

Until the Magic Mulatto and his other marxist comrades come to power. I’m 57 and I have never feared for my beloved America the way I fear for it under a future Obambi administration.

[JoJo Gunn]

And several of those cesspits will haul you before some Orwellian tribunal for your comment.

[Varda]

I can see this as an attraction for young people. My niece just got back from a semester in Europe and she was surprised to find the Europeans are proud of their countries. She said none of the Americans were. She found their patriotism attractive.