Citizenship revocation is a hot topic in the news lately. How can your citizenship be revoked? In this video, Yakov Spektor, an immigration attorney, explains what can happen when your citizenship is revoked. He covers the different ways that citizenship can be revoked and offers advice on what to do if you think your citizenship might be at risk.
Fri, Sep 16, 2022 4:46PM • 45:02
SPEAKERS
Michael Levitis, Yakov Spektor
Good day, everybody. It’s Michael Levitis with Jurisq.com, a legal network where we answer your commonly asked legal questions. Today we bring back Yakov Spektor, an immigration attorney, Yakov, welcome back. Thank you for being with us. At our last session, we talked about green card, how it can possibly get that revoked. Because you never know,nothing’s set in stone. Even your green card, you can make some mistakes, intentionally or unintentionally, and get that revoked. But could you don’t understand that even your citizenship want to get your passport, you did you all, you got your certificate of authorization, even your citizenship you can possibly lose if you haven’t been born in America. The one instance I can think of where you read about how now 70 years later, they catch war criminals from World War Two, they catch these Nazis in America who got their citizenship, but they fail to disclose on their application that in their past lives in Nazi Germany, there were SS guards somewhere. So that’s the one bright example how you can lose your citizenship. It tells us how else and whether it really is that petty where if you make even a little mistake and your application for citizenship, you could put your password at jeopardy. How does that work?
Yakov Spektor 13:30
First of all, if there’s any Nazi war criminals that are listening to us right now, okay. This video is really not for you guys. As you know, there is no statute of limitations for war crime. So, you losing if basically and it’s probably true for anyone who is convicted of a serious crime, your immigration situation might be able to the least of your problems. Just do good, don’t do bad. Now, having said that. Even though it might sound pretty scary, you lie to the government on your naturalization application, they can try and revoke your citizenship. So that’s actually, while in theory, it is true. But in practice, you’re pretty much safe. In one of our previous videos, we talked about how easy it is to lose your green card. Now, if you get your citizenship, that’s essentially a homerun. It’s going to be pretty difficult for you to lose your naturalization once you become a US citizen, and I’ll tell you why. Yes, it’s true. If you do lie to the government while you fill out that naturalization application, and that’s easier than you might think because their application is 20 pages long, they ask for all kinds of things, they asked for the names of your ex spouses. That’s for the names of your spouses, ex spouses. So the government understands that people’s memory isn’t perfect, they’re not going to try and take your citizenship away, if they find out that you forgot your ex wife’s date of birth.
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Michael Levitis 15:27
So would you say mistake has to be or omission has to be material?
Yakov Spektor 15:31
Material, exactly. That’s pretty much the standard that the government will use. Even then, if they are not really injured, if you’re not a Nazi war criminal, even if they learned that you made a material omission or a material misrepresentation on the application, most likely, they will not go after you. Simply because there’s lots of bad things going on in the world, and the government has a limited amount of resources, they will go after actual criminals, not after someone who, for, maybe we all get bad advice. Sometimes we do things that we really shouldn’t be doing such as lie on the government form. Even if the government learns that you lied, it wasn’t a material lie, if you actually did this disclose what you were supposed to disclose, you might have had to maybe file more paperwork, or do another interview, or maybe your naturalization might have been denied at that point, and you would have needed somebody like me to take additional steps for you to eventually get your citizenship, but you decided to lie to the government, you took that risk, the government approved your application, you became a citizen. I have a question. But what if, upon advice of your attorney who is not as ethical as he or she should be? The attorney said: don’t worry about it, it’s okay to lie on your application about this and that, the government finds out, can you use that as defense and excused and your attorney approved? Your lie? You cannot, don’t forget that your attorney is your agent, which means that anything that your attorney does for you, essentially, you are doing that through your agent. You’re supposed to review all the paperwork that someone prepares for you, you’re supposed to review the tax returns, it’s your accountant files for you. Just because they were doing something that they weren’t supposed to, but you signed that paperwork does not absolve you of responsibility.
Michael Levitis 17:52
That’s the lesson, relying on better advice is not an excuse.
Yakov Spektor 17:59
How do we expect to know what our accountant is filing for us, to go to IRS. I look at those forms and I have no idea. But generally speaking, your accountant is not really trying to deliberately to lie to the IRS because he will lose his license. Same thing with your attorney. I will not be deliberately lying to the government and putting my license in danger just to make my clients life a little easier. My job is to make my client’s life easy, but within the bounds of the law. So most likely, if your lawyer tells you: maybe wait for five years until you apply for citizenship, or maybe do this, this and that before you apply for citizenship? Follow that advice. Don’t take shortcuts.
Michael Levitis 18:58 Golden words.
Yakov Spektor 19:01
Words to live by, hopefully we all can live by those words, which might not always be possible, but we certainly try to.
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Michael Levitis 19:08
Very good. The takeaway is summarize that what I heard from you is that it is possible to lose your citizenship. But it’s very hard because the government has to prove that you made a material omission or misrepresentation on your application. Definitely you have to be truthfu, but don’t fret if you made some kind of mistake that’s not significant. But always better to ask your attorney. If you are unsure about something I think the best thing you can do is consult with an expert, somebody who does this for a living, who has seen it all. Who knows how the government would react if they find something that somebody like Yakov Spektor could guide you along the way and filling out your application for your citizenship.Did I summarized it correctly?
Yakov Spektor 20:05
You did, Michael, one thing that I just want to add and you might think: how would the government once you become a citizen would even go back to your application and start reviewing it? I mean, that never happens. Why would they do that? But don’t forget that once you become a citizen, let’s say you want to file for your elderly parents abroad, right? You might get married to someone you know, back in your home country and might want to apply for your wife. You’re even even though your citizenship is probably safe, 99% safe. But the government can, under these circumstances go back to that application. If you’re applying for your loved ones. Now imagine this situation when you are lied for a really stupid reason. You became a citizen, and then your loved ones applications is in jeopardy. Be careful, the government will not go after you for even once they learned that you lied on that application. 99% chance that your citizenship is safe. That’s the takeaway, but what they could, they could so it’s best to keep things honest. It’s best to keep simple just for your loved ones sake.
Michael Levitis 21:27
Excellent. Thanks for that advice. I didn’t think about that, that you have to think about the future, because your file could possibly be reviewed or audited if you apply down the road for your relatives to come to America. Excellent point. Yakov, thank you so much. We’re going to bring it back shortly for more questions on immigration law, because you are our go to person for immigration topics. We appreciate it. Thank you, everybody for tuning in. And of course, today, as always, we talk about law generally, without addressing your specific situation. If you have a specific question, case, you want attorney to look at or consult you on contact the number on the screen, or Yakov Spektor, an immigration attorney and he’ll be happy to answer your question. Okay, everybody. Thanks very much. Until next time!
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