Post by liveintheville on Oct 1, 2014 10:59:17 GMT -5
The board is slow so I'll ask stupid questions.
I am a naturalized US citizen but have no official paperwork stating I'm a Vietnamese citizen. However I was born there so it's automatic yes? Or do I have to go through some process to prove it? I only have a US passport but I've never tried to obtain a Vietnamese one. I wonder if I could. Rainy Wed musings I'm having.
Sometimes through the naturalization process you have to renounce any other ties you may have to your country of birth. Like v said, you may want to look into the Vietnamese consulate to see what your standing would be.
Not every country has birth-right citizenship. Some countries do not allow dual citizenship. Some countries consider the wording of the US Oath of Naturalization to be a revocation of their citizenship. Some countries require certain actions by non-resident citizens to maintain citizenship.
No way to know without looking into the Vietnamese laws. The US won't consider you a dual citizen, but they seem to have a general policy of ignoring it when a naturalized citizen maintains their prior citizenship.
ETA: Just read a few more posts - I didn't know your whole backstory, but it definitely does not fall into the norm of an adult immigrating to the US. I have no clue what the US would consider regarding dual citizenship in that case, so the US might actually consider you a dual citizen. Best to contact the Consulate and see what they say. Looks like they have previously had a program for handling those wanting to reclaim their citizenship, and while that program may now be done, it may have brought in a lot more inquiries. They should be able to help you figure it out.
Post by liveintheville on Oct 1, 2014 11:14:23 GMT -5
Hmm. Seems like I could possibly get a passport if I had a valid birth certificate. But my birth certificate is the sketchiest document ever. It was issued in 1977 and I was born in 1975. Plus it lists my adoptive parents as my parents. Which just doesn't seem legal.
it varies so much from country to country. it's worth looking into though because if you are a vietnamese citizen that may be something you want to pass on to your boys. i'm not sure if there are any strong perks to holding a vietnamese passport (unlike, say, holding a passport in the European Union), but i don't think there would be a downside?
Hmm. Seems like I could possibly get a passport if I had a valid birth certificate. But my birth certificate is the sketchiest document ever. It was issued in 1977 and I was born in 1975. Plus it lists my adoptive parents as my parents. Which just doesn't seem legal.
does it list your birth year as 1975? in british columbia (idk about the rest of canada) you don't have to get a birth certificate right away. parents apply for one after they leave the hospital and some parents are just lazy or have no imminent need for it so they put it off. the year of issue could be years after the year of birth.
I'm curious even if Vietnam allows duel citizenship, if the way in which you got to the US will make it difficult. I mean, do you even have an original birth certificate? Did the US take this paperwork with them when they rounded you and the other babies up? I'm actually pretty fascinated by your whole story!
I've always been fascinated with this story too.
I'm assuming all the paperwork was a clusterfuck? Judging by your wonky birth certificate.
I'm curious even if Vietnam allows duel citizenship, if the way in which you got to the US will make it difficult. I mean, do you even have an original birth certificate? Did the US take this paperwork with them when they rounded you and the other babies up? I'm actually pretty fascinated by your whole story!
Getting my other passports (UK & Ireland) was shockingly easy, but both countries have online vehicles for obtaining the documents I needed (birth certificates, parents birth and marriage certificates, death deeds, etc). Not quite sure that'd be the case with Vietnam.
Honestly this is probably the biggest issue. Nothing about how I got into this country seems legal. My "paperwork" does not include my original birth certificate. I wonder if I ever even had one. There's a release an consent giving me to the adoption center and a bunch of medical records. On paper I barely exist.
Hmm. Seems like I could possibly get a passport if I had a valid birth certificate. But my birth certificate is the sketchiest document ever. It was issued in 1977 and I was born in 1975. Plus it lists my adoptive parents as my parents. Which just doesn't seem legal.
does it list your birth year as 1975? in british columbia (idk about the rest of canada) you don't have to get a birth certificate right away. parents apply for one after they leave the hospital and some parents are just lazy or have no imminent need for it so they put it off. the year of issue could be years after the year of birth.
That it does. It was issued when I was naturalized. That's why my adoptive parents are listed as my parents. So I got this sketchy document instead of a certificate of naturalization.
I'm curious even if Vietnam allows duel citizenship, if the way in which you got to the US will make it difficult. I mean, do you even have an original birth certificate? Did the US take this paperwork with them when they rounded you and the other babies up? I'm actually pretty fascinated by your whole story!
I've always been fascinated with this story too.
I'm assuming all the paperwork was a clusterfuck? Judging by your wonky birth certificate.
Not only clusterfuck, but in a language I cannot read. Nothing remotely looking like an original birth certificate though.
it varies so much from country to country. it's worth looking into though because if you are a vietnamese citizen that may be something you want to pass on to your boys. i'm not sure if there are any strong perks to holding a vietnamese passport (unlike, say, holding a passport in the European Union), but i don't think there would be a downside?
This is mainly why I'm interested. They're first generation. I'd like to have some sort of official standing for them.
I'm curious even if Vietnam allows duel citizenship, if the way in which you got to the US will make it difficult. I mean, do you even have an original birth certificate? Did the US take this paperwork with them when they rounded you and the other babies up? I'm actually pretty fascinated by your whole story!
Getting my other passports (UK & Ireland) was shockingly easy, but both countries have online vehicles for obtaining the documents I needed (birth certificates, parents birth and marriage certificates, death deeds, etc). Not quite sure that'd be the case with Vietnam.
Honestly this is probably the biggest issue. Nothing about how I got into this country seems legal. My "paperwork" does not include my original birth certificate. I wonder if I ever even had one. There's a release an consent giving me to the adoption center and a bunch of medical records. On paper I barely exist.
I'd talk to the consulate about that too. I can't imagine you're the only one in that situation
Post by emilyinchile on Oct 1, 2014 11:31:03 GMT -5
This is interesting. As far as I know from personal experience and what I just found Googling (http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-and-dual-nationality/dual-nationality.html) it seems like the US wouldn't have required that you give up your Vietnamese citizenship when you were naturalized, although I guess things could have been different in the 70s. It seems like it depends on Vietnamese law, if being born there automatically makes you a citizen, and what they would require to prove that.
This is interesting. As far as I know from personal experience and what I just found Googling (http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-and-dual-nationality/dual-nationality.html) it seems like the US wouldn't have required that you give up your Vietnamese citizenship when you were naturalized, although I guess things could have been different in the 70s. It seems like it depends on Vietnamese law, if being born there automatically makes you a citizen, and what they would require to prove that.
But even then, it is possible that Vietnam really doesn't care what the US says about denouncing citizenship and would let you remain a citizen anyway, but then there's the question of what the US would do if they found out that you were pursuing Vietnamese citizenship after denouncing it to gain US citizenship.
And there's also a question of whether a little kid can actually denounce one citizenship to gain another.
Honestly this is probably the biggest issue. Nothing about how I got into this country seems legal. My "paperwork" does not include my original birth certificate. I wonder if I ever even had one. There's a release an consent giving me to the adoption center and a bunch of medical records. On paper I barely exist.
I'd talk to the consulate about that too. I can't imagine you're the only one in that situation
I have this image in my head of calling and as soon as they hear the words "baby airlift" they're like oh fuck another one.
You can now claim your VN citizenship even if you lost it years ago when you moved to US. And also most VNese moved to US in 1970s under the amnesty acts of some sort, I forgot the legal term for it.
This is interesting. As far as I know from personal experience and what I just found Googling (http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/us-citizenship-laws-policies/citizenship-and-dual-nationality/dual-nationality.html) it seems like the US wouldn't have required that you give up your Vietnamese citizenship when you were naturalized, although I guess things could have been different in the 70s. It seems like it depends on Vietnamese law, if being born there automatically makes you a citizen, and what they would require to prove that.
But even then, it is possible that Vietnam really doesn't care what the US says about denouncing citizenship and would let you remain a citizen anyway, but then there's the question of what the US would do if they found out that you were pursuing Vietnamese citizenship after denouncing it to gain US citizenship.
And there's also a question of whether a little kid can actually denounce one citizenship to gain another.
You can now claim your VN citizenship even if you lost it years ago when you moved to US. And also most VNese moved to US in 1970s under the amnesty acts of some sort, I forgot the legal term for it.
Call the consulate anyway. There may be exceptions/extensions/etc. If you're *really* interested in pursuing this, an immigration lawyer may be able to help (or tell you if it is hopeless).
Call the consulate anyway. There may be exceptions/extensions/etc. If you're *really* interested in pursuing this, an immigration lawyer may be able to help (or tell you if it is hopeless).
I just feel like I have so little to pass down to my kids about their ethnicity. I have a cool story about how I entered the country and that's it.
2. Registration to retain Vietnamese citizenship is implemented until July 1st 2014. Later than this due date, persons mentioned at point 1 who do not register to retain Vietnamese citizenship, will be lost their Vietnamese citizenship.
Wow, that's some BS right there. Sorry, D
Boo! I'm jealous of you and your H with your fancy dual citizenship.
I am a naturalized US citizen but have no official paperwork stating I'm a Vietnamese citizen. However I was born there so it's automatic yes? Or do I have to go through some process to prove it? I only have a US passport but I've never tried to obtain a Vietnamese one. I wonder if I could. Rainy Wed musings I'm having.
call anyway! if there is one thing i've learned through my own immigration and talking to friends who've immigrated it's that there are exceptions to every rule. granted i have never dealt with vietnam immigration, but you obviously aren't the only person in this sort of sketchy situation so they must have means of dealing with it.
I am a naturalized US citizen but have no official paperwork stating I'm a Vietnamese citizen. However I was born there so it's automatic yes? Or do I have to go through some process to prove it? I only have a US passport but I've never tried to obtain a Vietnamese one. I wonder if I could. Rainy Wed musings I'm having.
I've always thought you're korean!
Nope. But I've been told by several Vietnamese people that I do not look Vietnamese. I put the story out there at some point but I came over from Vietnam on Operation Baby Airlift. It's actually pretty crazy. Pan Am and the US decided to just evacuate as many kids as possible in 1975. I was one of the evacuees. We came over without documentation. Just loaded onto donated jets and flown out.
Hmm. Seems like I could possibly get a passport if I had a valid birth certificate. But my birth certificate is the sketchiest document ever. It was issued in 1977 and I was born in 1975. Plus it lists my adoptive parents as my parents. Which just doesn't seem legal.
If you were legally adopted it could be. I know nothing about how modern Vietnam was in 1977 but it is possible, depending on location etc that your birth wasn't recorded until 1977 by your adoptive parents. I would think they would be the appropriate people to be named.
Hmm. Seems like I could possibly get a passport if I had a valid birth certificate. But my birth certificate is the sketchiest document ever. It was issued in 1977 and I was born in 1975. Plus it lists my adoptive parents as my parents. Which just doesn't seem legal.
If you were legally adopted it could be. I know nothing about how modern Vietnam was in 1977 but it is possible, depending on location etc that your birth wasn't recorded until 1977 by your adoptive parents. I would think they would be the appropriate people to be named.
Homeland security did not like it. I can say that. It was a bitch getting a passport.