advertisement
Sat, May 26 2012
Bulgarians who get US citizenship remain Bulgarians – Foreign Ministry
The Bulgarian embassy, Washington DC.
Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid
It is not true that Bulgarians who get United States citizenship automatically lose their Bulgarian citizenship, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dragovest Goranov said in an interview with Bulgarian National Television (BNT) on December 16 2009.
Goranov was responding to media reports that claimed this was the case on the basis of a 1923 bilateral agreement between Bulgaria and the US.
The treaty made provision for rules on citizens of each country acquiring citizenship through naturalisation of the other.
Goranov said that in 1995, Bulgaria’s constitutional court had ruled that a Bulgarian who had obtained US citizenship would not automatically lose citizenship of Bulgaria.
Bulgaria’s Citizenship Act made it clear that acquisition, loss or deprivation of Bulgarian citizenship took place legally only after a presidential decree.
BNT journalist Viktor Nikolaev said that there had been claims in media reports, on the internet and by e-mail that Bulgarians in the US were being "secretly and slowly" deprived of their right to vote in Bulgarian elections by being deprived of their citizenship.
Goranov said that any Bulgarians in the US who were unclear about their position should contact Bulgaria’s embassy or one of its three consulates-general in the US to get clarification.
Goranov was responding to media reports that claimed this was the case on the basis of a 1923 bilateral agreement between Bulgaria and the US.
The treaty made provision for rules on citizens of each country acquiring citizenship through naturalisation of the other.
Goranov said that in 1995, Bulgaria’s constitutional court had ruled that a Bulgarian who had obtained US citizenship would not automatically lose citizenship of Bulgaria.
Bulgaria’s Citizenship Act made it clear that acquisition, loss or deprivation of Bulgarian citizenship took place legally only after a presidential decree.
BNT journalist Viktor Nikolaev said that there had been claims in media reports, on the internet and by e-mail that Bulgarians in the US were being "secretly and slowly" deprived of their right to vote in Bulgarian elections by being deprived of their citizenship.
Goranov said that any Bulgarians in the US who were unclear about their position should contact Bulgaria’s embassy or one of its three consulates-general in the US to get clarification.
-
Print
-
Send via email
- Translate to
-
Share:
Comments
To post comments, please, Login or Register.
Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.
Decline in applications for Bulgarian citizenship
The number of applications has been declining steadily since 2005, and the 2009 figures were the lowest since 2000, according to official statistics.
Number of foreigners receiving Bulgarian citizenship doubled over past four years
A total of 1120 work permits for foreigners had been issued in 2009 until end-September 2009.
Between three and four million Bulgarians live abroad
Legal amendments provide for expediting the procedure to grant Bulgarian citizenship to ethnic Bulgarians
Passport control
Facing huge backlogs and corruption, Bulgaria wants to clean up its system of citizenship applications
More in this category
Global food prices ease, but stay high, FAO says
The global food import bill in 2012 could decline to $1.24 trillion, down slightly from last year’s record of $1.29 trillion.
Bulgarian Olympic champion sentenced to nine years' jail in Brazil
Boevski has been under arrest in Brazil since October, when he was arrested at Sao Paulo's international airport with nine kg of cocaine in his luggage.
Bulgarian media tinted by owners' other interests – SEEMO report
Whereas foreign media ownership is perceived as advantageous for media outlets and journalists, Bulgarian owners are perceived as investors with short-term vision who strive for immediate profits.
Prevent violent extremism by being better at identifying people at risk of radicalisation – Malmström
Killing spree in Norway in July 2011 and the arrests of individuals in a number of EU member states for the preparation of terrorist attacks, are proof of the continuing need for vigilance, Europol says.
On annual World Book Day, UN emphasises importance of translation
In her message to mark the Day, Bulgaria's Bokova said that books are 'valuable tools' for knowledge-sharing, mutual understanding and openness to others and to the world.
© 2000-2012, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.
Web Design by RIZN
Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted.
Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only
with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site.
Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com.
Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments.
The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the
price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes,
and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.
- Economedia Group portfolio:
- In Bulgarian:
-
Business:
Капитал,
Кариери,
Пазари,
Ho Re Mag,
Регал,
Градът.bg,
Одит,
Foton.bg,
Online shop
- News: Дневник, Европа, Foreign Policy - България
- IT: IDG.BG, Computerworld, PC World, CIO, Networkworld
- Entertainment: Бакхус
-
In English:
The Sofia Echo
This is a big surprise by Bulgaria. Why then are they claiming each time a Macedonian receives a Bulgarian passport,Bulgaria claims they are Bulgarian.Double standard EH? First of all, the Macedonians who received Bulgarian passports were not to become Bulgarian rather to be able to travel within the EU.Now that Macedonia is able to travel visa free in EU,see how many Macedonians will apply.Those Macedonians with Bilgarian passports remain Macedonians.
Actually the US no longer objects to American citizens holding foreign citizenship. It used to be true, but in recent years they have accepted the reality of dual citizenship. In order to lose your American citizenship, you must make some definite statement to the effect that you are renouncing it; simply obtaining a foreign passport is no longer sufficient.
ex-US, I don't think that's right is it? My sister has dual US and NZ citizenship (originally NZ only)and carries both passports when travelling. The NZ one came in handy when she was in a tour group kidnapped by Islamic extremists in Yemen some yrs ago and it was appropriate to conceal her US citizenship... Perhaps in yr case it was the German side which required giving up the German passport?
Well, you Bulgarians have it better than the US citizens who want to have a German passport. Both the Germans and the US believe that a person can have loyalty to only one country, which means only one passport. If a German wants a US passport, s/he must give up his/her German passport. The same is true going the other direction. One person, one country, one passport. Better? Worse? I don't know.
Each country has the right to have its own law on citizenship, and countries do not have to agree on what a person's citizenship status is. For example, if a Bulgarian citizen obtains U.S. citizenship, but s/he takes no steps to renounce his/her Bulgarian citizenship, then Bulgaria will consider that person to be a Bulgarian citizen. However, under U.S. citizenship law, if a foreigner becomes a U.S. citizen, then the U.S. government will not recognize the first citizenship. By U.S. law, the person is solely a U.S. citizen. In reality, this poses no practical difficulties. You would enter BG on [...]
Read the full comment your BG passport, and enter the U.S. on your U.S. passport.
Bulgarians abroad are more Bulgarians than the ones living 24-7 in Bulgaria.... Welllll, it takes a bit self realization and cultural maturity, but sooner or later it happens... So, yes, US passport does not change our blood type (Balkan A+).