# Losing Spanish Nationality



## cbradley (Sep 26, 2011)

Hi if I acquire Spanish nationality/citizenship and then years later move back to the USA/different country for a period longer than 3 years, does the Spanish government take away my Spanish citizenship? I'm somewhat confused by the nationality law if you habitually live abroad and are not a citizen of origin. If anybody can provide any insight, I'd be very appreciative!


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## Guest (Sep 26, 2011)

One thing to remember, that despite taking Spanish nationality, the US government will still recognise you as a US citizen and want it´s hands on portions of income! There have been a number of cases recently were people abroad were being pursued for back taxes, despite having changed citizenship.

In some cases the individuals had left the US and moved to Canada when they were 7 yrs old, but the IRS is pursing them for oodles of cash. Read an intersesting article about it the other day - possible NY Times or Washington Post, can´t remember which. This link gives a bit of gen on the story. Although it is Canada-centric, the IRS action is global.

Not exactly on topic, but something to verify with the US consulate perhaps?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

cbradley said:


> Hi if I acquire Spanish nationality/citizenship and then years later move back to the USA/different country for a period longer than 3 years, does the Spanish government take away my Spanish citizenship? I'm somewhat confused by the nationality law if you habitually live abroad and are not a citizen of origin. If anybody can provide any insight, I'd be very appreciative!


Spain is a kind of stange when it comes to nationality. While they don't normally recognise dual or multi-nationality for adults (exceptions exist for iberoamericans, Sephardic Jews etc), they have no jurisdiction over what other countries do with their own citizens. So if you become naturalised Spanish, when you are in Spain only your Spanish nationality will be acknowledged, and you cannot use your US passport in any official function (not that you want or need to, as Spanish citizenship gives you all the rights). When you are outside of Spain and US, you can use either passport, and when you are in US, Uncle Sam will regard you simply as an American and expect you to observe all the obligations of citizenship, including draft where applicable. Plus you have to file your tax return with IRS for life no matter where you live in the world.

To answer your question, you won't lose your Spanish (or US) citizenship by staying away from the country. It's permanent residency (Green Card) you may lose by staying away too long, and this is so for both countries.


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