02-03-2026
United States citizens currently have a right to hold dual citizenship. A landmark decision in 1967 by the Supreme Court of the United States, Afroyim v. Rusk, forbids the deprivation of U.S. citizenship without voluntary consent. Afroyim v. Rusk cited as its basis upholding the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This decision and others rendered unenforceable further challenges to the right to hold dual citizenship, which occasionally arose during periods of hostility.
Many view a second citizenship as a useful property right. A second citizenship allows an American to live and travel more freely, conduct business more readily, and defend property rights more easily in a foreign jurisdiction, all useful benefits in our very commercial society. What’s good for business is usually good for America.
As befits any global businessman or woman, seeking second citizenship is increasingly common among wealthier Americans who own and manage global businesses and portfolios. Dual citizenship makes them more effective businesspeople. Their ability to secure this dual-citizenship “asset” and its appurtenant rights benefits American productivity. The taxes dual citizens must pay as a result of their American citizenship benefit U.S. government and governance.
There are four primary ways Americans can secure a second passport:
Those seeking dual citizenship often turn to companies which specialize in facilitating its acquisition or to law firms with specialized expertise in this area. Increasingly, family offices and wealth advisors are asked to help their clients become dual citizens and to construct financial plans which consider the opportunities and costs of being subject to two separate and sovereign legal systems.
That said, political pressure is mounting to remove this liberty in the United States. As the world polarizes and fractures politically, some put more weight on the inherent conflicts and potentially competing obligations of being a citizen of two nations than they do on its commercial and practical benefits.
Today’s political pressure acutely expresses itself in the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025 (introduced by Senator and immigrant Bernie Moreno). This act seeks to eliminate dual citizenship for U.S. citizens. Its basis is an overt demand for sole allegiance to the United States being evidenced by an act of costly renunciation, which, almost by definition, assumes concern about the potential allegiance of dual citizens. Congress is trying to decide if we need to move from trust to law as an effective method of handling potential loyalty issues, and if these issues exist at a greater cost than the commercial benefits dual citizenships bring to us.
Moreno’s bill reframes dual citizenship from something akin to a valuable property right to serving more as an expression of national commitment. His concerns reflect themes that have appeared at other moments in our nation’s history, when questions about citizenship and allegiance have taken on renewed attention.
Wealthy Americans considering dual citizenship should weigh the nature and trajectory of their nation’s politics before spending the time, resources and now potentially, political capital of going down this path. They should watch the development of the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, particularly if they are considering costly investment-for-citizenship programs.
How we land as a country on this issue will have consequences further reaching than wealth and business strategy and commercial liberty, but it will most certainly impact current and emerging practices in these areas. So much deserves our attention today. For the wealthy, global businessperson, and/or the current dual citizen, the evolution of this issue in American politics certainly does. The decisions we make about these issues will impact the future value of dual-citizenship, and should be weighed when planning it today.
Charles Stucke is a Daniels School Business Fellow in Global Family Office and Wealth Management. He is a CFA and adjunct lecturer at Washington University’s Olin Business School in St. Louis, where he teaches hedge fund strategies, wealth and family office management and real estate finance to master’s students. In addition, Stucke is a founder and the CEO of Ahakista Capital.
