Posted Jan 01, 2004

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued a favorable decision in a loss of nationality case for a client of The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. The case involved regaining United States citizenship for our client who had lost his U.S. citizenship by renouncing it in writing, in front of a U.S. consular officer abroad.

As a result of the renunciation, the individual was issued a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN) of the United States. Based upon the arguments presented by The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. on behalf of our client, the DOS agreed with us that the client's renunciation of citizenship was not voluntary. In order for a renunciation to be proper, it must be made voluntarily. Accordingly, the DOS vacated the CLN, which restored our client's U.S. citizenship. He may now obtain a U.S. passport upon presentation of proof that he did, in fact, hold U.S. citizenship at one time. Legally, he is regarded as never having lost his citizenship. It was a decisive and meaningful victory for this client on a complex and difficult matter.

Born in the United States, this client of The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. was a U.S. citizen for over 30 years. After graduating from college in the U.S., he accepted an opportunity abroad to play sports on the professional level. He continued to live abroad for career and educational reasons, working, attending school, and playing professional sports in his adopted country. As a member of a professional sports team, he was afforded financial comfort while pursuing his career and educational goals. As he got older, however, our client's ability to continue his position was jeopardized, as slots for U.S. athletes on the particular teams were very limited. Age affected his skills, now no longer sufficient to maintain his place in the highly competitive positions for U.S. athletes on a foreign team. His skills were adequate for one of the positions available to citizens of the particular country, however. Of course, this would require that he obtain the citizenship of the foreign country. At that point in time, his country of residence did not allow for dual citizenship. To qualify for citizenship of that country, applicants were required to renounce their citizenship and provide proof that the country of former citizenship recognized this renunciation. For our client, this meant obtaining a CLN. This posed an enormous dilemma. He applied for citizenship in the other country, but delayed the final step of renouncing his U.S. citizenship, in hopes that the country would change its laws to allow for dual citizenship.

The final decision was made for him when his mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She was forced into early retirement, and her financial resources were greatly diminished. Her expenses were significant. She needed financial help from her son to meet her needs; there was no one else who could fulfill this role. Our client was the only child of divorced parents. Although he was a well-educated man, our client could not guarantee a continued ability to earn sufficient income to support himself and his mother in the U.S. His particular profession would have required employment a great distance from his mother. He would not have the freedom to spend extended time with her, nor conserve resources by their living together.

Faced with this difficult choice, our client felt compelled to become a citizen of the foreign country. In so doing, he was able to provide for his mother, as well as spend significant amounts of time with her during breaks in the school and the sports seasons. He complied with the citizenship laws of the foreign country, and renounced his U.S. citizenship in writing at the U.S. Embassy. He did so, but accompanied this with writings indicating that his was not a free choice, but that he did understand his actions.

The Immigration and Nationality Act contains a list of acts that are regarded as "expatriative" or causing the loss of one's U.S. citizenship. Included in that list is the knowing and voluntary renunciation of U.S. citizenship. In this case, The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. argued that the renunciation was not voluntary. The case law recognizes that financial hardships, as well as the "duress of devotion" can negate free will. Essentially, when one has familial obligations and financial pressures that are sufficiently compelling, there is really no free choice. In this case, our client was compelled to do whatever was necessary to care for his mother. He did not have any real choice in the matter, given his duty as a son. Therefore, we argued that his act was not voluntary.

The case was filed with two separate divisions of DOS, the Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Board of Appellate Review. We pursued both avenues, as each has jurisdiction in cases of this nature, with somewhat different procedures and legal standards. The Bureau of Consular Affairs addressed the matter first, and issued a favorable decision in July 2003. They concluded that our client did not act voluntarily in taking the steps to renounce his citizenship. We are, understandably, very pleased with this result.

We thank our client for allowing us to share his unusual story. We would certainly caution anyone who may be considering renouncing his or her U.S. citizenship against presuming that it can later be regained. Matters of this nature are rather uncommon, and success is even less common. We are grateful to the officials at DOS who acted humanely and sympathetically in this matter.