[ekmarshalls]

Could anyone let me know if they have decided to keep their child's citizenhsip in Guatemala and also apply for it here? thank you!

[mommytoEli]

Maintaining Guatemalan Passport

here is a conversation we had about this a while back. i just re-read it and my only question is this....if we maintain our child's Guatemalan passport in their birth name, and they also have a US passport in their new name, how is it possible to hold 2 different sets of identification in 2 different names? it doesn't seem legal.

[Texas Pete]

This is an interesting topic. The previous discussion that mommytoEli referred to earlier is a good one, although there is one major (and fairly glaring) error in that earlier discussion that I'd like to correct.

Someone asked about the possibility of parents (namely, us) applying for Guatemalan citizenship, perhaps because they might decide to retire to Guatemala, or simply to show solidarity with their child (as in, "Honey, we're *all* Guatemalan in this house!"). A response (from sak9645) was given as follows:

Let me give you a quick summary of what the U.S. State Department says on its website. (You can read the State Department text at US State Department Services Dual Nationality.)

First off, it does not jeopardize your child's U.S. citizenship if a foreign country considers him/her to be a citizen, although he/she has not applied for citizenship in that country and has gotten it simply because he/she was born there. And it doesn't jeopardize your child's U.S. citizenship if the foreign country that considers him/her a citizen requires him/her to travel to that particular country on the country's own passport. So the simple fact that Guatemala considers your child a citizen, without any action on his/her part, does NOT jeopardize his/her U.S. citizenship, and he CAN be obliged to use two passports -- a Guatemalan one to enter Guatemala and a U.S. one to re-enter the U.S. or visit any other country.

To jeopardize his/her U.S. citizenship, a person would have to either apply for foreign citizenship or to undertake an activity that demonstrates intent to become a citizen of a foreign country -- for example, serving in a foreign army, or voting in a foreign election. Be aware that if YOU apply for Guatemalan citizenship, because you want to help your child maintain his/her birth heritage, YOU ARE LIKELY TO LOSE YOUR AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP, since that is a voluntary action on your part.

Overall, good advice, except for the part about you losing the American citizenship. Generally speaking, it is quite hard to lose your US citizenship, and applying for foreign citizenship does not threaten your US citizenship. Let's look at the relevant State Department website on possible loss of US citizenship. I've pasted the important part here:

The Department has a uniform administrative standard of evidence based on the premise that U.S. citizens intend to retain United States citizenship when they obtain naturalization in a foreign state, subscribe to routine declarations of allegiance to a foreign state, or accept non-policy level employment with a foreign government.

and again here:

In light of the administrative premise discussed above, a person who:

(1) is naturalized in a foreign country;

(2) takes a routine oath of allegiance or

(3) accepts non-policy level employment with a foreign government

and in so doing wishes to retain U.S. citizenship need not submit prior to the commission of a potentially expatriating act a statement or evidence of his or her intent to retain U.S. citizenship since such an intent will be presumed.

When, as the result of an individual's inquiry or an individual's application for registration or a passport it comes to the attention of a U.S. consular officer that a U.S. citizen has performed an act made potentially expatriating by Sections 349(a)(1), 349(a)(2), 349(a)(3) or 349(a)(4), the consular officer will simply ask the applicant if there was intent to relinquish U.S. citizenship when performing the act. If the answer is no, the consular officer will certify that it was not the person's intent to relinquish U.S. citizenship and, consequently, find that the person has retained U.S. citizenship.

There are certainly issues to be aware of in applying for dual citizenship as an adult. Here are some possible problems (I have no idea if these are true, but they certainly are within the realm of possibility, depending on the country and on the political situation). Your new country (such as Guatemala) might require you to pay taxes (even from income earned in the US). If you're arrested in Country B and want to speak to someone at the US Consulate, the Country B officials might be able to say that since you're a citizen of B, then you're not entitled to talk to someone from the US Embassy. In general, if you're a Guatemalan citizen in Guatemala, you'd be subject to Guatemalan law first and foremost, and to a greater extent than you would as just a US citizen visiting there. Clearly, consultation with an attorney experienced in international affairs would be very important before applying for dual citizenship.

However, one thing seems clear. You would not lose your US citizenship.

[Quesita]

Has anyone who changed their child's name gone to Guatemala to do the name change process in order to maintain the Guatemalan passport?

Or has anyone done the legal name change in Guatemala through an attorney or other source?

[RamaMama]

I'm going to just keep up on my kids Guatemalan Citizenship by keeping their Guatemalan passports current. I have a friend at the Guatemalan Consulate in NYC who said to make sure to get the passport renewed before it expires.

My kids will also be acquiring Italian citizenship through my husband(who is still an Italian citizen after living in the US for over 30 years) so they will have triple citizenship. Also, when they get their Italian citizenship, they will be able to live in most of Europe, not just Italy.

Looks like we are going to have a lot of passports to keep up with

[PackGirl]

Originally Posted by Quesita

Has anyone who changed their child's name gone to Guatemala to do the name change process in order to maintain the Guatemalan passport?

Or has anyone done the legal name change in Guatemala through an attorney or other source?

We have not yet....however this was discussed at length on the big list if you can check the archives.

There are a couple of attornies that will do the paperwork to change the name in Guatemala.

We would like to have our boys names changed in Guatemala so that all of their paperwork reflects the same name...we also plan on keeping their Guatemalan passports current.

[Wonk]

Definitely keeping the passport current. Looked into doing a legal name change in Guatemala but it was pretty pricey. And frankly they don't care that a person has one name in one country and a different name in another. Their legal name in that country is what it is. Our attorney said to not bother with it. But we will keep it up for sure.