A hiccup in the plan

Last night was the France Etats-Unis Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant just outside of Toulouse, and the new American Consul was present.

In the past couple of months I've gotten thinking about applying for a position with the American Foreign Service in the next few years, but I had a couple questions I wanted to ask a current FS Officer, so I chatted with the Consul for about 10 minutes.

During the conversation I explained that I wasn't sure if I would apply this year because I was trying to concentrate on my French nationality application, and the Consul said
"You should know that having dual nationality can prevent you from getting a security clearance necessary for a Foreign Service position. They can ask you to renounce the other nationality in order to be in the Service. For some people, it's a deal breaker."

Insert record scratching sound effect


I guess it's 'normal' they're concerned about people being double agents or slipping information to the government of their other nationality, but for me the idea of getting French nationality has no influence whatsoever on being American.
(For the record, the State Department doesn't have a blanket rule on dual nationalities for Foreign Service Officers, but it would appear they're more lenient for people who have dual nationalities through their parents and less for cases like me of people voluntarily applying for citizenship. Doing it right before you apply for the Foreign Service is seen as suspicious. Oops)

Getting French nationality has been a question of social integration for me, not personal identity or national loyalty (although I do think of myself as French in some ways, especially when I'm in the States). Certain jobs are closed to me without French nationality and the inability to participate in local political decisions that affect my daily life are my chief motivators to be naturalized (not the mention the idea of never having to return to Accueil des Etrangers at the Prefecture). I don't know how long I will stay in my current job at the University, but without French nationality to let me register for a concours, next year (3rd) will be my last because of the policy limiting how long employees can be contract hires and not civil servants.

After working so hard to build my life in France, I see being naturalized as recognition of all that effort and an outward sign of "I have built my life in France." When we fly back to France, I don't want to be in the "Other nationalities" line for customs because I'm not a tourist; I'm returning home.

It's hard to admit that if I succeed in joining the Foreign Service (and it's a difficult recruitment process I can't count on passing), I won't really need French nationality. In less than 12 hours I've gone from thinking I had several different options open to me in the future, to realizing if I have one, I can't have the other.

The recruitment process is really long (up to 2 years) and you can only start it 3 times a year when the written exam is offered, so my idea of "Oh, well I'll take the written exam perhaps next year" has changed to registering to take it this February.

I still don't have all the papers I need from the States for my naturalization file, but I'm thinking about working on it in parallel to my Foreign Service application because French nationality will be important if I don't get accepted by the FS.

Looks like I know what I'll be studying during my Christmas break...