A new bill in Congress would end dual citizenship in the United States outright. It has not passed — it was introduced on December 1, 2025, and sits in the Senate Judiciary Committee. But because of what it would do if it ever became law, it’s worth understanding now, plainly, from the actual bill text.
Where this stands right now
S.3283 was introduced by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) on December 1, 2025, and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee[1]. It has not been voted on by the Senate, has no House companion, and is not law. Nothing described below applies to anyone unless and until Congress passes it and a president signs it — and even then, the bill’s own text delays most of it by 180 days to a year. This series covers what the bill says, what it would mean if enacted, and what your options actually are either way.
What it’s called, and why
The bill is titled the “Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025.” Its stated purpose is “to establish that citizens of the United States shall owe sole and exclusive allegiance to the United States[2].” Its findings section argues that allegiance to the U.S. “must be undivided,” that current law “allows certain United States citizens to maintain foreign citizenship, which may create conflicts of interest and divided loyalties,” and that it’s in the national interest for citizenship to be held “exclusively[2].”
The core rule: Section 4
The operative section of the bill is short and direct: “An individual may not be a citizen or national of the United States while simultaneously possessing any foreign citizenship[2].” “Foreign citizenship” is defined broadly — any status a foreign government recognizes as conferring its nationality or citizenship, or that requires an individual’s allegiance to it[2].
Two different situations, two different rules
If you become a dual citizen after this bill becomes law: the bill says you are automatically treated as having given up your U.S. citizenship the moment you voluntarily acquire a foreign one — no hearing, no separate notice required by that provision[2].
If you are already a dual citizen when this bill becomes law: you would have one year from enactment to make a choice. You’d have to either (A) submit a written renunciation of your foreign citizenship to the Secretary of State, or (B) submit a written renunciation of your U.S. citizenship to the Secretary of Homeland Security[2]. If you did neither within that year, the bill deems you to have voluntarily given up your U.S. citizenship anyway, under the existing legal standard in section 349(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act[2].
The timeline built into the bill
- The core prohibition (Section 4) wouldn’t take effect until 180 days after enactment[2].
- Existing dual citizens would then have up to 1 year from enactment to renounce one citizenship or the other[2].
- Within that same 180 days, the State Department would have to write regulations covering declaration, verification, and recordkeeping, and coordinate with DHS and the Attorney General so anyone who loses citizenship under the Act is recorded and treated as a noncitizen in federal systems[2].
- DHS would also have to publish a Federal Register notice spelling out the renunciation requirement for existing dual citizens[2].
Who this would reach
The bill doesn’t carve out exceptions by how someone became a dual citizen. As written, it would apply the same way to a naturalized American who kept their birth country’s citizenship, a U.S.-born citizen whose parent’s home country automatically extends citizenship by descent, and someone born abroad to American parents who also holds citizenship where they were born. The State Department’s own guidance notes that a person can become a dual national automatically at birth, without ever applying for the second citizenship[3] — a detail that matters a lot for who this bill would actually affect, which is what the next post in this series covers.
What happens next in Congress
A bill referred to committee can sit indefinitely, get amended, get attached to other legislation, or simply expire at the end of the two-year congressional session without ever getting a floor vote — that is the fate of most introduced bills. There’s no indication yet that S.3283 has been scheduled for a committee vote. We’ll track it through this series and note here if that changes.
Up next: who dual citizenship actually reaches in the U.S. — including people who may not know they hold a second citizenship at all.
References
- U.S. Congress. (2025a, December 1). S.3283 – Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, 119th Congress. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3283 ↩
- U.S. Congress. (2025b, December 1). S.3283 – Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, bill text. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3283/text ↩a ↩b ↩c ↩d ↩e ↩f ↩g ↩h ↩i ↩j ↩k
- U.S. Department of State. (2026, August). Dual Nationality. Bureau of Consular Affairs. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/Advice-about-Possible-Loss-of-US-Nationality-Dual-Nationality/Dual-Nationality.html ↩
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