A 61-year-old Virginia doctor, born in the US, has been stripped of his citizenship – all because of his late father’s status as an Iranian diplomat at the time of his birth.
Siavash Sobhani became stateless when he tried to renew his passport in June this year. Officials told him he should never have been granted U.S. citizenship in 1960, according to the WashingtonPost.
The State Department informed him that babies born in the US to parents with diplomatic immunity – which his father enjoyed at the time as an employee of the Iranian embassy – should not automatically acquire citizenship.
Normally, all babies born in the US are given citizenship.
The State Department’s move comes despite the fact that Sobhani is a respected physician with an impressive roster of 3,000 active patients after earning degrees from George Washington University, Boston College and Georgetown Medical School.
He has lived in the US (Virginia and DC) all his life, except for a small part of his childhood when his family moved to Turkey. His brother Rob Sobhani, 63, even ran for Senate in Maryland in 2012.
Siavash Sobhani (pictured), 61, was left stateless when he tried to renew his passport in June this year – with officials telling him he should never have been granted US citizenship, according to the Washington Post
Sobhani (pictured as a child) has lived in the US (Virginia and DC) all his life, apart from a small part of his childhood when his family moved to Turkey
Sobhani is sad that he cannot live safely in Iran because of his brother’s political ties to the US, and because he himself has spoken out against the government.
“As a member of your parents’ household, you also enjoyed full diplomatic immunity from the jurisdiction of the United States at the time of your birth,” said a State Department letter to Sobhani, seen by the Post.
“As such, you were born outside the jurisdiction of the United States. So you did not acquire American citizenship at birth.”
Sobhani was fooled by the letter – and the shock message prompted him to dig into his family history. He said this has been a challenge as his father is dead and his mother has dementia.
But Sobhani soon discovered that his older brother, who was born in Kansas when their father was a military student, had an illness as an infant that required surgery.
Due to his need for medical care, their father was given a temporary job at the Iranian Embassy to extend their stay in the US until October and November 1961 – the month Sobhani was born at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
They lived in Turkey for several years until returning to DC, where Sobhani attended Georgetown Preparatory School.
Sobhani has written letters to Virginia Senator Mark R Warner and Rep. Gerald E Connolly asking them for help.
His letter said he has “the utmost respect for the laws that govern this country” and noted that he has dedicated his career to helping people in Virginia and the D.C. region.
The Foreign Ministry informed Sobhani (photo) that babies born to parents with diplomatic immunity – which his father enjoyed as an employee of the Iranian embassy – do not automatically receive birthright.
Sobhani said he has “been directly involved in the care of tens of thousands of lives, currently with an active patient panel of more than 3,000 patients.”
Sobhani has no idea when he will regain his citizenship or whether it is guaranteed
Sobhani said he has been “directly involved in the care of tens of thousands of lives, currently with an active patient panel of more than 3,000 patients.”
“I can only hope that the impact I have made over the past thirty years in caring for our community of Virginians, your constituents, will carry some weight in your decision to intervene on my behalf,” he noted.
Connolly wrote back to express his condolences and promised to make the case a priority.
“I trust you can imagine how difficult it must be to believe that you have been a citizen of the United States all your life, only to find out that in fact you have not,” Connolly wrote in the letter.
“Our office respectfully requests every consideration in expediting this matter in accordance with U.S. law and regulations.”
But Sobhani has no idea when he will get his citizenship back, or whether it is guaranteed.