I have American and Iranian citizenship, and the CSU application asks if I have dual and also what country. Is it in my benefit to putting it or should I not? I do not believe I am legally allowed to have both, so would this just put me at risk in losing my U.S. citizenship or would it just be a positive thing for the school’s diversity??
The ability to hold dual is in the hands of the other country, as the US does allow dual citizenship. It doesn't seem to actually like it, but the US cannot revoke your citizenship of another country that allows dual. I don't see it as any advantage to you to declare your dual citizenship but if it is a legally binding yes/ no question and you do have Iranian citizenship, you should answer truthfully. Iran considers you a citizen. If you are male that is a gift you keep on giving.
@Sybylla The thing is Iran does NOT allow dual citizenship either. So in the eyes of America, I am only American, in the eyes of Iran, Iranian
Reread @sybylla 's post. The US, while it may not like it, does allow dual citizenship. So in the eyes of America, you are both. As correctly pointed out, the US cannot revise your citizenship; you would have to renounce it. What the citizenship laws are for Iran are unimportant in the eyes of the US.
Now, someone with more knowledge than I of the CSU application can comment on what you should list own the application. However, if it’s like the Common App, the field is required, so in that case, you would need to answer truthfully that you hold dual citizenship.
As for its affect on admissions - it will neither help you nor hurt you, IMO.
@skieurope , --> @sybylla stated, “but the US cannot revoke your citizenship of another country that allows dual”…It says U.S. cannot revoke citizenship of another country that ALLOWS dual, so I interpreted that they CAN revoke my Iranian one since Iran DOES NOT allow dual. Would I be correct?
I think your bigger problem will come after college. In other posts you say your want to be an Aerospace Engineering major. If you plan to work or do internships in the US you may have issues with required security clearance.
That is semantics, you are dual, that is all there is to it. Have you got a US passport yet? I am sure there were many hoops to jump for that. the US DOES allow dual citizenship, Iran just states you ARE a citizen. I can bet you money that in the eye of the US govt you are a US citizen with Iranian citizenship. Iran claims you as a citizen, the US cannot revoke that. Is that in your favor? No. Must you answer the question? Yes. Your issue is with Iran. not the US. If you want the US to have the power to go around revoking other citizenships, you would be in a small minority.
Were you an Iranian citizen first? If so, when you became a US citizen Iran may have withdrawn/cancelled/revoked your Iranian citizenship by law. One way to know if this happened is if your Iranian passport is expired, can you get another?
When my daughter became a US citizen, China revoked her citizenship. She didn’t have to do anything. Her Chinese passport expired. When she travels to China she has to get a visa.
@sybylla I was born in America and m parents obtained their bachelors and masters degrees in America. No hoops jumped. Thanks for the clarification though.
So you have a passport as an adult (>16)? Loads of Americans don’t have passports, but I wouldn’t be shocked that in this political climate, that certain dual citizens get a little extra love in the process.
As for the question, it was also standard in my state and my (US born citizen) kid had to provide some secondary information. Not onerous.
@twoinanddone , certain countries won’t tolerate the dual citizenship, Iran is not one of them. Again, it is not a US issue. It is the other country of citizenship that makes the rules.
If you want some light relief about this, have a google about the fracas in Australia over politicians discovering their dual citizenships when they had no apparent idea.
Iranian citizenship law is beyond my scope of expertise (and probably everyone’s here). The point is, it will not matter to the US or to US colleges. Whether of not you are still considered a citizen of Iran is between you and Iran.
Actually it seems really simple. There seems to be zero nuance. OPs dad can probably explain this easily.