Singapore citizenship renuncification vs deprivation musing

[DataMaster]

A question for all you legal minds out there...

I want to renounce my Singapore citizenship and according to the San Francisco embassy (http://www.mfa.gov.sg/sanfrancisco/SGrenounce.htm), there is a need to provide a lot of information as part of the process. Aside from my concern about privacy (or lack thereof) and my basic "NoneOfYourBusiness" attitude towards some of the questions asked, I am also quite put off by them asking for US$22 to process my applicaiton. It is not a large sum, but for some reason, it seems to rub me the wrong way. What benefits am I applying for that justifies the payment?

On the other hand, according to Article 134 and 135 of the Singapore Constitution, the mere act of naturalization and/or the application/use of a foreign passport, or exercising foreign rights reserved for nationals of the foreign country (e.g. voting), that the Singapore Government will deprive a Singapore citizen of citizenship.

I have read other messages about folks using/keeping both passports and I am not interested in that. My question is: wouldn't the constitutionally mandated deprivation of citizenship over-ride the procedures for renuncification? Although the process for renuncification is addressed in the constitution, it is but a process.

Basically, it would seem that it be preferable (in my view) for the authorities deprive me of the Singapore citizenship than to go through an intrusive renuncification process......oh, and to pay them for it too.

As a side, I do meet the renuncification requirements having discharged my national service liability. So there is no basis within the Constitution that would prevent the loss of Citizenship either through renuncification or through deprivation. The only thing I can see as an argument is that a citizen is to "voluntarily renounce" upon acquiring a foreign citizenship, and the failure to do so could lead to the assumption that the person shows intent to retain both citizenships, which is currently illegal. And as such, the government could cause barriers for even social visits. However, my contention is that if I voluntarily provide the evidence that I should be deprived of Singapore citizenship, then the burden of proof that I have that intent to illegaly retain Singapore citizenship will rest on the authorities, but hey, who am I kidding. I'm not going to go into a rigged judicial "boxing ring!"

Comments appreciated

Sincerely,
- ex-Singaporean- US Citizen (who has also applied/used a US passport, voted, naturalized, and I have jury duty coming up in two months... that should be grounds enough for deprivation).

[k1w1]

Umm... not sure if I grasped all of your post as the language was somewhat, aah, wordy.

Anyway, so you want to renounce your citizenship and need the process to be done properly. Yet don't see why you should pay a fee for that service? Fork it over, and be grateful it's not more.

I think too, that if the country "deprives" you of your citizenship, that could be slightly nastier than renouncing it yourself. What are you getting at here? You want to tell them you broke the law so they will take your passport off you, thus saving you the hassle of filling out overly-nosey forms and of course, the $22? Dude, just fill out the forms and cash in your passport (you obviously want to), then start singing the Star-Spangled-Banner. If it were me, I would be more woried that they would find out about the US passport, take the SG one and keep tabs on you so when you DID return later on, you would be "randomly" picked for a body search at the airport or something.

PS: the noun of "renounce" is renunciation, not renuncification.