Ted Cruz Can Renounce His Canadian Citizenship with This 4-Page Form
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Pete Marovich/Bloomberg via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Just one form stands between Sen. Ted Cruz and his status as a former Canadian citizen.
Cruz, who recently discovered that he holds dual Canadian and U.S. citizenship, has said he will renounce his Canadian citizenship to take away any potential doubts about his allegiances.
“Nothing against Canada, but I’m an American by birth and, as a U.S. senator, I believe I should be only an American,” the Texas Republican said in a statement in August.
Months have passed, but the issue has yet to be fully resolved, Cruz acknowledged to the Dallas Morning News in a recent interview. He has, however, hired a lawyer who will work on the paperwork to start the renunciation process, Cruz, 43, said.
So how does one get rid of a Canadian citizenship?
Canadian immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said the process is easy, fast and, generally, doesn’t require a lawyer (particularly because Cruz is a Harvard-educated lawyer himself).
From what Kurland can tell, Cruz’s case is pretty typical and without any complications.
“It’s garden-variety vanilla,” Kurland told ABC News. “You can go right to the website and fill it out from there.”
He’ll need to pass a security clearance, declare that he’s a citizen of another country (in this case, the United States), and provide some information about his parents and his birth certificate (seen here). The editable PDF form is available on the Canadian government’s website.
Abandonment, or renunciation, cases are treated urgently. The process, according to the Canadian government, takes about four months.
“You’ll see people do this for tax reasons or because they may run afoul of the laws of foreign countries prohibiting dual citizenship,” Kurland noted.
He added that Canadians are unlikely to hold the renunciation against Cruz: “Absolutely not. It’s well-known that some senior Canadian officials are dual nationals. There’s nothing in our laws prohibiting dual nationals.”
Good news if Cruz does decide to run for president in 2016.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio