If you are a U.S. citizen because of having been born in the United States, you can give up your U.S. citizenship by performing certain acts, but the U.S. government can’t just take it away from you. Citizenship is yours for life. If, however, you became a U.S. citizen through the process of “naturalization” (applying for U.S. citizenship on USCIS Form N-400 and passing various exams), the U.S. government can revoke your U.S. citizenship under certain rare yet serious circumstances.
Why Would the U.S. Government Revoke Someone’s Citizenship?
There are four main reasons the U.S. government can revoke someone’s naturalized citizenship (“denaturalize” the person).
Revocation When U.S. Citizenship Was Obtained “Illegally”
The first reason the U.S. government might denaturalize someone need not even be because of anything the person did wrong or intentionally. It’s simply because the person was never eligible to become a U.S. citizen at the time of being naturalized.
Usually this involves some kind of mistake, which gets discovered after the person is sworn in as a U.S. citizen. For example, the calculation of whether the person had spent a full five years as a lawful permanent resident before being sworn in as a citizen could have been erroneous.
The mistake could be caused by the U.S. government or by the person applying for citizenship—either way, U.S. law will say that the person’s citizenship was gained “illegally,” and thus can be revoked.
Revocation When Citizenship Was Obtained by Lies or Misrepresentation
The government can revoke someone’s U.S. citizenship upon discovering that the person lied on the citizenship application (Form N-400) or during the citizenship interview. This includes situations where the person left out or hid important information on the application or during the interview. The lie might have started long before, such as if someone gave a false name on their asylum application and has been using that name ever since. (Of course, the N-400 asks for any other names used, so failing to provide the real name there would compound the misrepresentations.)
Citizenship can’t be revoked for getting the small stuff wrong. Any misrepresentation or concealment must be “material,” meaning it could have affected the government's decision whether to give the person citizenship or not.
The government asks the various questions on the N-400 citizenship application form and during the citizenship interview for good reasons, however. It is therefore likely that most misrepresentations and concealments will be found to be material.
Revocation for Having Joined Certain Organizations Even After Becoming a U.S. Citizen
Membership in, or affiliation with, certain organizations is a basis for denying U.S. citizenship. Moreover, new U.S. citizens can’t join any of those organizations for a period of five years after becoming a citizen without risking their citizenship.
So, if a person becomes a member of, or becomes affiliated with, the Communist party, another totalitarian party, or a terrorist organization within five years of naturalization, the U.S. government will assume that the person was never attached to the U.S. Constitution and never well-disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. In the government’s eyes, the person lied in order to get U.S. citizenship, and therefore the citizenship can be revoked.
Revocation Rule for Certain Military Servicepeople
Persons who became U.S. citizens based on honorable service in the U.S. armed forces can have their citizenship revoked for an additional reason.
Their U.S. citizenship depends on serving honorably for at least five years (in a row or altogether). So, if the person separates from the U.S. armed forces under other than honorable conditions before serving for five years, the government can revoke his or her citizenship.
How Does the Government Take Away U.S. Citizenship?
Although U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the agency that grants U.S. citizenship, it cannot revoke someone’s citizenship. Instead, the U.S. Attorney’s Office must go to federal district court and ask a judge to revoke citizenship. This can be done as the main purpose of a civil or criminal lawsuit, or as part of such a lawsuit. (See 8 U.S.C.§ 1451(a).)
It’s not exactly easy for the government to win a revocation lawsuit. In civil revocation proceedings, the government must prove by clear, convincing, and unmistakable evidence, which does not leave the issue in doubt, that the person’s U.S. citizenship should be revoked.
If the issue of revocation comes up in a criminal case, the burden of proof is the same as in every other criminal case: proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Upon revocation of citizenship, the foreign national may be asked to surrender their certificate of naturalization or citizenship.
Is There a Statute of Limitations on How Many Years Later the U.S. Can Revoke Citizenship?
Although immigrants facing revocation of citizenship have tried to argue that there's a time limit on when the U.S. government can take action in this way; for example, that the five-year statute of limitations set out by 28 U.S.C. § 2462 should applies to revocation proceedings; such arguments have so far failed. The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that revocation of citizenship is not a "penalty," which takes it out of the realm of this statute. (See Johannessen v. United States, 225 U.S. 227 (1912).
What If a Spouse or Child Got U.S. Citizenship Through a Person Whose U.S. Citizenship Was Revoked?
U.S. immigration law allows certain spouses and children of U.S. citizens to become U.S. citizens themselves on the basis of their relationship, either through the process of naturalization or automatically. What happens to their citizenship if their U.S. citizen spouse or parent has their citizenship revoked?
The good news is that the spouse or child’s citizenship cannot be taken away if the former citizen’s citizenship was revoked for having never been legally entitled to U.S. citizenship.
If the former citizen’s citizenship was revoked because of joining a forbidden organization or being dishonorably discharged, a spouse or child’s citizenship is safe as long as the spouse or child was residing in the United States when the former citizen had citizenship revoked. If they were residing outside the United States at that time, their U.S. citizenship could be revoked.
If the former citizen’s citizenship was revoked because of a material misrepresentation or concealment, the spouse’s or child’s citizenship can, if it was obtained through the former citizen, be revoked too. The spouse or child could be totally innocent, but it won’t matter.
Should I Hire a Lawyer?
If the U.S. government is indicating an intention to revoke your U.S. citizenship but you wish to keep it, by all means hire an experienced immigration attorney. The stakes are too high, and the law too complex to attempt to handle this on your own.