Restoring this thread as it might be of general interest.
A now departed member asked how to renounce British Citizenship
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Do you want to? Iâm a triple national and have kept all three. I may just renew two passports but not sure.
No problem.
You arenât likely to find many that have renounced British citizenship on a forum primarily for British people living in France.
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I find that curious as I was never asked whether I retained the right to residence in the UK despite having been in France for a long time, and being a first generation immigrant to the UK.
In our family passports are so precious we would never voluntarily give one up. It took 80+ years to get restored citizenship from Germany that was taken away from my mother, so Iâm not relinquishing it, or any other one, Most people I knkw who are lukewarm about the UK just donât renew their passport. But of course it is your choice.
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The UK passport might be very useful at some future unforeseen turn of events, so I think it would be wise to hang on to it, regardless of your feelings about the UK.
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That was my thought too.
I canât really see any advantages to renouncing the citizenship of a country, unless you feel you are in danger of being called up for military service there, or you are acquiring citizenship in a country where dual (or multiple) nationality is not allowed, like India or Saudi Arabia.
The only other situation I can think of is US citizens who (IIRC) sometimes renounce their US citizenship so as not to be taxed by Uncle Sam (or Cousin Donald).
But itâs your choice, at the end of the day.
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When I was a teenager, I asked my (American) mother if I could have a US passport, because that would be really cool..
She gently pointed out it would make me eligible for Vietnam call-up âŚ
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One of the fears my wife had was that I would be conscripted as a 27YO family man into the Austrian when we visited for the first time after we were married.
Hi Pauli-in-Spin,
How difficult was it for you to obtain French nationality ? We are hearing France wants only young people and doesnât want retired people to gain French nationality. To do this, theyâre now applying a rule that the request for nationality of someone whose income comes from outside of France, is not accepted.
Naturally this rule succeeds in ensuring tthat many applications from pensioners are not accepted. As many pensioners earned their pension through working in other countries, and have no way to change the fact that the pension income they now live on, comes from another country.
What do you think of this @Pauli-in-Spin? As you have mentioned you are at or close to pension age, when you gained French nationality recently, did you have any problems with this new rule? Do you have any advice for someone wishing to apply for French nationality who is unable to change the source of their income to France ?
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And lifetime taxation no matter how disgusting the government running the country you left happens to be.
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Iâve had the doubtful pleasure of dealing with expatriates professionally for about 35 years. I have never come across anybody renouncing UK citizenship - other than in the very specific cases of becoming a citizen of a country that does not accept dual citizenship. By contrast there were any number who wished to acquire UK citizenship, as a hedge against unforeseen developments in their own country.
The advice in the thread above of simply letting your UK passport lapse on its expiry seems the simplest approach if you really donât foresee the future use or need for your UK passport.
.
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How did that affect Rishi when he was our PM not too long ago in the UK, Chris?
Scary because it was Austria or scary because they donât have a navy?
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This has actually been laid down in the procedure since 1993, and itâs only now that they are sticking to it. I think the main target is not retired people with pensions from their home country, but those who have income from elsewhere. As an example those who come here, and use the money they earn to invest in their home country often in buildings and rental units.
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I was also never asked the question about the âjustification of my right of residence as Britishâ, but that was in 2018 so maybe the list of questions has changed. I have just received my fourth country passport, like JaneJones, one that was removed from my father after WWII by the Poles I am shortly to receive my fifth for work and investments that I made in ThaĂŻland through the seventies and nineties.
I would not consider giving up my British Passport, someday it may become very handy, even if only to join the shorter queue at immigration, even though, at the moment, it has expired.
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I donât know what you mean. I never heard of him wanting to renounce his UK citizenship. And he has always been a citizen of the UK not India - he was born in Southampton.
They can borrow Switzerlandâs when necessary. 
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I would agree with what everyone else has said. I have no intention of returning to the UK but wouldnât dream of renouncing citizenship. In the current state of the world, where war is more of a threat to Europe than in recent years, you never know if circumstances might make leaving the country a very good idea. The more nationalities the better in my view even though that is not a possibility for me but then Iâve always been a belt-and-braces sort of personâŚ
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Well said AngelaR. Especially the poignant case of family history of Jane_Jones, which can happen again to anyone anywhere, it would seem someone who would give up a nationality without good reason, lacked education about history, or lacked good sense.
And this, in spades for a British passport.
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