In college applications, is there an option for dual citizenship? I have dual citizenship in the U.S. and Colombia, but I was born here (the U.S.). I have Colombian citizenship (and nationality, according to my Colombian passport) only because both of my parents immigrated to the U.S. in their adulthood. My question is: Will stating that I am a dual citizenship affect my chances at receiving as much financial aid as I can (especially FAFSA)? I really need as much financial aid I can get to attend a college and I will ultimately decide which college to go to based on the package. If saying that I am a dual-citizen affects the amount of financial aid I can get, would colleges know (or care) if I leave out that I have Colombian citizenship/nationality? I’ve never taken up permament residence nor have I received education in Colombia. I’ve been there many times, but only to visit my family.
P.S. I will be applying for college for the class of '27.
FAFSA only has to do with need-based aid. Holding dual citizenship won’t make any difference.
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You will apply for Financial Aid as a US citizen. You will not say you are a dual citizen on your FA application (it won’t ask).
My daughters were in a similar situation, but with US and Canadian citizenship. For universities in the US they are American, and the US universities do not seem to care at all about their Canadian citizenship. For universities in Canada they are Canadian, and the universities in Canada do not seem to care at all about their US citizenship (and did not seem to have any trouble with the fact that they went to a US high school).
You are a US citizen when you apply to universities in the US. If you are Hispanic then this might help your chances a bit, but having a second citizenship at least in our experience did not seem to matter. Your second citizenship should not hurt your chances at all. However I do not think that they will ask about it.
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I’m probably just repeating what the others above have said, but this is not something you need to worry about. If you have US citizenship, you will be treated as a US citizen for both admissions and financial aid purposes. You don’t need to leave out or obscure your Colombian citizenship. It won’t affect your chances for either admission or aid, and it is part of who you are. When you start looking at college websites, etc., remember that you are not an “international student” and don’t need to focus on information provided for that group of applicants. (My son has dual citizenship and we went through this a couple of years ago.)
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