Not understanding ! US passport via marriage

[Hallomiaddicted]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post I can re post elsewhere?

I have googled for USA passport application after marriage to a US citizen living outside the US but from my understanding it's either not possible or you need a lawyer ? In the U.K. You can apply easily so quite suprised (or maybe not ) that it's different.

Is this correct ? Is there any simple guidance people know of?

In order to have an American passport you must be an American citizen. So no you do not become an American citizen by marrying one. You do not have a right to an American passport. American parents can transfer their citizenship to their children. Spouses cannot. Does that help?

Nolim you've not read the link properly. You must have lived in the UK for three years AND have been granted ILR. My route to ILR was 5 years. There is also a 10 year route and there used to be a 2 but I believe that's gone now although I'm not sure.

As an aside, I have a friend who had three nationalities, one being American, also Italian and Argentinean. Sorry irrelevant.

Sorry to sound thick but is it more complicated as you don't really have a right to the passport, as they see it as you just married someone from there?

You don't have a right to a passport just by marrying a citizen. This is true for most countries. Marrying a citizen does not make you a citizen automatically. True in UK, Ireland and the US.

I'm a Brit in the USA and you must be a citizen to get a US Passport. To be eligible to become a naturalized American citizen you must actually reside in the USA for a period first as a permanent resident. The earliest I was eligible to become a citizen was after 5 years living here.

The State Dept public clarification that it was legally possibly to keep original citizenship must be a relatively recent change (I guess in response to ongoing legal challenges).

People with very good access to the best lawyers have given up other citizenship, not so long ago, in order to become USA citizens.

As others have said, to get citizenship in your situation you'd have to first have a green card and live there for an extended period of time. My dh is American. Our dc all have US citizenship by birth through him as well as citizenship by birth of two other countries through me and him, with passports for all three. The US does allow dual citizenship in certain situations. au.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/citizenship-services/dual-nationality/

My husband's family have had dual citizenship US and UK for decades. It's not new.

lijk, it depends on the other country, not the US, if people have to give up other citizenship. The UK is happy to let us have dual nationality, Ireland allows it, but China doesn't.

So, a Chinese person would have to renounce, but an Irish person wouldn't.

The only situation I know of where a foreign national marrying a US citizen could gain expedited citizenship themselves is if the US national is in the foreign service. But you'll be vetted to within an inch of your life as part of the process.

Otherwise, the general route to citizenship is to gain family-based legal permanent residence status, reside in the US for the period of time required by immigration law (3 years for marriage-based immigrants I think), and then apply for citizenship.