Luxembourg nationality consultant dismissive of bill to ban dual citizenship

The Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025 introduced by Ohio’s Republican Senator Bernie Moreno last week stands little chance of making it to the Senate floor for a vote says the founder of a consultancy that helps Americans reclaim Luxembourgish citizenship.

Daniel Atz told Luxembourg Times that the bill “does not currently reflect a broader party platform” and that “fundamentally reshaping long-standing systems” is quite different to simply introducing a bill. “Even within our political parties, significant changes to how the country operates require extensive consensus-building across many stakeholders,” Atz said.

Moreno, who was born in Colombia but renounced his native country’s citizenship when he became a naturalised US citizen at the age of 18, has argued that US citizens should not share their allegiance with another country. US citizenship is “an honour and a privilege”, he said.

His proposal provoked ire from commentators and politicians alike. Democrats Abroad’s international Chair Martha McDevitt-Pugh has issued a strong statement condemning the proposal:

“Dual citizenship is not a threat—it’s an asset that reflects the reality of an interconnected world where Americans live, work, serve, and advocate for US interests on a global scale,” said McDevitt-Pugh. “Questioning loyalty because a citizen possesses another passport is not just wrong; it’s an attack on the millions of Americans whose lives span borders and who contribute every day to the strength of the United States.”

American weekly Newsweek cited Dan Granot, the senior director of government relations at the Anti-Defamation League, saying that the bill could be interpreted as antisemitic. “Accusations of ‘dual loyalty’ have historically been used against Jews to exclude them from public life and even justify violence,” he told the publication.

Supreme Court precedence

Analysts have also said that the Supreme Court has affirmed via precedence-setting cases that citizenship cannot be taken away by the government as a punishment or policy choice.

Atz said he was not aware that any of the 3,100 US citizen he has helped gain Luxembourg citizenship have faced negative scrutiny from US officials or members of the public related to their dual citizenship.

“The only interactions I’ve seen are routine administrative questions – for example, applicants to the Global Entry programme are asked to list all nationalities they hold, which is simply a standard part of security vetting,” he said.

Any questions he has been asked about why he holds dual citizenship during official procedures have always been procedural rather than political, Atz added.

“It is important to underscore that the relationship between the United States and Luxembourg is exceptionally strong. Dual citizens, whether Luxembourgers who have naturalized in the US or Americans who have reclaimed Luxembourg citizenship, often serve as a positive bridge between both nations.”

Legal grey zone

Atz also points out that Luxembourg and the United States regard dual citizenship quite differently. In the Grand Duchy, anyone may voluntarily declare their other nationalities for registration in the Registre national des personnes physiques. “By contrast, the United States government considers that US citizens are only US citizens for all official purposes. Dual citizenship exists in a legal grey zone shaped by Supreme Court jurisprudence, and there is no equivalent voluntary declaration process in the US,” Atz explained.

Statec figures published in May this year show that 23.4% of Luxembourgers hold a second passport.

One case in Luxembourg

Luxembourg does have a legal framework for removing nationality if it has been fraudulently obtained – by the making of false statements, concealing information, submitting fake documents or undergoing a marriage of convenience.

“This measure may be imposed by ministerial order of the Minister of Justice,” a ministry spokesperson told Luxembourg Times. “To date, this mechanism has been applied once in Luxembourg, in a case where forfeiture of nationality was ordered following the establishment of fraud in the acquisition process.”

The ADR in its 2023 election manifesto called for a law that would allow Luxembourg to “extradite” dual nationals who are convicted of “serious crimes”.

Meanwhile, media reports in the States have also suggested that Moreno’s bill could even face opposition from the White House. President Donald Trump’s wife Melania and their son Baron hold dual US-Slovenian citizenship.

This further supports Atz’s belief that the bill will not progress further than the committee stage.

“In recent years, we’ve seen various bills introduced that would affect Americans abroad or American dual citizens,” he said. “As you may recall, even initiatives with explicit support from President Donald J. Trump — such as the proposal [made during his 2024 election campaign] to end taxation for Americans living overseas — struggled to advance out of committee, much to my regret!”