It 's official . Sen. Ted Cruz is now a citizen of the United States -- and the United States only . If you remember , the Texas Republican was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father . As such , he was a dual citizen -- an American because of his mother , and Canadian because the country , like America , grants automatic citizenship to anyone born there . No harm in that , except Cruz is considered a potential candidate for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination . And when the news of his dual citizenship surfaced last year , thanks to a Dallas Morning News piece , some began to question his eligibility to become president . ( In truth , that was never in jeopardy . Most legal experts said Cruz qualifies as a `` natural born citizen , '' a requirement for the White House job , as stated in the Constitution . ) The newspaper piece came as a revelation to Cruz as well . `` Because I was a U.S. citizen at birth , because I left Calgary when I was 4 and have lived my entire life since then in the U.S. , and because I have never taken affirmative steps to claim Canadian citizenship , I assumed that was the end of the matter , '' Cruz said at the time . Then he took immediate steps to renounce his Canadian citizenship . Well , that process was formally completed last month , and he received a letter in the mail this week telling him so , the newspaper reported Tuesday . `` This is to certify that the person named above has formally renounced Canadian citizenshp and pursuant to the Citizenship Act will cease to be a citizen on '' May 14 , 2014 , the letter read . `` it 's official y'all , '' tweeted his spokeswoman Catherine Frazier . Cruz wins presidential straw poll at Republican Leadership Conference .
Texas Republican was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father . He took steps to renounce his Canadian citizenship last year . He received a note in the mail this week telling him process is done .