Guideline C: Foreign Preference
Acting in ways that indicate a preference for another country, such as exercising foreign citizenship or accepting foreign benefits.
1,488
decided hearing cases
51%
granted
The specific issues, and how they fared
Foreign passport possession / use
49% granted · 1,021Foreign citizenship acquisition / application
47% granted · 679Failure to renounce / surrender foreign status
46% granted · 569Foreign preference (unspecified)
56% granted · 495Foreign benefits / education
45% granted · 166Foreign voting
48% granted · 163Mitigations judges credited most
Willingness to renounce foreign citizenship
25
Surrender of foreign passport
18
Willingness to renounce dual citizenship
8
Passport surrendered
3
Individual has expressed a willingness to renounce dual citizenship
2
Counted only where the judge expressly credited the mitigation, not merely where it was claimed.
What the reference material says about foreign-preference cases
- Holding dual citizenship or a foreign passport is not by itself disqualifying: "the fact that a U.S. citizen is also a citizen of another country is not disqualifying without an objective showing of such conflict or attempt at concealment." The passport-specific concerns are failing to report it and using it to enter or leave the United States. (SEAD-4, Guideline C)
- There is no surrender-or-destroy requirement in the guideline, and DoD told contractors in 2019 that the adjudication facility will no longer routinely ask for passports to be retained or destroyed. (DSS ISL 2019-01)
From our verified reference library: paraphrased from the named sources and reviewed before publication. Descriptive background, not legal advice about any case.
Where to go from here
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Descriptive statistics from decided public DOHA cases. Not legal advice or a prediction. † marks samples under 20 cases.