gobbledygook
Aug 28, 2008, 07:02 PM
I am American and my ex is Iranian. I have two sons by him, ages 14 and 16. Each year, one will go visit Iran with him--they alternate. My 16 year old says he should be able to visit Iran with his dad more often than his brother since before long, he will be 18, and at which point, he will have to either "accept" Iranian citizenship (and by default, their 2-year mandatory military service), or decline it and face having to obtain a visa each time he goes to visit his family over there. I'd always heard that according to the US, American citizens cannot be citizens of both the US and another country. Alternatively, I've heard that Iranians cannot denounce citizenship of their country, so that if an Iranian becomes a US citizen, he/she is also still a citizen of Iran too (thus a dual citizen). If that is true, their father is an Iranian citizen, and again by default, so are they. Really, this is not so much a question--just a way to start a conversation about the intricacies of having parents of two different nationalities. I just wanted to learn anything I can about the nature of the lives my sons will face as adults, when they want to visit their family in Iran. As far as the US is concerned, is it true that my sons will have to declare their choice of citizenship? If so, will they have to file some type of paper declaration? And, from the Iranian perspective, is there anyone who has grown, half American/half Iranian, children, born and raised in the US, who have experienced any of the foregoing?