Is it possible for me to become a citizen or am I already one? and can I have dual citizenship with Belarus?

Question

Ok, so when I was 8 I came to the u.s. from Belarus and my dad became a citizen. My mom just recently became a citizen by passing the test. I am now 15 and not a citizen of Belarus and don't know my standing in the U.S.. I heard that it was not possible to have dual citizenship with Belarus because their dictator rejects America or something like that.

Answer 1

Do your parents have any paperwork regarding you? Do you know if you are a Legal Permanent Resident? Once you know that, go to uscis.gov and do some research. Citizenship can wait but you need to make sure that you are a Legal Permanent Resident by your 21st birthday, otherwise you will be an illegal immigrant.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Most likely, you are the citizen of the US. When someone gains US citizenship, his/ her children under 18 automatically should become citizens as well. Unfortunately, you cannot have dual citizenship in Belarus (it is not just with Belarus and the US, but with Belarus and all countries), which is really bad. Once you surrender your Belarusian citizenship, every time you want to go visit there you have to get a visa and pay a fee of like $130.

Answer 3

You should be a citizen of the USA. If you are under 18 and your parents are naturalized then you gain derivative citizenship. Here is a link to more information.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=f3a1b6b1b8e1e010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=76719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1____

I don't know about the dual citizenship, there is a lot to consider if you maintain a citizenship in Belarus-you may get called into the military, have to pay taxes etc so you should look into it carefully.

Here is a good link about dual citizenship:

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

Good luck with all this!

Answer 4

I also have heard that you can;t have a dual citizenship. But you better check official information.
Well, i guess you wont loose much without belarus citizenship :) only will have to pay for visa