George Clooney is now a French citizen: Here's what to know about dual citizenship

PHOENIX - An American actor who is known for his work in ER, Ocean's 11 and other programs is now also the citizen of another country.

Here's what to know.

What happened?

The Dec. 27 version of the Journal Officiel de la République Française, which is the official paper of record for the French nation, listed George Clooney, his two children Alexander and Ella, and his wife Amal as having been naturalized as French citizens.

It should be noted that in the document, Amal was listed under her maiden name, Alamuddin.

Does George Clooney have any ties to France?

Dig deeper:

According to an interview Clooney did with Esquire magazine that was published in October 2025, he lives on a farm in France with his immediate family.

"I was worried about raising our kids in L. A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life," Clooney said in the magazine article. "I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids."

The article states that Clooney still maintains an apartment in Los Angeles for work purposes.

Does this mean George Clooney is no longer an American?

Absent any official declarations made by Clooney himself, Clooney is still an American citizen.

Big picture view:

According to the U.S. State Department, two separate decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court state that a person cannot lose U.S. nationality unless they voluntarily relinquish the status.

Furthermore, State Department officials said a U.S. citizen or a U.S. national with no citizenship can relinquish their U.S. nationality by voluntarily performing a number of what they called "potentially expatriating act," as defined by law. The act must be done with the intention of relinquishing U.S. citizenship.

According to Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, the "potentially expatriating acts" include:

• Obtaining naturalization in a foreign state after 18
• Taking an oath, making an affirmation, or making other forms of formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state after 18
• Entering or serving in the armed forces of a foreign nation that is at war against the U.S.
• Entering or serving in the armed forces of a foreign nation as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer
• Accept, serve, or perform the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state after the age of 18
• Making a formal declaration to renounce U.S. nationality before a diplomatic or consular officer of the U.S. in a foreign state
• Making a formal written renunciation of nationality within the U.S., with conditions
• Commit any act or treason against the U.S.

State Department officials also said that American law "does not impede its citizens' acquisition of foreign citizenship whether by birth, descent, naturalization or other form of acquisition by imposing requirements of permission from U.S. courts or any governmental agency," and that American law "does not require a U.S. citizen to choose between U.S. citizenship and another (foreign) nationality (or nationalities)."

"A U.S. citizen may naturalize in a foreign state without any risk to their U.S. citizenship," read a portion of the State Department's website.

Does France have any laws against dual citizenship?

Dig deeper:

Per the French government's website, multiple citizenship and nationalities are allowed in France.

Isn't there a U.S. law that bans dual citizenship?

While U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) introduced a bill on Dec. 1 that would force U.S. residents with overseas citizenship to choose one over the other, the bill is not law, as it has not been passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. Therefore, the bill has no legal force.

How many Americans have given up their U.S. citizenship?

By the numbers:

According to an October 2025 report by the Washington Post, some 5,000 to 6,000 Americans living abroad gave up their U.S. citizenship each year.

What they're saying:

Per the article, the most-often cited reasons relate to tax and logistics, although politics has become a reason in recent years.

The article also states that some of the renunciations involve those whose U.S. citizenship is considered to be more circumstantial. One case mentioned in the article involves a woman born in the U.S. to a British couple who worked in the country.

How many Americans have dual citizenship?

What we don't know:

According to an article by Al Jazeera that was published in March, there are no official records on how many Americans have sought a second passport.

However, the same article states that based on industry estimates that were shared with the news organization, it can be suggested that about 4,000 of the roughly 10,000 global applications for second passports in the past few years came from Americans.

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