Hello,
I recently accepted a TJO for a Public Affairs position with DoD and I’m going through the clearance process. The positions requires only a secret clearance. Today the security specialist asked me if I am willing to renounce my Italian citizenships. While I am willing to renounce, I am also a little confused because I know plenty of Italian-Americans with TS/SCI who work at DoS and DoD. I would be curious to read the policy if it’s public available, does anybody have a link?
I had a friend with dual-citizenship. They basically had him cut up his passport from the other country. Having a clearance is a big deal and they want to know that you are 100% loyal to the U.S. If you have hesitations about that it is ok, but know that it could discontinue your clearance process and your position.
Yes, I went into this with plenty of information and I would have not applied had I not been willing to renounce. I was expecting to be asked to destroy the foreign passport and if I was willing to renounce. I am just curious about what official policies apply to different individuals in different agencies since as mentioned, I personally know dual citizens with higher clearances than the ones I need.
I think it varies by agency. Some don’t care that much, while others simply won’t allow dual citizenship. You can pretty much guess some of the latter.
A point not provided by the OP, Did you obtain your Italian citizenship after already being a US citizen? The citizenship order is a big concern.
Good question. No, I was born in Italy and that’s how I acquired citizenship. I grew up there.
Funny story, I saw your a screenshot of your post on LinkedIn this weekend. There was quite a bit of discussion about this.
(post deleted by author)
Being asked whether you are willing to renounce foreign citizenship is a standard question for dual citizens. It does not mean the Government wants you to do it; they only want to know if you are willing to do it. The Government does not want clearance applicants going to or writing to foreign consulates to renounce citizenship, because many foreign consulates will ask you why you want to renounce citizenship, and the US Government doesn’t want a clearance applicant to announce to a foreign consulate that they are applying for a US security clearance. The US Government also does not want to put a clearance applicant in the position of having to lie. The same is true of asking foreign nationals for information requested on the SF86–don’t do it. The US Government has not required a clearance applicant to surrender or invalid a foreign passport since the most recent version of the National Security Adjudicative Guidelines were made effective in June 2017. You actually do not have the right to destroy a U.S. or foreign passport. The passport is the property of the government that issued it; it is not the property of the person to whom the passport was issued.
Thank you, this is very interesting. As mentioned, I went into this process fully informed of the possible implications and I have no doubt about my choice. I was genuinely curious about policies and regulations (I went to law school for some time). I assume adjudicators have some form of codified policy to make these determinations, but at the same time it is impossible to generate Omni comprehensive directives that account for all the nuances of people’s lives and backgrounds. So again, my question stems from genuine curiosity about the jurisprudence of it all.