Renunciation and Relinquishment Questions – Part 2 of 2
This is a continuation of Renunciation and Relinquishment Questions – Part 1 of 2
Ask your questions about Renunciation here.
This thread will be focused closely on renunciation questions and answers. If the conversation starts to ramble, those comments will be moved to another thread.
Sub-topics (more will be added as they occur):
Farrell v. Tillerson. Plaintiff is contesting Bern Embassy’s rejection of his CLN application due to his not having appeared in person at the embassy and his having been issued a passport after the relinquishing act.
Previous Renunciation Threads:
Renunciation and Relinquishment of United States Citizenship: Discussion thread (Ask your questions)
These above two lines are not showing as links on my screen, but they do work as links.
Hi again. Does anyone have any knowledge of how long it might take to get a renunciation appointment? I sent my paperwork in on July 11, and have heard absolutely nothing since in response. Should I follow up with another email? Sigh.
They won’t offer you an appointment until it’s fairly close to the date. I think I waited about 12 months from application to receiving notice of the appointment, which was about 2 months later.
If you write in and ask them to confirm that the application was received, they’ll respond quite promptly.
@ Hannah,
Your wait may be less than a year (or more), depending on which location you’ll be attending, as times have picked up somewhat at some locations during the past year.
Last info I’ve got, from earlier this Summer, Toronto was over a year (as long as a year-and-a-half); but Calgary, Montréal and Vancouver were around 8-10 months; and Ottawa in between.
I haven’t heard anything about Québec City in the past year. They don’t seem to do a lot of renunciations there. Dunno if their wait times are quicker – they get fewer applications, but I’ve no clue how many appointment slots they allot per week.
If anyone has wait times to share, please do! Wait times change and our data is crowd-sourced, not official; so the more info we get, the more accurate we can be. (Info on Halifax would be especially appreciated, as I don’t have any recent info for there.) Thanks!
Thanks Pacifica777! I’ll look forward to hearing from others’ experiences.
Oh thanks @Ron Henderson. Sorry, I hadn’t noticed your earlier response. It’s good to know that someone might be able to confirm for me that the application has been received. (You would think they would do that anyway! Sheesh.) I’ve send off a request. Will see what happens.
H
FYI … Here’s what I received in response to my enquiry… Not very helpful.
Thank you for your inquiry. The health and safety of those who work at, and visit, the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulates in Canada is our highest priority. In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, and in line with the Government of Canada’s call to increase social distancing, the CLN Processing Center is currently working on our backlog of requests for this service.
Please be advised that most appointments through the end of 2020 were canceled and had to be rescheduled in 2021. Canceled appointments will be rescheduled prior to scheduling new appointments from the current queue as we resume with this service. Rest assured that your place in the queue remains unchanged.
It will take several months to recover from the backlog, and therefore too soon to predict new wait times.
We regret any inconvenience caused by the suspension of this service and your support for our efforts to safeguard U.S. facilities and prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in Canada.
Thank you again for your email and your continued patience.
Regards,
Canada CLN Processing Center
They won’t predict wait times, but they will confirm that your application arrived safely, and that you are in the queue. That’s the important thing.
So, asking for a friend (really!). This person has just realized that he is likely to receive a sizeable 6-figure inheritance from an elderly brother living in the USA. This US born person has lived in Canada since the early 1970s, and like many, has zero documentation of having quit the USA, and never had anything to do with the USA’s tax system since leaving. Even the Social Security Administration had no records of him. But now the named executor of the estate (another sibling, always living in the USA) has asked the “Canadian” sibling how to distribute the funds to him when the time comes. Will there be withholding? Can this person just open a USD bank account in Canada and just deposit a cheque into it? What are the US tax implications of this? Any help is welcome.
Yes, the Canadian sibling became a Canadian citizen in the 1990s, but has never done anything regarding US citizenship.
This friend should might want to consult a lawyer, given the sums involved.
As I understand it, once the estate is settled, the beneficiary would owe no US tax (any taxes owed would be paid by the estate prior to distribution). So yes, open a USD account in Canada and transfer the money. It would be more complicated if the inheritance included in situ US assets. But if it’s cash, simple enough.
Presumably the friend has no interest taking up US tax compliance. If so, shouldn’t be a problem to continue (not) what they’ve (not) been doing.
Except that not all lawyers give good advice. my understanding is the same. Any taxes owed are paid by the estate not the heirs. It should be possible to receive the inheritance without filing any tax information.
Point taken – I should have said “consult a good lawyer” whatever that means.
If it’s a cash payout, tell the executor to send the money, and that’s the end of it.
If it’s anything more complicated, like US stocks or owning half a house, that’s quite a different story.
I was in this position (but before FATCA). I consulted a chartered accountant with extensive US/Canadian expertise, who laid out various scenarios for bringing the money to Canada, or leaving all or part in the US in an investment account. It will depend on how the brother wants to use the inheritance.
The funds can wired to his bank; however, a six-figure credit to his account will trigger the Canadian bank’s money laundering alert, so the heir will have to communicate what this is. Given the source, his bank might ask whether he is a USC; he would then have a decision to make about declaring his US citizenship. He does not need a $US account to receive the bequest, but might want one to hold the $US and watch the exchange rates. (Since you refer to “bank account”, I assume the inheritance is cash.)
The Canadian brother will definitely need professional advice, not only regarding taking receipt of the funds but to continue to be under the radar as a USC.
Sadly, most if not all professional advice excludes staying under the radar.
You raise a good point though, bringing a six-figure US dollar cheque to a Canadian bank will likely trigger some interest in a person’s possible US-person status. Maybe it’s not a big deal – so there’s FATCA reporting, it doesn’t mean the lucky beneficiary will suddenly begin receiving hate mail from the IRS, which couldn’t do anything to him if it tried. Or they say “I relinquished when I became Canadian but I don’t have a CLN” and the bank accepts this explanation. Certainly something worth thinking through. (One could also peel off a few thousand from the inheritance and renounce.)
Do not deposit a US dollar cheque to a Canadian dollar account, as that will cost a bundle thanks to the bank’s crap exchange rates. Keep it as US dollars and move it as needed with a currency exchange service like Wise, or a forex broker if it’s a large single transaction.
Leaving the money in the US may also be an option, but for that one would definitely need some professional investment advice, and in this case US tax compliance would be highly recommended!
JadeUK asked on another thread (moved manually as move function isn’t working properly):
I’ve just ask another question on here about tax, and then I had a letter today when I got home from my bank asking about my citizenship (an account I’ve had for 20 years)!
I’m on the waiting list for London (no idea about how long it is) but does anyone know if there are other places with less wait? Or if there is any info online anywhere about waiting list lengths? Thanks so much! I’d like to just get this all out of the way and be done with it.
@ Jade,
Bird Person gave us a link to this chart of wait times.
Hope someone/s will reply to your question here too, though, as there are quite a few locations not on this chart yet. Note that some locations will only take people from their local area, but they should make that clear when you contact them.
@jadeuk, I am waiting too!! Am in the same boat. No communication at all other than the initial confirmation email. I’ll be following the responses to this question.
My friend recently did her renunciation (can’t remember where she went) and she said she got an email about 2 weeks ahead of time simply saying “your appointment is on xx date.” The lack of communication is so frustrating! You are expected to just drop everything and run to the appointment. I’m sure I’m not the only one for whom that will require travelling several thousand km to another province. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
Thanks Pacifica and Hannah. I might try Dublin too. I could get a ferry there if I had to.
Yeah all appointments are far from me and will require a lot of travel and possibly a hotel so such short notice isn’t good. So much cost already with just renouncing!
Hi, I am in New Zealand. Does anyone know anyone who has renounced from here? I’d love to have a chat. I have a small 501K in the US, but no other assets. I also worked there for almost ten years. I have been filing my taxes yearly since I left about six years ago – I’m pretty small fry and never have to pay anything. I did all the citizenship and green card paperwork myself and wondering how significant the risks are if I do the same again for this process? I may want to go back there to work (on a visa) and definitely to visit friends in the future. Not to live for any extended period though. I don’t want to muck it up!
Hi – my wife and I are Australian born and while living in the USA for just under 8 years, had two children that have US citizenship by birth and Australian citizenship by decent. The children are currently aged 16 and 19. I have just been made aware of the farcical tax laws that can impact people with dual citizenship. Neither of my children have an interest in living or working in the USA. Is it a no-brainer for them to go through the process to renounce their US citizenship to remove any tax issues in the future?
Many thanks.
It’s a no brainer. It is also expensive. US$ 2350 each. The state department has announced their intention to reduce the fee to 450 but if that ever happens pigs might fly.
The most important thing to remember is to never under any circumstances enter the US tax system.
In Canada, it is quite reasonable for teens to simply ignore the whole mess. We open accounts with a driver’s license. We are asked if we are citizens of the US but can answer however we wish to.
I’m not sure about opening accounts in OZ. Whether or not it’s worth the cost…………
Kiwi taxed. Renouncing is as easy as falling off a log. You can easily do it yourself. Then comes the more difficult part- deciding whether or not to bother with the final year’s tax filing nonsense.
We have learned over the last 12 years that , for small fry living ex the USA, the IRS has no interest and no power.
Kiwi taxed and 2_US_Children.
By the way, if you consult the average tax “expert “ , they will probably try to convince you that you need to be tax compliant before you can renounce. This is an untruth designed to separate you from your money. There is no requirement to file US taxes before renouncing and filing after is purely optional.
@2_US_children
First off, renunciation will be your children’s decision to make as adults (one is old enough to renounce, the other must wait until 18). You can advise, and offer to pay the renunciation fee if necessary.
Given that your kids are at zero risk of any IRS enforcement action, I would recommend that they wait and not make any hasty decisions. US passports can be useful things for graduate study, work assignments or internships, and so on. The advice I gave to my own child was to postpone any decisions until 30 or thereabouts (they were not born in the US so it’s easier for them to hide it). Also be aware that if they want to visit the US without having renounced, they are technically required to enter with a US passport and they may face awkward questions using an Australian passport with US birthplace.
How long they wait to make that decision may depend on how relaxed Australian banks are about tracking down potential US citizens. If, as in Canada, customers can open bank accounts using ID that does not show place of birth, your kids can easily avoid FATCA reporting by not disclosing their US citizenship. If they are identified, they can still safely ignore their US tax filing obligations. For now, be careful to say nothing about their dual citizenship to any banks you or they deal with.
If they do choose to renounce, there is no need to bother with any tax filing. It’s optional, and doesn’t really make sense for someone who’s never had financial ties to the US.
@2_US_Children,
Re renunciation and tax filing, here’s some background info with source links about renunciants and IRS. Although renunciants are supposed to file tax, it’s been pretty common for renunciants with no US financial ties and no history of US tax filing to choose not to file. To date (Brock started in 2011), no one in this situation who’s made the choice not to file has reported here that they’ve heard anything at all from IRS.