In light of the United States’ tax jihad against any person born in the United States, even those possessing the dominant nationality of another nation, I would like to explore the possibility that Canada take the lead in making post-natal changes to one’s place of birth. I could perhaps legally change my middle name and have my place of birth re-assigned to Canada, and then I would be able to cross the US border as a native-born Canadian.
The Province of Ontario has now set the precedent for changing a birth certificate in order to better reflect a person’s true feelings about their gender. Whether you agree with this or not, Ontario is now recognizing transgendered people’s right to determine their own gender, even without surgical interventions. The National Post reports:
New rules that have recently come into effect allow transgender people born in the province to apply to have the document amended by submitting a letter from a practising physician or a psychologist.
Susan Gapka, chair of the Trans Lobby Group, hailed the change as a crucial step for the transgender community in having their gender identity recognized.
“We’re going to celebrate this victory — because it is a victory, it’s a giant leap forward,” she said.
“Trans people’s identification will more easily match their presentation to the public.”
Well, I’m also a trans person. I am a trans-national. So therefore, I should be able to get the government of Canada to change my place of birth to better reflect my presentation to the public. My place of birth could now be listed as “Toronto, Ontario” where I made my oath of fidelity to the Queen of Canada.
This little change in the birth certificate and by extension, the passport of Canada, could solve a conundrum for thousands of people in Canada whose connexion to the United States does not include loyalty and solidarity but only place of birth. It is a simple solution that the government of Canada could quite easily implement which would reflect the dominant and effective nationality of Canadians whose only blemish is their United States’ birthplace.
@swisspinoy;
Congratulations on your status as a single-citizenship NON-US NON-UStaxable person. Glad that although the journey was fraught with peril, you emerged relatively unscathed.
Thank you for sharing your story with us.
@swisspinoy
Congrats! Things are looking up. Maybe your day today was somehow allegorical to what you’ve been through over the several months, down to the passengers still trapped in their car, but you make it home unscathed after many tiring diversions?
@bubblebustin and @swisspinoy;
Like the symbolism – one dual/US taxable person manages to steer around the numerous perils and pitfalls thrown into their path en route to freedom from unwanted US citizenship shackles; car wrecks, fog, collisions, psychological and physical stress, etc.
I just found something interesting: US nationals who are not US citizens, and don’t reside in the US, are considered nonresident aliens and not US persons for tax purposes, and therefore they are not subject to US taxation on worldwide income, FATCA, FBAR or other reporting requirements. They cannot vote in the US, but they are allowed to have US passports, enter, live, study and work in the US indefinitely (if they reside in the US they become taxed as residents). Currently, this status is reserved only for people from American Samoa. (Note that this is different from the status of people from the other US territories [Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands], who are US citizens and are able to exclude from US taxation only the income from the territory, and only if they reside there. They are still subject to US taxation on foreign income and other reporting requirements.)
So, an American Samoan may immigrate to, say, Australia, visit the US on a US passport without a visa, and be subject only to Australian but not US taxation. If it were possible to “switch” your status from US citizen to US national only, would it be a solution?
*@swisspinoy, Congratulations! I am sure a tremendous burden has been lifted from your shoulders.
Thank you, SwissPinoy. I’ve added your info to the Renounce & Relinquish database — your information in the Consulate Report Directory will give others good reason to go ahead where you are — if that is their decision. It all happened so fast for you. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for those in Switzerland to get their Certificates of Loss of Nationality compared to other Consulates / Embassies. Congratulations once again!
I found more information. The US law that deals with renunciation and relinquishing does not mention citizenship, only nationality. Technically, you don’t renounce US citizenship, you renounce US nationality altogether (which includes citizenship). That’s why it’s called a Certificate of Loss of Nationality, not citizenship. There is no way to renounce only US citizenship, so it’s not possible to “switch” status to US national only.
Similarly, according to the courts, a person from a US territory cannot renounce US nationality and retain nationality of the territory only (http://www.uniset.ca/naty/maternity/2FSupp2d43.htm).
*It would appear that in this case FATCA is not the reason. For single US persons going as volunteers as Mormon missionaries to Switzerland, the problem is a Swiss visa for this purpose. It certainly is not limited to just Mormon missionaries.
It is possible for an individual, or even for US retirees who have moved back to their native lands to spend their last retirement days to survive without a local bank account, as long as they have a relative or friend who has a US address whch they use as their address of record on their US bank account.. Retirees have their pensions and/or monthly Social Security retirement benefits direct deposited in their US bank account, just as if they were still living in the US. They can use a credit card and withdraw local currency from the ATMs that abound around the world to withdraw the cash they need to live as retireees abroad.
I recently exchanged correspondence with the person in charge of the foreign study program at a US college and he confirmed to me that their students who go abroad to study generally do not open foreign bank accounts. They make use of ATM’s to obtain the cash they need to survive. So FATCA is not a problem for them either.
@All, thanks for the kind words. I’m not really happy about it, but I’m also very happy about it, depending upon which angle it is looked upon. It is nice that I’m not the only one who can understand the situation for what it is. 🙂
*Shadow Raider, it could make a lot of sense if Americans abroad were treated similarly to American Samoans. That would be a good goal to work towards. The difficulty is likely in explaining the different situations of living abroad to congress, such as how duals who find work abroad are likely in a much different situation from those who seek to relocate to reduce their tax burden.
@ShadowRaider, maybe one place to start to explain, is using the example of those who are living ‘abroad’ outside the US without having had the power or independence to make an informed choice of their own volition – those actually born ‘abroad’ outside the US – and/or brought up there from childhood. As they are born duals, they did not play any part in either being born in the US (ex. Canadians born in US border hospitals, or to Canadian student parents studying in the US), or being born and/or raised outside the US to one or more US parent.
They cannot choose their citizenship, but inherited it. They did not choose to live or relocate outside the US, and weren’t sent there for work by a US company or government body. Why then should they have a US taxable burden? Many cannot vote – by law, in states which require actual US residence – which many will never have. If they cannot vote, and have never resided in the US, or never as an adult, how can they still be made responsible for US taxation, (and the draft), and more onerous financial reporting than a US resident citizens – without one of the major ‘rights’ of a citizen (voting)? They have never been given an opportunity to make an informed decision as an adult about which country they want to hold citizenship, and to exercise a choice.
Why not propose that if born a dual, or brought up as a minor abroad – without any adult residence in the US – one must demonstrate a conscious and affirmative decision to claim or fully activate US citizenship by taking up permanent residence in the US – which would therefore be equivalent to choosing to be responsible for US citizenship-based taxation?
*Badger, all very logical arguments indeed. But who is ever going to propose changing US legislaiton to make this happpen.
Maybe an appeal to the Supreme Court might result in a decision that automatic US citizenship under the circumstances you describe might result in these provisions of US nationality law being declared unconstitutional, just like the old law that provided automatic loss of citizenship to those who became naturalized citiens of a foreign country was declared unconsititutional.
A mighhty tall mounain to climb.
*swisspinoy
Sorry for keeping a low profile for the past few weeks. I needed some time away from FATCA, FBAR, Citizenship Based Taxation, closed bank accounts, mortgage denials, ………..
I’m not sure if I should congratulate you or say how sorry it is that it has come this far that we need to renounce in order to live a respectful life outside of the US. I’m still not sure about my plans for the near future.
I do know that a get togther over a beer or two would be very intersting.
*UncleTell, I’m sorry as well. I’ve been a bit preoccupied as of late, but tomorrow should work for a beer.