Thoughtful Thursday Week 11 – Dual Citizenship

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The title of this post could also be, “Why the United Nations, as an organization, is a bit of a joke” or, better yet, “How my children can study in European universities for free.” Trust me, the two are related.

In 2008, I was summoned to Memphis, TN for one of the many steps in the process of becoming an American citizen. The immigration officer who interviewed me and administered the citizenship test put me under oath and asked me to renounce my Romanian citizenship before accepting the American one. I suppose you can say that, for a few brief moments, before the magic of American citizenship was bestowed upon me, I was no land’s woman.

Dual Citizenship

Then, I assumed I was no longer a Romanian citizen. I assumed the US State Department or the US Citizenship and Immigration Services or somebody talked to the Romanian Embassy in Washington DC or the Romanian Ministry of External Affairs or somebody and communicated to them that oops, the Romanian side just lost a citizen who voluntarily came over to the American side. Wrong.  Continue reading »