You will no longer be an American citizen if you voluntarily give up (renounce) your U.S. citizenship. You might lose your U.S. citizenship in specific cases, including if you: Run for public office in a foreign country (under certain conditions) Enter military service in a foreign country (under certain conditions)
When you renounce citizenship, you lose the right to live and work in the U.S. You will not be able to vote in U.S. elections. You will not be entitled to the protection of the United States overseas. You will no longer be able to enter the U.S. and remain indefinitely.
If you renounce your U.S. citizenship and do not already possess a foreign nationality, you may be rendered stateless and, thus, lack the protection of any government. You may also have difficulty traveling as you may not be entitled to a passport from any country.
Renouncing US citizenship is permanent: once the US Department of State issues a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (COLN), the only way to regain US status is through the long and difficult process of naturalization.
Persons intending to renounce U.S. citizenship should be aware that, unless they already possess a foreign nationality, they may be rendered stateless and, thus, lack the protection of any government. They may also have difficulty traveling as they may not be entitled to a passport from any country.
Aside from reducing the monetary burden of taxation, renouncing will also reduce the filing burden that all US citizens face. You will no longer have to file a US tax return, fill out Form 5471 for foreign companies, or report your foreign bank accounts with the FBAR form.
Since the enactment of FATCA in 2010, the numbers of people renouncing US citizenship have broken new records each year, increasing from a few hundred per year before FATCA to 5,411 in 2016. In the first two quarters of 2017 alone, 3,072 people renounced, which exceeds the full year total for 2013.
If you qualified for Social Security Payments as a US Citizen, then you will still be eligible to receive benefits even after you renounce your citizenship.
Once you renounce your US citizenship, you will no longer have to pay US taxes. However, the US government does charge a fee of $2,350 to relinquish citizenship. You may also need to pay an exit tax if you qualify as a covered expatriate.
The initial process for relinquishing is largely the same as renouncing, starting with an appointment through the consulate. Instead of renouncing, however, you're aiming for a Certificate of Loss of Nationality applied retroactively.
International Travel
U.S. immigration law assumes that a person admitted to the United States as an immigrant will live in the United States permanently. Remaining outside the United States for more than one year may result in a loss of Lawful Permanent Resident status.
Burdensome reporting and filing laws and the ever-changing tax laws in the US are some of the reasons to consider renouncing US citizenship.
Yes, the U.S. does allow for triple citizenship and does not require naturalized U.S. citizens to give up citizenship in their home country or other countries.
The Exit Tax
The current maximum capital gains rate is 23.8%, which includes the 20% capital gains tax and the 3.8% net investment income tax.
You can elect to have received a full payout on the day before you renounce, and are taxed accordingly on your US tax return, or you can elect to forego tax treaty benefits on these items and your retirement income will be taxed at a flat 30% tax rate when distributed.
In order to even be subject to the IRS covered expatriate and exit tax rules, a person must be a U.S citizen or long-term legal permanent resident. Therefore, the easiest way to avoid the long-term resident exit tax trap it is to simply avoid becoming a legal permanent resident.
You are correct. As a U.S. citizen, you can stay abroad for as long as you wish and always have the right to return. CBP officers must admit a U.S. citizen. That's true even if you were to visit a country where U.S. law restricts travel, such as North Korea or Cuba.
Drawbacks of being a dual citizen include the potential for double taxation, the long and expensive process for obtaining dual citizenship, and the fact that you become bound by the laws of two nations.
DISADVANTAGES. You are now liable for US tax on your worldwide income if you leave the US. Unlike most other countries, US citizens pay tax on their worldwide income, regardless of where they are living. So if you move to the Cayman Islands and live there 20 years, you are still required to pay US taxes.
In fact, Mexico is home to more American expats than any other country in the world, with 1.5 million choosing it as their permanent home.
The international legal definition of a stateless person is “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”. In simple terms, this means that a stateless person does not have a nationality of any country. Some people are born stateless, but others become stateless.
The following are some common causes of statelessness: Lack of birth registration and birth certificates; Birth to stateless parents; Political change and transfer of territory, which may alter the nationality status of citizens of the former state(s);
In 2016, the Association of American Residents Overseas referenced State Department statistics that 8.7 million Americans had left the country. A poll estimated that 40 percent of former U.S. citizens stayed in the western hemisphere, living in Canada, Central or South America. About 26 percent headed to Europe.
You are advised to familiarize yourself with these forms prior to your interview. Your Loss of Nationality application and supporting documents will be forwarded to the Department of State in Washington, D.C. for consideration and adjudication, a process that may take between 3-6 months.
A few weeks ago I caught wind of a guy who has citizenships from eight different countries. This “octa-citizen” has passports from Canada, UK, Ireland, Belize, Grenada, Dominica, St. Kitts, and Cape Verde.