Please Note: The US State Department under John Kerry, who served in Viet Nam, is now charging $2350 to receive any CLN whether one has relinquished or renounced. So if you are coming to this only now, you are SOL when it comes to getting a free CLN.
See also Relinquishing your US citizenship in Germany
Those of us who have participated in the Expat Forum have seen that one of the first things that many many newbies say is, “I am going to renounce my US citizenship as soon as I have my Canadian citizenship.” Now, I want to suggest that one should never renounce their citizenship if they can relinquish it instead. Months ago I wrote a post on this subject, which I provide below.
But first, some explanations: Renouncing is one of seven ways to lose your citizenship. It requires swearing an oath in front of an official of the US government and it now has a $450 fee attached to it. Relinquishing does not require a US government official, for it is one of several acts that a US citizen can perform that can result in a loss of citizenship, provided the person intends to lose it. Then, the former citizen must only inform the State Department, not so as to validate the relinquishing act, but to make sure that the US government understands what your intent was when you performed it.
It has become clear that there are several advantages to relinquishing over renouncing:
(1) Relinquishment takes the act of losing your citizenship out of the hands of the US government. This has two benefits. (a) There should be no fee because it doesn’t require a US government official–it doesn’t take place in a US Consulate–you only go to the consulate to inform them of a fait accompli, and it only takes one visit, unlike renunciation which usually take two visits. (b) This saves you $450, or it should, because you are not requiring the services of the Consulate–you are there only to inform them of your intention when you committed a potentially expatriating act such as making a pledge to a foreign power.
(2) Relinquishment is usually a positive act which cannot be confused with an expatriation to avoid taxes. You do it so that you can take part in foreign government or to vote in the country you live in, not so that you can avoid US taxes.
(3) Relinquishment is not a renunciation of your citizenship, so much as a positive act vis-a-vis your new home and country. It is not a repudiation of your country but an acknowledgement that dual citizenship is an unworkable absurdity. Thus, relinquishment comes with less stigma, potentially.
Finally, a caveat is in order. Don’t do one thing and say another. That is don’t relinquish your citizenship then travel on US passport, pay tax in the US, register your children born abroad as US citizens, or take up a residence or a job in the USA, except as one holding a legitimate permit to reside or work in the US as an alien. If a person does any of these things, the State Department may not accept your relinquishment. Those who desire to lose their citizenship but who have done such things after the relinquishing act, may need to renounce their citizenship after all.
So without further ado, here is my original post, “Renunciation of US citizenship: On avoiding the new $450 renunciation fee (update 2), which explains in greater detail, what would constitute a relinquishing act:
Renunciation of US citizenship: On avoiding the new $450 renunciation fee (update 2)
I’ve been pretty upset that it would cost me $450 to renounce my citizenship now that the US consulate in Toronto has instituted a fee. But today I was looking at the various government websites: Consider this website from the US state department and its explanation of how to renounce US citizenship:
Section 349(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1481) governs how a U.S. citizen shall lose U.S. nationality. Section 349(a) states:
A person who is a national of the United States whether, by birth or naturalization, shall lose his nationality by voluntarily performing any of the following acts with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality:(5) making a formal renunciation of nationality before a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign state, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State; or(6) making in the United States a formal written renunciation of nationality in such form as may be prescribed by, and before such officer as may be designated by, the Attorney General, whenever the United States shall be in a state of war and the Attorney General shall approve such renunciation as not contrary to the interests of national defense.
Now perhaps it would interest readers to know that this government website is not telling the whole story: The U.S.C. 1481 lists several other ways that a natural born US citizen may lose their citizenship. Here is the full text (emphasis mine):
§ 1481. Loss of nationality by native-born or naturalized citizen; voluntary action; burden of proof; presumptions
(a) A person who is a national of the United States whether by birth or naturalization, shall lose his nationality by voluntarily performing any of the following acts with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality—
(1) obtaining naturalization in a foreign state upon his own application or upon an application filed by a duly authorized agent, after having attained the age of eighteen years; or(2) taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, after having attained the age of eighteen years; or(3) entering, or serving in, the armed forces of a foreign state if
(A) such armed forces are engaged in hostilities against the United States, or(B) such persons serve as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer; or(4)
(A) accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, after attaining the age of eighteen years if he has or acquires the nationality of such foreign state; or(B) accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, after attaining the age of eighteen years for which office, post, or employment an oath, affirmation, or declaration of allegiance is required; or(5) making a formal renunciation of nationality before a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign state, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State; or(6) making in the United States a formal written renunciation of nationality in such form as may be prescribed by, and before such officer as may be designated by, the Attorney General, whenever the United States shall be in a state of war and the Attorney General shall approve such renunciation as not contrary to the interests of national defense; or(7) committing any act of treason against, or attempting by force to overthrow, or bearing arms against, the United States, violating or conspiring to violate any of the provisions of section 2383 of title 18, or willfully performing any act in violation of section 2385 of title 18, or violating section 2384 of title 18 by engaging in a conspiracy to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, if and when he is convicted thereof by a court martial or by a court of competent jurisdiction.(b) Whenever the loss of United States nationality is put in issue in any action or proceeding commenced on or after September 26, 1961 under, or by virtue of, the provisions of this chapter or any other Act, the burden shall be upon the person or party claiming that such loss occurred, to establish such claim by a preponderance of the evidence. Any person who commits or performs, or who has committed or performed, any act of expatriation under the provisions of this chapter or any other Act shall be presumed to have done so voluntarily, but such presumption may be rebutted upon a showing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the act or acts committed or performed were not done voluntarily.
I swear or affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty Queen of Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfill my duties a Canadian Citizen.
An individual who has performed any of the acts made potentially expatriating by statute who wishes to lose U.S. citizenship may do so by affirming in writing to a U.S. consular officer that the act was performed with an intent to relinquish U.S. citizenship. Of course, a person always has the option of seeking to formally renounce U.S. citizenship abroad in accordance with Section 349 (a) (5) INA.
Update 2: Today a consular officer called me from the US consulate in Toronto. She confirmed what I’ve said in this post, that relinquishing US citizenship and renouncing US citizenship are two different processes that are treated in a different manner by the consulate (including the fee structure).
@Petros
Have just re-read the above. I now remember reading that when I was new to IBS. Must be my age – ‘short-term memory loss’. I need to get on that bus that Blaze showed us!
@Tiger. No, she didn’t mention tax forms. But she did make sure that I read form 4081, where you sign that you acknowledge the “Consequences of Relinquishment/Renunciation,” and one of the items on it is that,
(I take “contact” to mean look at the IRS website and figure out what you need to do, not that you have to phone someone up or anything.)
It seems, from reading the Consulate Visit Reports, that some consulates specifically talk about tax, but most don’t. I’m no expert, but from reading the DOS manual, it seems they have no requirement to bring up tax (they’re not in the tax business), just to make sure you understand form 4081.
@ Pacifica: Let me say this loud and clear: They cannot make you file anything because to do so would be to create an ex post facto law, which is unconstitutional. Now anyone can voluntarily waive their constitutional rights, but in this case, you are better off not doing anything. http://isaacbrocksociety.com/2011/12/14/no-ex-post-facto-law/
*I read somewhere that swearing allegiance to a foreign state does not cause you to lose U.S. citizenship if the United States is allied with that country or has a treaty with it. Is this true?
*@Banany – no. There are a number of acts which used to be automatically expatriating, and are now only expatriating if you intend them to be. The list can be found here: http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_778.html
@ Banay, That is incorrect. Read the statute cited above again; that is the law. The important thing is that the intention of the person who makes the oath of allegiance. If it is done with the intention, it counts.
This oath of allegiance to the Queen of Canada was one of two reason stated on my CLN why I lost my citizenship. Canada is an ally of the United States, at least for now.
I have received my CLN after renouncing my U.S. citizenship and paying the $450… The CLN says that I relinquished my Citizenship
@Freeatlast, Technically you did relinquish your citizenship when you renounced it. Under the Immigration and Nationalities Act, s. 349(a), there are seven ways you can relinquish, and renunciation (s. 349(a)(5)) is one of the seven ways.
I’m guessing you’re referring to the line on your CLN:
It can be a little confusing because colloquially we tend to use the word relinquishment to specifically refer to subsection 349(a)(1) [relinquishing upon naturalisation] or (2) [relinquishing upon taking an oath to a foreign country] for lack of a more specific word, but it actually applies to all seven subsections.
The $450 fee applies to relinquishments which occur pursuant to 349(a)(5), but not to the others.
Last year I thought I had renounced at the Calgary consulate…thats was why i was surprised when the CLN said relinquished….which made me think that all people that go to a U.S. consulate actually relinquish their citizen ship rather than renounce it…just trying to help out here for people thinking about doing it..if renouncing is thought to have some different connotation….Free at last free at last ….Thank God all mighty Free at last!!!
Yep, you relinquished it by renouncing if you took the renunciation oath at the consulate. In my case, I relinquished it by acquiring Canadian citizenship with that intent (349(a) (1)), but had to go to the US consulate to notify them of it, which requires the same forms as for a renunciation, except you don’t need the renunciation oath.
When I posted before, I forgot to add Congratulations on receiving your CLN!!!
Thank you…it was a year of HELL…the mental anguish was almost unbearable…it cost several thousand dollars to get compliant….I was always proud to be a dual citizen…I loved my American roots…but that has all changed and i now see that country in a way different light.
Freeatlast.
*Question on relinquishing – I am a U.S. born U.S. citizen but have dual citizenship with Canada. Living in Canada for many years. Received Canadian citizenship about 10 years ago by applying for it and got easily because my mother is a native born Canadian citizen. But I did not have to go to the Canadian Citizenship ceremony because of this mother-based citizenship qualification. Can I now request a Canadian Citizenship ceremony because I never did a ceremony before, and make a signed statement before the ceremony that I am doing this ceremony and oath of allegiance for the express purpose of relinquishing U.S. citizenship .. or is it too late to do the ceremony now? .. Is this sufficient for relinquishing U.S. citizenship?
@CanadaExpat,
My details are different than yours; I became a Canadian citizen in 1975. Earlier this year I talked to Immigration Canada in Calgary (after I went in to re-new my Canadian passport as that was next door). I was invited to attend (the next day) and retake my Oath of Canadian Citizenship with 100 other New Canadians. I received a “commemorative” certificate, but it is not an official document. I was told they could not do that officially, but it felt good and was an honour to re-take the oath.
What a shame that this cannot be an official act, given our real allegiance to Canada rather than the U.S.
Freeatlast, I’m glad you are and thus out of the HELL and mental anguish. It is the tragedy of this nonsense — what it is doing to very decent members of countries we are living in and contributing to.
It just occurred to me that Canada could be of enormous help to some of its citizens who want to relinquish their US citizenship by providing them with a Canadian citizenship document which is predated to their actual or stated (under oath) desire to become Canadian-only citizens whose loyalties lie only with Canada. The document would clearly state that these persons became Canadian citizens with the full intention of giving up any other citizenships they might have held at the time. For those who didn’t connect to the USA in anyway (passport applications, tax filings, US accounts) during the interim it would provide an easy out I think. And for those that did connect, perhaps if they hadn’t renewed the connection in the past 5 years then they too could be issued the same document. The document could then be taken to the US consulate to obtain a relinquishment which does not require the burden of tax compliance or the $450 fee for renouncing. If the Canadian gov’t caves to FATCA then this would be the least they could do to ameliorate the damage. They owe it to their citizens to protect them in this manner from the tyranny of US tax laws. It would sort of be a reverse engineered relinquishment, aided by the Canadian gov’t. Anyway, it’s just a thought. It’s retroactive in nature but the US gov’t has shown that it’s willing to use that technique whenever it serves their means and turnabout’s fair play.
To calgary411 and others: What about if I do a Reaffirmation Ceremony to do a pledge of the oath of citizenship to Canada since I did not have to do it 10 years ago .. I will then get a Reaffirmation Certificate – and before the ceremony can do a signed document expressing intent of the Reaffirmation Ceremony to relinquish U.S. citizenship – would that be sufficient?
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/celebrate/menu-reaffirmation.asp
*@CanadaExpat – Other than saving the $450, what’s the advantage of doing it that way over renouncing?
@CanadaExpat,
I’m not qualified to answer that, but you should contact Immigration Canada to see what they say. It would have to be an official process and an official document to help you, I suspect. Mine wasn’t and would not provide me with anything I can take to the bank (or a US Consulate).
I wish that by renewing our Canadian (or other country) passports we would be informing of our allegiance again and could use that.
*Broken Man – the advantage would be you have the control over your relinquishing process, rather than making an application to the State Dept for renunciation .. in other words, it would appear to be a matter of informing the State Dept of the relinquishing act, rather than submitting an application for renunciation .. in the end, the CLN appears to always say relinquish no matter how you get it
@Broken Man,
I believe with a relinquishment, besides not paying the $450 renunciation fee to a US Consulate, you also are free of submitting US tax returns from the date of your relinquishing act, often decades ago and Form 8854, depending on the date. Correct?
@calgary411
That’s what I’m hoping for. My CLN says I ceased to be a US citizen in 1973 and I can’t see the IRS making anything stick going back that far.
As I read the bits about relinquishing vs renouncing I think it is all relinquishing but some relinquishments are renouncings. ie Renouncing is a subset of relinquishment.
*Here is the link to the “Reaffirmation Certificate” – it looks pretty official to me .. this would then meet the oath of allegiance event on losing U.S. citizenship, as long as it is clearly made with the intent to lose the U.S. citizenship .. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/celebrate/documents/doc/Reaffirmation_Certificate-E.doc
I worry about the small print which says this is not proof of citizenship and the large print which says reaffirming someone already a citizen.
It would be worth a try but I’d hate to wait six months for an evaluation only to have it turned down and having to start all over.
@CanadaExpat
I suspect the U.S. would not allow as proof of an expatriating act and therefore could be relinquishment. You could try it but with CLN’s taking up to a year, it could be a waste of a year, if turned down.
Canada expat…I’m in the same boat with Canadian mother..you do not renounce your citizenship of previous countries in your Canadian oath of citizenship since 1973 …so that now when you become a Canadian you are a dual….I know as a fact people who became Canadians before 1973 can get a CLN by going to an American consulate and asking for it with no $450 charge…I became a Canadian 10 years ago before the Canadian government changed the rules that if you had a Canadian mother you were a born Canadian ….. My brother got his without a ceremony…I sent my Canadian citizenship card back to immigration and asked for a letter stating that I was a born Canadian…it cost $75 I was hoping that the new card would not have a date that showed when I became a Canadian…it took a long time to hear back from them…when my card came back it had a 2011 date on it rather than the actual date I became a Canadian….but I did receive a not so official looking letter letter that stated I was born canadian ….when I filed my 8854 I claimed non covered because of my net worth plus I was a born Canadian……I have filed my last u.s. tax return..sent off copies of the 8854 form to the IRS and the state department….and pray that they leave me alone…this whole thing is criminal and when I explained this to my American relatives..they think I’m nuts and hardly believe a word I say on the matter …they can not believe that the greatest country in the world..so they think could do this to their citizens…