Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Republican born in Colombia, has introduced a new bill that would outlaw dual citizenship for Americans, his office announced late on Tuesday.
Through the introduction of the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, any person simultaneously holding US citizenship and a citizenship of another country would be required to renounce their citizenship, or that of the United States, within one year.
If a person failed to renounce their foreign citizenship, this would be treated as a voluntary resignation of US citizenship under Section 349(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1481(a). With that, any voluntary acquisition of a foreign citizenship after the bill was put in place would trigger immediate loss of US citizenship.
Proposing Sen. Moreno was born in Bogota, Colombia, and emigrated to the United States with his family as a child. At 18, he became a citizen and renounced his Colombian citizenship. “It was an honor to pledge an oath of allegiance to the United States of America and only to the United States of America,” Moreno said in a statement. “Being an American citizen is an honor and a privilege − and if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing.”
Moreno’s office issued a statement that the bill would ensure “sole and exclusive allegiance” to the US, noting his belief that American citizenship was an ”honor and a privilege” which should not be shared with other nations.
Impact on US citizens stateside and abroad
This would not only impact American and naturalized citizens living stateside; it would also impact those living abroad. Though the US government did not provide clear data on the exact number of Americans with dual citizenship, other experts have placed the number of US nationals with dual citizenship around the world somewhere between 3% and 10%.
However, eligibility and possession are two different stories. The number of those currently holding dual citizenship is not precisely known, but a larger number is believed to be eligible to hold additional citizenship through descent from other nations.
For Israeli-Americans and American-Israelis, this could mean a battle ahead. The Israeli government does not provide official data on the percentage of Israelis who hold dual citizenship, but some estimates do exist.
Between 2023 to 2024, immigration from the United States to Israel, creating dual citizenship, rose from around 3,000 to 3,200, according to data presented by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization supporting aliyah (immigration to Israel). NBN said that the year would end with as many as 4,000 moving from the US. The busiest month for immigration in the organization’s 23 years of existence was August 2025. That same month, the first charter flight filled with people moving to Israel since October 7, 2023, arrived, transporting troves of US immigrants, as well as some Canadians.
Among those who would be impacted by the proposed Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025 are naturalized citizens retaining their original citizenship, US-born children of foreign nationals who acquired US citizenship at birth, foreign-born children of American and foreign citizen parents who acquire both citizenships by birth, individuals who marry foreign nationals and automatically acquire citizenship from their partner’s country by marriage, and individuals who naturalize abroad.
Though specific numbers cannot be confirmed, approximately 200,000 to 600,000 US citizens with Israeli citizenship currently live in Israel. In the US, the estimated number of Israeli-Americans is approximately 191,000.
No current United States law requires its citizens to announce any dual citizenship. According to the State Department, “US law does not impede its citizens’ acquisition of foreign citizenship, whether by birth, descent, naturalization, or other form of acquisition, by imposing requirements of permission from US courts or any governmental agency.”
No law is currently keeping parents with additional nationalities from applying for additional citizenship on behalf of their minor child, and US law does not require a citizen to choose between US and another foreign nationality or nationalities. “A US citizen may naturalize in a foreign state without any risk to their US citizenship,” according to the State Department.
The US government has always urged dual nationals to respect and owe their allegiances to both the US and the additional countries in which they hold citizenship, and states that they are required to obey the laws of both nations.
The Jerusalem Post reached out to Sen. Moreno’s office for further comment on the proposal of the bill.
Countries with laws against dual citizenship
Countries that currently disallow dual citizenship include Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, with the latter exceptionally allowing dual citizenship with a royal decree or permission from the prime minister.
Neither Andorra, Estonia, nor Montenegro allows dual citizenship, while Austria and the Netherlands have specific requirements for accepting possible dual citizenship.
Slovakia automatically revokes citizenship for those who acquire an additional citizenship, with a few exceptions. Spain requires a naturalized citizen to renounce their original citizenship. There is an exception for those who were granted Spanish nationality based on the 2015 law for Sephardic Jews; they are not required to renounce their previous nationality.
Several African countries, including Mozambique, Libya, Eritrea, and Eswatini, do not allow dual citizenship, with Malawi only allowing dual citizenship up to age 21 for those born in Malawi.
Asian countries, including China, do not recognize dual citizenship; nor does India, instead offering the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status as an alternative.
Japanese dual citizens must pick one citizenship by age 22; Singapore generally disallows, with few exceptions; voluntarily acquiring a foreign citizenship could result in the loss of Singaporean citizenship. Naturalized citizens of Nepal must renounce their initial citizenship as well.
If Sen. Moreno’s bill were to pass, it would take effect 180 days after its enactment.