Consulate Report Directory (Brockers Describe their Consulate Meetings) and CLN Delivery Time Chart Part 2
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Wonder what really happens at the consulates? Find out in the Isaac Brock Society’s Consulate Report Directory, currently 279 pages of first-hand accounts of renunciation/relinquishment appointments, arranged by consulate location, along with further information and links to the required Dept of State forms and the Dept of State manuals used by the consulates in processing CLN applications, with an appendix containing a timeline chart (booking-meeting-CLN) as reported by consulate location.
The Directory is updated as consulate visit stories are posted on the website.
You can post here or elsewhere on the site (we’ll keep an eye out for them). Some comments may be excerpted or condensed slightly in the consulate reports. The original posts and comments remain on their threads are not edited.
Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences…and keep ’em coming! It’s a new experience for everyone and your information is really helpful.
To change or delete your report in the Directory, you can post the change as a comment on this thread or e-mail Pacifica@isaacbrocksociety.ca
Click here for the Consulate Report Directory
Notes:
Consulates are listed alphabetically by country and the Directory’s table of contents links to each section (they don’t look like links, but they are.)
This thread is a continuation of Consulate Report Directory Part 1, which contains earlier discussion on this topic, 929 comments from its inception in March 2012 through February 2013.
To Book an Appointment and/or Request Information from your Local Consulate:
This post by Eric, Almost No US Citizenship Renunciation Appointments Left During 2016 in Dublin, contains a chart of links to the consulates’ website pages on renunciation/relinquishment, for info on booking appointments and/or requesting information at your location. (The title highlights Dublin, but the charts, article and discussion cover consulates around the world.)
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@Heidi
Yes- sometimes people forget that they can chose where they want to renounce. Judging by a 4 hour drive to Frankfurt- depending on location, maybe Bern or Amsterdam might have been closer.
@Polly
…..Or Prague or Luxembourg, all great places to visit 🙂 and the embassies are less busy than London, Paris or Frankfurt.
@Polly
At the time, I was under the impression that you could only go to a consulate or embassy in the country in which you are a resident. I don’t remember exactly where I read this, but it was not here (some official page govt. page).
About a month before I applied for an appointment, they changed the central location handling R&R from Munich to Frankfurt.A shame because Munich was much closer. This, BTW, was the excuse they gave for why I couldn’t get an appointment before the $2350 came in to play for relinquishments.
If I had known then, what I know now, I would have gone to Prague, CZ.
I think it’s important for anyone doing this in the future to know they can go somewhere else and should really consider the history of the consulate in question over the convenience.
@UnforgivenToo
I believe Krackerjack flew from Canada to Tijuana and escaped the 2,350 fee by a matter of days. It’s important to check with the embassy first as some are refusing to take out of towners. I may be wrong, but I believe Edinburgh is only taking Scottish residents
Auckland refused to give me an appointment on the basis that I had no connection to New Zealand. I ended up in Sydney – and the wait wasn’t long at all. The staff in Sydney were pleasant and professional – no complaints there.
Adding to the list: Bermuda and Barbados told me that they serve only “local” residents (see also Eric’s post). Bahamas answered my emailed questions, would accept a non-local, and seemed friendly but no appointments could be made until October. The central US consulate renunciation office for Canada refused, as expected, to answer my single emailed question.
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2016/04/07/almost-no-u-s-citizenship-renunciation-appointments-left-during-2016-in-dublin/
@Stephen, re;
“The central US consulate renunciation office for Canada refused, as expected, to answer my single emailed question. ”
Considering that according to the US government and State Dept. you were still a US citizen at that point (you know, part of that ‘community’ that CBT enthusiasts like Kirsch cling to as their rationalization for extraterritorially taxing anyone born in the US but who doesn’t live there or have any meaningful economic connection) one would think that you were entitled to some ‘service’ and ‘benefit’ after all those years of faithful compliance. And now that they’re tapping into their new gold mine of expat renunciation AND relinquishment fees of 2360. USD per person, one might also expect them to have improved their ‘service’ to those ‘abroad’.
Since the US defends its extraterritorial life control by touting the ‘benefits’ of US citizenship, and imposes a punitive administrative burden, and confiscatory exit tax regime and is now making substantial money from expatriation fees ( http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2016/02/05/13-million-in-renunciation-fees-last-year-they-cant-even-compile-simple-list-of-our-names/ ) , this codifies its treatment of US citizenship as a commodity that one has to pay to retain, and also pay to be rid of – which treats those it claims as citizens as if they were merely consumers and taxpayers – taxable/penalizablepersonunits.
If so, then as a ‘consumer’ and taxpayer, one would think that an answer to a simple email question, in a timely manner would not be too much to ask. And then there is the duty of care the US State dept owes to US citizens. And to uphold the legal right of US citizens to renounce, and to at least give lip service to the international right to choose one’s citizenship and to award citizenship allegiance where one chooses without coercion or obstacles.
But one would be wrong to expect any adherence to any of these standards – even the ones the US itself professes – because this is the USA we’re dealing with ……..
Admins, I shouldn’t clog up this thread, so please delete this and my just previous comment at
September 12, 2016 at 12:23 am .
Thanks!
I am delighted to be posting this for someone who wishes to remain anonymous…..
I have an update you are free to share if you would like anonymously. I received my CLN in the mail in about 30 days from my appointment at the Vancouver consulate. The entire process was quick compared to the horror stories I heard about people waiting months for an appointment and then waiting almost a year to receive their CLN’s. From the day I emailed the email address for Canadian renouncers to the day I got into the consulate to renounce was three months. Then as I mentioned, I got my CLN in the mail one month later. Just have to file last taxes in January and I am done.
@UnforgivenToo
Your story makes my day! Because you knew what you were entitled to and you stood up to them. This makes it all worthwhile..
That said, the treatment you received (certainly not service) is I believe, the worst I have ever heard. There is simply no excuse for that kind of unpleasantness, haphazard relay of information etc. I am particularly horrified to hear of the “The Germans never do that…” We have heard for some time now, that the Germans are reasonable and are far more flexible than the Americans, allowing some to do as you have described and even something about being sensitive to the horrendous fee. This speaks so strongly to how poorly the United States treats its own people.
Hope you will continue to feel how much better life is once this nonsense has been dealt with/dumped. Thank you for telling us of your experience and Congratulations!
@Patricia Moon
I knew because of people like you. The information was extremely hard to graze off any official sites and even then, only with the information from here on what to look for.
When I first applied, my case officer mentioned that there was a hardship rule where they could give the citizenship immediately to avoid the fee, but I probably wouldn’t qualify (too much income). When the application came in, I got the hardship. My case officer said it was because the government had decided to give ALL Americans regardless of income the hardship exception. That was August-October 2015. Unfortunately, the ROS has closed that door. When I, checked in in November to inform her of my appointment, she said she just got back from a seminar about processing citizenship applications from Americans and (apparently) because there is no more difference between the fees, they have gone back to the old rule that you only qualify when the fee is as least 2/3 of one months pre-tax income or other extreme conditions.
DOS
I need to add that even with the exception and immediate citizenship, you still have to sign off on the condition that you will apply for a CLN. You are supposed to do so and turn in the CLN within two months or suffer a €200 penalty, however they do know that it doesn’t work that fast with the US, so, in my case, they unofficially let it go on the provisoin I try my best and would like to see a CLN within a year.
If you don’t apply, eventually they will take back your German citizenship.
I have no idea what happens if the US denies your application, I wasn’t going to ask, however, I got the feeling they know the difference between relinquishment and renunciation (unlike some US consular personell) and, depending upon the case officer, could/would treat a denied relinquishment as not trying hard enough, when renunciation costs the same and is a sure thing.
I took a bit of a gamble with sticking with the relinquishment, but I wanted what was my human. It sure didn’t make the wait any lighter, with all the worry about whether they might try to deny it on some (made-up?) technicality. They definitely tried to leave the impression they were going to do their best to find something.
Update – When we renounced in June, we were told it would take 6-8 weeks to receive our CLNs. 13 weeks later, we hadn’t heard anything, so I emailed the consulate. It took them a week to reply. Apparently they have my CLN at the consulate, but the other two (husband and daughter) have not yet arrived. I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t all be together. They asked whether I wanted them to mail mine immediately, or wait until they could mail all three. I told them they could mail them together; I’m hoping they’ll all be waiting for me when I return from my holiday (leaving tomorrow for a non-US destination). (original report: http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/consulate2/comment-page-49/#comment-7600903)
@Unforgiven Too, congrats on getting your CLN and for standing your ground.
This is the first chance I had to post this weekend and I think this is the appropriate thread for this. I renounced on August 17th in London. One has to pay for a DX delivery service in London for the CLN. I was told when I had my appointment that it would be up to 6 months (or considerable shorter) wait to receive my CLN. However at the embassy, I was told they were processing them a bit quicker now.
When you apply for the DX courier service, you put your mobile number to be notified a day in advance. On Friday (September 23rd), i noticed a text message from DX when i left my office basically saying “DX has scheduled your US Embassy item for delivery by the arranged time on 26th of September 2016.”
Is it really true that my CLN is coming? That’s so quick, It is just shy of 6 weeks? I even double checked the year in case it said 2017 but it clearly says 2016 tomorrow’s date. What else could it be though or could it be some glitch or maybe one last chance for the USG to toy with me by sending a false alert. Also no notification from the embassy that my renunciation was even accepted, just this text message.
Hope I don’t wind up receiving the wrong CLN. I will update tomorrow.
They are so cheap. $US 2350. to renounce and they can’t even pay for delvery! Amazon and EBay do better.
@UK Rose, I renounced in London in Sept 2015, and that’s exactly the text message I got (7 months later though!)
The embassy doesn’t send you any indication of acceptance. I’d guess that it is indeed your CLN!
@UK Rose, yes they can come that quickly and give you a pleasant surprise. I got mine here in Switzerland in the same timescale back in 2013. Quickest that’s been reported is a month iirc.
No, no notification that the renunciation is accepted because they can’t really refuse them. Unlike a relinquishment a renunciation is immediate unless the embassy/consulate has some reason to believe you’re either being coerced into renouncing or are mentally incapable of understanding what you’re doing. Although the documents go to the State Department for final approval it’s just a formality.
Good thing I didn’t need a courier service – no mobile! It’s getting a bit silly requiring it these days. A recent booking I did online needed a mobile number so I used my husband’s. But if you don’t have one you can’t make an online booking and would have to call them – crazy!
@Charmaine & @Medea Fleecestealer
Thank you for the words of reassurance, I have dealt with so much unpleasantness in association with US citizenship this year that it’s hard not to expect more unpleasantness but you both put my mind at rest. Thank you so much that. I paid for a timed early delivery so will know soon enough.
@Charmaine, wow 7 months, you must have been overjoyed when the CLN finally came.
I haven’t read the recent posts in this thread but congratulations to anyone who renounced and/or recently received a CLN and of course a huge thanks for this wonderful website and the people here who put so much effort into helping people and putting the information out there.
Will update tomorrow or sometime this week.
@UK Rose, yes, it was a massive relief to finally get my CLN. I remember I had a delivery time of 8am-6pm and of course, DX didn’t appear until 5:50pm!
I feel even better now that I’ve filed my final tax return!
@DoD, it does seem petty that delivery isn’t included in the massive fee that’s being charged but this is how the London embassy has been dealing with the public for a while now – all applications and documents to and from the embassy have to be sent via DX.
Update on my renunciation in Reykjavik Iceland:
I renounced at the U.S. Embassy on August 26, 2016.
This morning (September 26, 2016) the Embassy emailed me, asked if my mailing address was correct, and told me that my loss of citizenship papers would be sent by registered mail today.
Wow, that was quick. We’re still waiting… renounced 16 June in Sydney.
Update:
Yes my CLN arrived this morning, I paid for a by 10am time slot and it arrived at 9:59am. So very happy and relieved.
I think it’s true that in some places, they are processing them quicker.
Applied for renunciation in London in July 2016, got my appointment on August 17th 2016. Now the CLN arrived 5 weeks and 5 days later on September 26th, backdated to August 17th.
I have no complaints about the London embassy, the people were very kind, understanding, no questions were asked and the whole thing felt rather informal if truth be told.
We are actually going away end of this week so all this couldn’t have happened at a better time.
Thank you again Brockers for providing this wonderful website because without this website, the whole thing would have been much more stressful for me.