Renunciation of Citizenship - Historic Practices

Historic Practices

The common law doctrine of perpetual allegiance denied an individual the right to renounce obligations to his sovereign. The bonds of subjecthood were conceived in principle to be both singular and immutable. These practices held on in varying ways until the late 19th century.

The refusal of many states to recognize expatriation became problematic for the United States, which had a large immigrant population. The War of 1812 was caused partly by Britain's impressment of British-born U.S. citizens into the British Royal Navy. Immigrants to the U.S. were sometimes held to the obligations of their foreign citizenship when they visited their home countries. In response, the U.S. government passed the Expatriation Act of 1868 and concluded various treaties, the Bancroft Treaties, recognizing the right to renounce one's citizenship.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights lists both the right to leave any country, including ones own (Article 13(2)) and the right to change ones nationality (Article 15(2)), which implicitly recognizes the right to renounce citizenship.