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Question on citizenship and baby bonus

Posted: Sat, 24 Mar 2012 4:41 pm
by DesertPhoenix
Hi all.

Hoping to tap on the collective experience and knowledge on this forum. Im a Singapore citizen and my wife's American. We're expecting our first child soon to be delivered in Sg.

We are thinking of applying for US citizenship for our child. However, I believe that the child will automatically acquire Singapore citizenship by birth (which would also be reflected in the birth certificate). In that case, would we breach the "dual nationality" restriction by applying for a US passport for our child? If I'm not mistaken, the child can 'ive up the Sg citizenship only once she turns 21 so this anomaly cannot be rectified by us.

Lastly, if we were to take advantage of the baby bonus offered by the Sg govt by virtue of the fact that at birth the baby is Singaporean, would it in any way affect the decision to convert to US citizenship subsequently?

Sorry for being long winded or if this has already been discussed on this forum before. Thanks for all your advice

cheers!

Posted: Sat, 24 Mar 2012 5:14 pm
by zzm9980
I don't see why you'd have to give the baby bonus back, as that would be your decision (the parents) and renouncing Singaporean citizenship would be your daughter's. And not for 21 years...

Make sure you understand the tax implications for your daughter if she does obtain US Citizenship. She will have to file and potentially pay taxes even if she never steps foot in the US. The US Gov is also making it more and more difficult to renounce your US Citizenship, especially if they feel it is for tax avoidance purposes. Who knows how hard it might be 20+ years from now. She should always be able to obtain US Citizenship later if she so chooses. The official standard process just says before she is 18:
http://travel.state.gov/law/family_issu ... h_593.html

But I'm sure there will be ways for her even beyond that. Everyone wants another tax payer :)