Americans Abroad Warning: Don’t Be Accused of “Being a Spy”!

[Sometimes the most important news breaks on a holiday when the media knows few people are watching! - Easter Morning - important information!!!]

Warning for Americans Abroad: Students and / or Working in Another Country!

CNN Fareed Zakaria "GPS" closed out his program today talking about a new FBI film warning Americans abroad to not end up becoming accused of "spying on the US culture and government" on behalf of a foreign country.

Put this information in the "what you need to know before studying abroad - or - marrying a foreign national and working on contract or as an employee in the adopted country."

Transcript: (Free at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1404/20/fzgps.01.html)

"There is an interesting new spy film that's just been released called "Game of Pawns." . . .  It is the dramatization of a heroine true story . . . the FBI was behind the release of this 28-minute anti-espionage film.

http://time.com/64530/fbi-movie-game-of-pawns-china/

What it is About: American student who is currently serving four years in prison for "sharing secrets with China".  He was looking for a visa to prolong his stay, so he starts writing papers for the Chinese government.  He is just trying to make enough money to stay in Shanghai.  The stakes and the money increased until his handler suggests that he apply for a job at the CIA. He soon  gets hired  by the CIA, then finds himself sweating through a Langley polygraph, quitting in the middle, and attempting to return to China.

This is U.S. law enforcement. They were already on to you. It is certainly a cautionary tale.

Zakaria points out that it was not well produced - low budget. "This generation of college students who have already been fed a lifetime of reality shows and slickly produced entertainment going to sit through a half hour of badly acted scenes that critics point out were shot in D.C.'s Chinatown instead of actually China."

Life is like a game of chess, changing with each move.

[Caesi Bevis: Further Warning:

U.S. passport holders:  You CAN "be' a citizen of multiple countries, and you CAN be sworn into citizenship in another country. HOWEVER,  you can NOT take a "direct oath of allegiance to a foreign government, such as to the Queen of England" without being in serious trouble and losing U.S. citizenship automatically!  Or worse!

Why isn't this information more common knowledge?

From cis.org - Approximately 89 countries allow for dual citizenship. The U.S. is one of the 89 countries. Mexico and Canada also allow dual citizenship.

"The United States does not formally recognize dual citizenship, but neither does it take any stand - politically or legally — against it.

http://cis.org/DualCitizenship-ImplicationsRisingDualCitizenship apparently the U.S. is the only country allowing dual and multiple citizenship people to do ALL of the following: 

• "No American citizen can lose his or her citizenship by undertaking the responsibilities of citizenship in one or more other countries.

• [You are allowed to obtain]  a second or even a third citizenship
• [You are allowed to]  swear allegiance to a foreign state
• [You are allowed to] vote in another country's election
• [You are allowed to ] serve in the armed forces (even in combat positions, and even if the state is  "hostile")
• [You are allowed to ] run for office, and if successful, serving.^11 " Informed constitutional judgment" suggests Congress could legislatively address any of these or other issues arising out of these multiple, perhaps conflicting, responsibilities.¹² Yet, to date, it has chosen not to do so.

A person in the United States may acquire multiple citizenships in any one of four ways.¹³ 

1. He or she may be born inside the United States to immigrant parents: All children born in the United States are U.S. citizens regardless of the status of their parents (jus soli).

2. A person may be born outside the United States to one parent who is a U.S. citizen and another who is not. A child born to an American citizen and British citizen in the United Kingdom, for example, would be a citizen of both countries.

3. A person becomes a naturalized citizen in the United States and that act is ignored by his or her country of origin.¹⁴ This is true even if the country of naturalization requires, as the United States does, those naturalizing to "renounce" former citizenship/nationality ties. In the case of the United States, failure to take action consistent with the renunciation carries no penalties, and others countries can, and usually do, ignore that oath of allegiance.

4. A person can become a naturalized citizen of the United States and in doing so lose her citizenship in her country of origin, but can regain it at any time, and still retain her U.S. citizenship.¹⁵

Dual or multiple citizenship is not the same as dual nationality.

Citizenship is a political term. It draws its importance from political, economic, and social rights and obligations that adhere to a person by virtue of having been born into, or having become a recognized or certified member of, a state.

Which Countries Allow Dual Citizenship?

Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, CANADA, Cape Verde, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus and Cyprus North, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland and Northern Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macao (W. Port.), Macedonia, Madagascar, Malta, MEXICO, Montenegro (former Yugo.), Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Pitcairn Islands, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Serbia (former Yugo.), Slovenia, S. Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad/ Tobago, Thailand, Tibet, Turkey, U.K., U.S., Ukraine, Uruguay, Viet Nam.

For more information on Dual Citizenship Countries:  http://www.multiplecitizenship.com/countrylist.html

Tags: dual citizenship, dual citizenship country list, FBI, spying