There is no “blanket rule” regarding security clearance eligibility and dual citizenship. The two are not mutually exclusive, but are dependent on many factors, including the country and your relations.
One ClearanceJobsBlog subscriber had a peculiar FSO that shredded their passport and said that that was good enough for renouncing citizenship:
“If my FSO shredded my foreign expired passport, is that good enough to renounce foreign citizenship? Is it legal if I mention it to the investigator in the interview? Will they be satisfied that my foreign citizenship has been renounced?”
Reminds me of that scene from the Office when Michael declares bankruptcy.
Oscar replies, “Hey. I just wanted you to know that you can’t just say the word “bankruptcy” and expect anything to happen.”
Michael Scott : I didn’t say it. I declared it.
One investigator notes that, “By the sound of it the FSO is not the sharpest tool in the shed.”
Fair point.
“This was a scenario I saw all the time during my decade practicing security clearance law,” said attorney and ClearanceJobs legal correspondent Sean Bigley. “Pre-2017, it used to be common practice to shred foreign passports at DoD because clearance-holders there were prohibited from holding a foreign passport. But the rules changed that year and rendered the practice obsolete. Even when DoD policy did support shredding (or surrendering to one’s FSO for safekeeping) foreign passports, the practice was limited solely to satisfying the then-rule against holding a foreign passport; it had nothing to do with renouncing citizenship, although a lot of ill-informed FSO’s conflated the two. There are some countries – Iran, being the most notorious example – that make it all but impossible for their citizens to renounce citizenship. Then, there are others like India that treat acquisition of foreign citizenship as an automatic revocation of their own citizenship. And, finally, there are some countries (like the U.S.) that require the completion of paperwork and/or other formalities like payment of an exit tax.”
DUAL CITIZENSHIP AND YOUR CLEARANCE CHANCES
Security clearance determinations must assure that having a clearance is consistent with the United States national security. Dual citizenship might be relevant under the foreign preference/allegiance to the United States adjudicative guidelines. US citizenship is an eligibility requirement, but it doesn’t automatically give you the right to one. Nor does dual citizenship preclude you from obtaining one.
Dual citizenship, like other idiosyncrasies of the security clearance process, is a gray area and must be judged based on the individual’s background. Basically, it’s a case-by-case basis. Applicants are asked about dual citizenship during their subject interview, and if the citizenship is with an adversary of the US, it could trigger a review of access eligibility, further interviews, and you to be asked to renounce your citizenship.
RENOUNCING YOUR CITIZENSHIP
A passport is a travel document that proves your citizenship. Many people might not have one, but that does not mean they aren’t citizens. So, simply destroying your passport does NOT mean your citizenship is renounced.
Formally renouncing citizenship is country dependent. (And note – NOT a requirement to obtain a clearance in the U.S.!)
For example, to renounce U.S. citizenship, you must appear in person before a U.S. consular or diplomatic officer or in a foreign country (usually at a US Embassy/Consulate) and sign an oath of renunciation. Then, your FSO should destroy your passport.
If you are required to give up your other citizenship you will have to provide proof, you formally renounced that it via that nation’s process or specify that you cannot do so because your birth nation considers you a citizen-for-life and has no renunciation process.
Destroying your passport is not renunciation. But best to come clean to investigators and gather any documentation you can.
Bigley says, “No matter how you slice it, the shredding of a foreign passport is a symbolic act only that has no legal significance for renunciation in any country that I’m aware of. And since the old prohibition on holding a foreign passport is no longer in effect, this shouldn’t be happening anymore.”
