Wikipedia’s list of public figures who gave up U.S. citizenship from the 1930s to the present day has reached nearly 100 entries. This list is far from complete — hopefully friends of Isaac Brock from around the world can suggest some additions, as right now it’s heavily weighted towards entries from the Caribbean and from East Asia. However, it is large and diverse enough for us to make some interesting observations.
From 1994 to 2006, I can confirm only a single report that a public figure in Wikipedia’s list gave up U.S. citizenship but did not appear in the Federal Register or the 1995 Joint Committee on Taxation report before it: South Korean actress Han Ye-seul. After 2006, however, the reports of public figures who gave up U.S. citizenship without ever appearing in the Federal Register start expanding rapidly. 2006 was an interesting year in other respects as well: it was the first year in which the number of “published expatriates” ever showed a significant decrease.
1994 to 2005
A number of people in Wikipedia’s list were indicated as not being present in the Federal Register. However, every single such entry from 2005 or earlier proved to be erroneous in some way: their names were present under misspellings (such as Lithuanian president Valdas Adamkus, who was reported as “Adankus”), or runtogetherintoonelongword (e.g. Taiwanese environmental activist RobinJamisonWinkler). In one case, a person in Wikipedia’s list in fact had not renounced: Stanley Fischer, who received special permission to retain his U.S. citizenship when he joined the Israeli government — and who I sincerely hope has remembered to file his FBARs on the entire Bank of Israel, lest he get fined 300% of the country’s money supply.
Put another way: before 2006, the Federal Register and its father the JCT report had a nearly-perfect record for reporting loss of U.S. citizenship, whether the ex-Americans in question were rich or poor. Out of 21 public figures known to have given up U.S. citizenship between 1994 and 2005, the U.S. government published the names of 20. The sole exception is Han Ye-seul.
Han, whose birth name is claimed by various fansites to be Leslie Kim, was reported by South Korean media to have renounced in 2004. That year puts her smack in the middle of a massive inter-departmental screwup which resulted in expatriate lists for five quarters (Q3 and Q4 2003; Q1, Q2, & Q3 2004) not getting published until October, and then with huge numbers of duplicate names. So it’s plausible that her name simply disappeared into the mists of federal incompetence, without any intention of concealing anything.
2006 to 2012
Starting in 2006, however, the U.S.’ near-perfect record starts going downhill rapidly. The first verifiable report of non-inclusion is not from a public figure but a private one: a woman named Aileen in Austria wrote a blog post in March that year about going to the U.S. embassy in Vienna to renounce U.S. citizenship so she could become an Austrian citizen, after nearly three decades of living in the country. Her simple & heartfelt blog post is something most of us can relate to: she’s just another ordinary emigrant who has no doubts about her decision to stop being a foreigner in the country in which her entire life is located. She hardly fits the idiotic Congressional stereotype of “rich traitors fleeing America with their ill-gotten gains”. However, no Aileen appears in the Federal Register in 2006 or at any point thereafter (with the exception of a Melanie Aileen in March 2012).
After that, there was Ukraine’s former first lady Kateryna Yushchenko in 2007. The U.S. embassy wrote a letter confirming her renunciation, which was published in Ukrainian media, but Treasury never printed her name. Jamaican politicians Daryl Vaz (2008), Michael Stern (2009), and Danville Walker (2011), Hong Kong actors Jaycee Chan (2009) and Erica Yuen (2012), Korean actors Yoo Gun (2011) and Yoo Seung-chan (no relation), and more, totalling sixteen of the thirty-seven public figures listed by Wikipedia for the period in question — none of them show up in Ms. Kaminski & Ms. Gaudelli’s lists.
Among private figures the ratio is even more skewed: for example, of the five South Koreans mentioned in this series of articles about life in the Navy & Air Force, only two show up in the Federal Register — and these are people whose names have been printed in the mainstream media, albeit not in English. What proportion of people whose names have never been published in the mainstream media do you think end up in the Treasury figures?
Remember what else happened in 2006?
2006 was an interesting year for Americans abroad in other respects as well. It was the first tax year for which the Tax Increase “Prevention” and Reconciliation Act was in effect, featuring Chuck Grassley (R-IA)’s Foreign Earned Income Exclusion “stacking” provision which — as even foreign governments noticed — massively increased taxes on Americans abroad so Chuck could pay for more pork for his constituents. And with a giant tax hike, you’d expect to see the renunciation rate go up — not because of Congress’ mythical “rich Americans fleeing the country with ill-gotten gains”, but because emigrants already abroad who were on the fence about whether to naturalise in their countries of residence started to realise what a raw deal the Homeland was giving them, no matter which Animal Party happened to be in power that particular year.
Well if you want to trust Hank Paulson and George Bush’s figures (hint from the finance industry: not a great idea), in 2006 the number of people giving up U.S. citizenships or green cards fell 64% from 762 people to 278, before mysteriously resuming the previous trend line by 2010. Andrew Mitchel has a nice graph of this, even if he draws the wrong conclusions from the figures. The 2006 drop is very politically convenient for Republicans, because it allows them to blame the subsequent “sharp rise” in renunciations on Obama’s policies while claiming that their own equally awful policies helped to slow the phenomenon. Of course it’s entirely coincidental that a bunch of people’s names start to go missing from the Federal Register in the same year it showed a miraculous drop in the numbers.
And if you believe that, I’d like to sell you some shares of a great Passive Foreign Investment Company which owns London Bridge.
The Liechtenstein royal family is among the wealthiest noble families in the world. In 2000 Prince Max, the second son of the reigning prince, Hans-Adam II, married Angela Gisela Brown, a Panamanian-born resident of New York. Having come to New York when she was a pre-teen, I believe she naturalized as an American years before she married Prince Max.
Princess Angela von Liechtenstein, as she is now known, appears to be a full member of the Liechtenstein royal family through her marriage. Generally, Liechtenstein law governing the royals requires that they be citizens of Liechtenstein (see Art. 3 below). Also, Liechtenstein law does not recognize dual-citizenship unless acquired at birth, i.e., naturalizing Liechtenstein citizens would need to renounce their existing foreign citizenship (see document at link further below).
Based on the above Liechtenstein laws, Princess Angela von Liechtenstein should have had to give up her US and Panamanian citizenships upon becoming a Liechtenstein citizen, although I have been unable to document this. There is no listing for Angela Gisela Brown, or similar, in the Federal Register Expatriate listings from 2000 to 2012.
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Art. 3
Staatsbürgerschaft
1) Alle Mitglieder des Hauses sind nach Massgabe des Gesetzes vom 1. September 1919, LGBl. 1919 Nr. 10, liechtensteinische Staatsbürger.
2) Der Fürst und der nächsterbfolgeberechtigte Agnat dürfen keine fremde Staatsbürgerschaft annehmen. Der zur Thronfolge Berufene muss zudem auf jede von früher her bestehende fremde Staatsbürgerschaft verzichten.
3) In allen anderen Fällen soll der Verzicht auf die liechtensteinische Staatsbürgerschaft, mit oder ohne Annahme einer fremden Staatsbürgerschaft, nur aus schwerwiegenden Gründen vorgenommen werden. Jedes Familienmitglied hat vor der Durchführung eines solchen Entschlusses unter Angabe von Gründen die Zustimmung des Fürsten zu beantragen. Ändern sich in der Folge die massgeblichen Verhältnisse wesentlich, so kann das Familienmitglied beim Fürsten um die Wiedereinsetzung in die liechtensteinische Staatsbürgerschaft ansuchen.
4) Verstösse gegen diese Bestimmungen unterliegen der disziplinären Verantwortlichkeit nach diesem Hausgesetz.
http://www.fuerstenhaus.li/de/fuerstenhaus/geschichte/hausgesetz.html
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See first sentence under “Einleitung” for Liechtenstein legal requirement to give up existing citizenships at time of naturalization:
http://www.regierung.li/uploads/media/LIAP_37_Doppelte_Staatsb%C3%BCrgerschaft_01.pdf
Another interesting analysis Eric. Thanks for all you do to dig this stuff out and present it in a readable manner.
Using the Liechtenstein Institut listing of European countries that “do not tolerate”, “tolerate” and “allow” dual citizenship and the 2010 Eurostat data and concept from the Overseas Exile web site, below are two lists of US citizen naturalizations for countries where the US citizen would have to (“do not tolerate”) or generally would have to (“tolerate”) expatriate to naturalize:
“Not Tolerated” 2010 Eurostat Data for EU27
Country Nr of US citizens naturalizing
Austria 13
Denmark 13
Estonia 0
Ireland 112
Lithuania 0
Macedonia
Moldova
Montenegro
Norway
Romania 0
Ukraine
Belarus
Total 138
“Tolerated” 2010 Eurostat Data for EU27
Country Nr of US citizens naturalizing
Bosnia
Bulgaria 2
Croatia
Czech 6
Germany 784
Netherlands 235
Poland 50
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia 7
Spain 78
Turkey
Total 1’162
Comments:
a. Blanks indicate that the country is not in the EU27.
b. What is meant by dual citizenship “tolerated” for the two largest naturalizers of US citizens in the category “tolerated”:
Germany: “Applicants for naturalisation are normally expected to prove they have renounced their existing nationality, or will lose this automatically upon naturalisation. An exception applies to those unable to give up their nationality easily (such as refugees). A further exception applies to citizens of Switzerland and the European Union member states.”
“Victims of Nazi persecution: Some people who lost German citizenship under the Nazi regime may be eligible for naturalisation without requiring residence in Germany or renunciation of their existing citizenship. Children and grandchildren of such persons may also be eligible for German citizenship.”
My interpretation: Americans naturalizing in Germany who normally have to give up US citizenship unless they were the victim or descendent of a victim of Nazi persecution.
Netherlands: “Dual citizenship
Although Dutch law restricts dual citizenship, it is possible for Dutch subjects to legally hold dual citizenship in a number of circumstances, including:
* those who acquire another citizenship at the time of birth (for example, a child born to Dutch parents in the United States would hold both U.S. and Dutch citizenship).
* persons who acquire Dutch citizenship through the option procedure (including former Dutch citizens resuming citizenship)
* persons who become naturalised Dutch subjects, who obtain an exemption from the requirement to renounce their foreign citizenship, such as those married to Dutch subjects.
* Dutch subjects who naturalise in another country who are exempted from the loss of nationality rule (such as those married to a citizen/subject of that country).”
http://www.regierung.li/uploads/media/LIAP_37_Doppelte_Staatsb%C3%BCrgerschaft_01.pdf
http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_nationality_law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_nationality_law
http://www.aaro.org/about-aaro/6m-americans-abroad
http://www.overseas-exile.com/2012/03/more-americans-giving-up-citizenship.html
Concluding remarks: In 2010 the Federal Register reported 1,534 expatriations. 1,300 Americans naturalized in Eurostat EU27 countries that “do not tolerate” and “tolerate” (but do not necessarily allow) dual citizenship. Approx. 20% of Americans living abroad live in Europe, according to the aaro.org web site. Thanks to overseas-exile.com web site for the concept and Eurostat data link.
In Germany you have to renounce any existing (e.g. USA) citizenship. In my case, for example, having provided proof that I had renounced my U.S. citizenship by means of a letter from the consulate documenting this, I was able to become a naturalized German citizen. At the time of naturalization, I hadn’t yet received my CLN. My German citizenship was, however, contigent upon providing an official translation of the CLN (I think it was within 2 years time), which I did as soon as I received it.
The bit you quote about automatically losing the other citizenship when becoming German, is of course incorrect. (That would have been nice!). In fact, it’s the other way around, i.e. if a German citizen becomes a citizen of another nation they automatically lose their German citizenship.
@notamused – Germany does not require that you renounce your previous citizenship if you come from a country where you AUTOMATICALLY lose that citizenship upon naturalization in Germany. Otherwise you need paperwork. This is explained exactly in the brochure on “Einbürgerung”. Since the US is not one of those countries that kick you out automatically, you (and I) had to go through the rigamarole of getting the letter from the German authorities saying they’ll let you in as soon as you get your CLN, going to the US consulate to swear and pay 450 buckeroos, waiting for the CLN, getting an official translation and finally becoming naturalized as Germans. (Did you have any sort of naturalization ceremony? All that happened to me is that the Beamtin shook my hand when she handed me the certificate.)
Hi Sally. Re: naturalization from other countries, I know. All that citizens of some (most?) other countries have to do is hand over their passport when they go for naturalization. I remember reading an account of a woman from Morocco who did just that. Wouldn’t it have been nice if that was all we had to do!
Re: the naturalization ceremony. It was quite pleasant, but not overly formal in that sense. We (the Beamtin, my German wife and myself) were in a special room for the ceremony, and it lasted only about 20 minutes in which she explained various details and presented me with my certificate (Einbürgerungsurkunde). I’m very grateful to have become a citizen of a country which, by and large, treats their law-abiding citizens with fairness and respect.
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From yesterday’s Boston Globe: “Former Bermuda leader with ties to Lahey was educated in US”
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/02/15/former-bermuda-leader-with-ties-lahey-was-educated/wonAjqXH8PlWhCugHduZLL/story.html
He’s in the Q3 1998 list. IRS continues to have a near-perfect track record before 2006.
https://www.federalregister.gov/doacuments/1998/10/22/98-28284/quarterly-publication-of-individuals-who-have-chosen-to-expatriate-as-required-by-section-6039g
Same list as Lithuanian ex-president Valdas Adamkus, Communist Party USA leader Earl Browder’s grandson Bill Browder, Korea Electric Power Company ex-chairman Jang Young-sik, and Colombian ex-ambassador to the U.S. Luis Alberto Moreno. Oh yeah, and South Korean farmer Choi Yongtak:
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2014/03/03/who-renounces-u-s-citizenship-south-korean-apple-farmers/
One of the candidates for Chief Executive of Hong Kong, John Tsang Chun-wah, renounced US citizenship in 1999. I didn’t even know until now that he’d been a US citizen. His wife and kids are still holding onto their US citizenships.
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20170317/19961025
He’s in the Q1 1999 list with his last name misspelled as “Tsand”
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1999-04-22/pdf/99-10022.pdf
Lots of screw-ups in that list; it was supposed to be in alphabetical order but the first entry in the list is someone whose surname starts with “G”, and then they misspelled the name of a Filipino politician Alan Peter Cayetano as “Alaln”. On the other hand, at least it appears to be complete, unlike more recent lists
A pre-2006 renunciant who’s not in the list? BOK Song-hae said in an interview earlier this week that he renounced US citizenship in 1999 when he was appointed head of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology.
http://www.wowtv.co.kr/newscenter/news/view.asp?bcode=T30001000&artid=A201704050407
FWIW, none of the news reports I can find from back in 1999 mentioned his citizenship.
http://news.naver.com/main/search/search.nhn?refresh=&so=datetime.dsc&stPhoto=&stPaper=&stRelease=&ie=MS949&detail=0&rcsection=&query=%BA%B9%BC%BA%C7%D8&sm=all.basic&pd=4&startDate=1999-01-01&endDate=1999-12-31