Can You Lose US Citizenship After Naturalization?
US citizenship, once lawfully obtained, is very difficult to lose. You cannot lose it simply by living abroad, failing to vote, or other passive acts. However, there are limited circumstances — all intentional — under which citizenship can be relinquished or revoked.
Reviewed by Gracie Johnson, Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law, State Bar of California, California State Bar #276536
Last reviewed: July 2, 2026
Citizenship can be voluntarily relinquished through expatriating acts performed with the intent to relinquish citizenship: renouncing citizenship before a US diplomatic or consular officer abroad, taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign country after age 18 if you intend to give up US citizenship, serving in a foreign country's armed forces if hostile to the US, working in a foreign government with a policy position requiring citizenship of that country, or committing treason against the US.
Citizenship can also be revoked through a legal process called denaturalization if it was procured by fraud or willful misrepresentation. For example, if you failed to disclose a prior criminal conviction or a prior deportation on your naturalization application and those facts made you ineligible, the government can seek to denaturalize you. This is a federal court proceeding and requires the government to prove its case.
The government's ability to denaturalize based on failure to disclose has been increasingly scrutinized by courts, and the Supreme Court has limited certain administrative denaturalization approaches. However, the risk is real and is a major reason why complete honesty on the N-400 application is essential.
If you are concerned about a past omission on a prior immigration application, contact Gracie Johnson Law at (310) 554-4630 for a confidential consultation.
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Also available in Spanish: ¿Puede Perderse la Ciudadanía de EE. UU. Después de la Naturalización?