Relinquishment of United States nationality is the process under
federal law
Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many ...
by which a
U.S. citizen or national voluntarily and intentionally gives up that status and becomes an
alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
with respect to the United States. Relinquishment is distinct from
denaturalization, which in U.S. law refers solely to cancellation of illegally procured
naturalization
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
.
explicitly lists all seven potentially expatriating acts by which a U.S. citizen can relinquish that citizenship. ''Renunciation of United States citizenship'' is a