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Nationality?

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Foale is apparently British by birth, but what is the evidence or reference for his US nationality? --ukexpat 16:10, 29 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You can read this article if you want- mentions how several British have become US citizens to fly in space. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6993010.stm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.14.26.29 (talk) 15:30, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Since Michael Foale's father (Colin) is British and his mother (Mary) is American, the astronaut holds US-UK dual citizenship by birth. In general, NASA flies only US citizens as career astronauts. Foale did not have to become an American, as did astronauts Piers Sellers and Nicholas Patrick, because he is already American. The UK press often get Foale's nationality details wrong, and one must be careful to avoid leaking such into Wikipedia. See the scuba article http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=5966&sc=&ac=d&an= to read more about all three British-born astronauts who currently work for NASA. --OrbisTerra (talk) 02:18, 12 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It is quite likely that Foale had to apply for citizenship later in life. The grant of citizenship may indeed have been automatic, by virtue of his parentage, but it is not clear, from the sources I read so far, that he actually possessed dual citizenship at birth. Either way, it is a minor technicality that it would be nice to resolve. --Hroðulf (or Hrothulf) (Talk) 12:03, 12 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If I remember correctly, I've read that Foale's mother registered him with the American embassy in London sometime after his birth. I believe that comment was made by Foale's father--obviously someone in a position to know--in his 1999 book, but offhand I cannot locate the exact page of the anecdote (sorry). FYI, in the book the father does discuss the son's dual nationality in the last two pages of Chapter 3. In any event, by virtue of his parentage and by location of his birth (American mother on British soil), Foale is clearly a dual citizen of the US and UK. How much paperwork was involved in legally establishing his citizenship? Ask an attorney. Grin! --OrbisTerra (talk) 17:58, 12 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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