Are There Limits to the Right to Change One's Nationality?

Yes.

Just as there are no universally accepted standards for the attribution of nationality, there are no universal standards governing loss of nationality initiated by a citizen or subject.  The European Convention on Nationality, for example, does not have the same standards as US citizenship law.   States are jealous guardians of their sovereignty when it comes to deciding the conditions, rules, and procedures surrounding a citizen who wishes to change his or state allegiance.  States reserve the right to deny such a request under certain circumstances.

These circumstances are not consistent from one state to another.  Some states restrict the right to change one's nationality if an individual is trying to avoid military service or tax obligations. Kay Hailbronner writes that Austria will not release a citizen if  a criminal procedure or execution of a criminal sentence is pending.  German citizens, she says, who are "officials, judges, military personnel and other persons employed in a professional or official capacity" can also be denied the right to renounce.  Canada has six requirements, one of which concerns national security;  the individual cannot be "a threat to Canada’s security or part of a pattern of criminal activity."  US law permits a US citizen to renounce even if he or she becomes stateless as a result - something most states do not allow.   Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal, according to Gerard-René de Groot and Maarten Peter Vink, do not even require residence outside the country in order to renounce as long as the renunciant has another citizenship.

What this cursory review reveals is while that most liberal democracies agree in principle with the right to expatriate, do not wish to be seen as keeping their citizens captive,  and have procedures and processes in place to allow their citizens/subjects to exercise that right, they do not see it as an absolute right under international law.  Serena Forlati sums up the state perspective well when she writes, "the role of the individual's choices needs to be balanced against the possibly competing interests of the state whose nationality is to be renounced..."

Finding that balance is not easy.  One might even say that it's a work in progress.  There are other more pressing citizenship topics on the international agenda;  statelessness, for example, or involuntary loss of nationality.

But there is one convention, The European Convention on Nationality (ECN),  that is a bit more explicit than the UNDHR about both conditions for voluntary loss of nationality and the limits on state power over renunciants.

The European Convention on Nationality Article 8 has two explicit limitations on the right to renounce one's nationality:

"Each State Party shall permit the renunciation of its nationality provided the persons concerned do not thereby become stateless.
However, a State Party may provide in its internal law that renunciation may be effected only by nationals who are habitually resident abroad."

In the Explanatory Report  of the ECN they directly address the question of renunciation and outstanding citizenship obligations and say:   "It is not acceptable under Article 8 to deny the renunciation of nationality merely because persons habitually resident in another State still have military obligations in the country of origin or because civil or penal proceedings may be pending against a person in that country of origin. Civil or penal proceedings are independent of nationality and can proceed normally even if the person renounces his or her nationality of origin."

And finally in Chapter IV the ECN places boundaries around European states' nationality procedures and processes:

"Each State Party shall ensure that:

1.   applications relating to the acquisition, retention, loss, recovery or certification of its nationality be processed within a reasonable time;

2.   decisions relating to the acquisition, retention, loss, recovery or certification of its nationality contain reasons in writing;

3. decisions relating to the acquisition, retention, loss, recovery or certification of its nationality be open to an administrative or judicial review in conformity with its internal law;

4. the fees for the acquisition, retention, loss, recovery or certification of its nationality be reasonable;

5. the fees for an administrative or judicial review be not an obstacle for applicants."

A reasonable balancing of states' versus citizens' rights?  I thought so, but I note that some European countries have not signed it and quite a few that did, did so with reservations.   

A convention is one thing, how it is implemented in law  and interpreted and applied by the courts is another.  In the next post let's look at one case I saw cited in numerous places: Riener v. Bulgaria  (European Court of Human Rights).  This is a case where a dual citizen, was 1.  denied the right to leave a country of citizenship and 2. refused renunciation. And yes, citizenship obligations (taxes) were an issue in this case.