Renunciation Questions Thread
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.
Renunciation Spin-Off Conversations. Conversations that spin off from questions asked on the main Renunciation Questions thread are moved to this one.
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.
Even though I had indicated I would not be giving a statement re reasons for renouncing, I was nonetheless asked why. Thanks to Brock I was prepared for this, and had already written down something to say, which the consul madly typed while I was reading out my blurb.
And, although this was not asked of me, someone did say they were asked “Why now?”. So I was prepared for that one as well. (“Well, I only recently found out one can renounce”).
And, as others have said, for good measure don’t mention the T-word.
I renounced nearly a year ago and was not asked for a reason but was prepared to say that after over 45 years in Canada, I did not have ties to US, and wanted to simplify my life. I would not have mentioned taxes. They know why people take this step and there are only a few reasons. I was treated with respect.
I’ve read through all of the comments, but have a few questions. I’m filling out my forms and am going to send email request for appointment in Canada soon.
Do you have to choose the closest consulate or embassy to renounce? Forms are vague on this. I live in Toronto, but would like to renounce in Montreal to get an earlier appointment time based on posts I’ve read here. Yet, I read here (not on this thread) about someone who did the same thing and was told in Montreal that she couldn’t renounce there because it wasn’t closest to her address (Toronto was) and she would need to make an appointment in Toronto. This was a few years ago.
If I put Toronto in email as first choice and it’s too far off, can I “try again” for Montreal? Not sure how process works after submission.
They ask for forms to be filled out completely. I know not to sign/date etc., but should I fill in consulate location as well?
Also, anyone know the current wait times for Toronto or Montreal? I can’t find anything current.
Thanks for all of the help. This is an invaluable resource!
When re renounced, a few years ago, the appointments people sent a letter asking a few basic questions and ending with ‘ please provide your top 2 choices ( in order) for where you want to renounce” one choice was ‘anywhere in Canada’
There was no requirement to go to the nearest.
Without wait times, there is no easy way to pick among Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City or Ottawa. I would add a comment at the bottom of the list of choices to say earliest between TO and MTL.
You can’t yet fill in the consulate location.
Re: “Anyone know the current wait times for Toronto or Montreal? I can’t find anything current.”
The last info I have is from six months ago, at which time Montréal was 4-5 months and Toronto was 11-12 months. Wait times have changed wildly, back and forth in length at different locations, since we started tracking. In general, Toronto has been consistently longer than Montréal, but don’t know about right now specifically
Until recently, they included a list of wait times in the renunciation info package. They don’t seem to be doing that currently. But maybe you could find out if you write them. I see on their website, “Should you have any questions please send an e-mail to CanadaCLNAppointments@state.gov. List your name, telephone number and the best time for you to be reached by phone and a representative will contact you accordingly.”
Re: Portland wrote: “When re renounced, a few years ago, the appointments people sent a letter asking a few basic questions and ending with ‘ please provide your top 2 choices ( in order) for where you want to renounce” one choice was ‘anywhere in Canada’”
I think they’ve discontinued the option to make a second choice, as in the renunciation info packages I’ve received from the booking system recently, they’re just listing the 7 embassy/consulate locations and “first available location” as choices.
Mark, As far as I know, if you have problems after submission, you send a follow up email to the same email address.
We had an interesting experience. Asked for an appointment in Vancouver in September. By December hadn’t heard a peep. Were contemplating Stockholm because we would be there on a cruise the following spring.
Finally wrote a nasty letter to Washington with an email copy to the renunciation folks.
They telephoned the same day to ask if we had not received our appointment for early February. (We had not). Even though they had our correct email address, something had gone wrong. It all worked out. Total delay was 21 weeks
Thanks for the insight!
By the way, I found a fairly current post about wait times. I’ve copied it below…
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/consulate2/comment-page-60/#comments
Stephen Kish
“A friend of mine is trying to obtain an appointment at a U.S. Consulate in Canada in order to renounce U.S. citizenship.
Here are the current average wait times for appointment he received yesterday (July 9. 2019):
Ottawa – 6 to 7 months
Calgary – 3 to 4 months
Halifax – 6 to 7 months
Montreal – 5 to 6 months
Quebec City – 4 to 5 months
Toronto – 11 to 12 months (!)
Vancouver – 3 to 4 months”
@Mark
If you don’t want to wait that long, you can renounce sooner outside Canada. Some here have gone to Mexico, Iceland, London, Amsterdam, Luxembourg etc . Perhaps you could combine it with a business trip or ‘renunciation tourism’ ?! Email each embassy for information .
Hmmm. “Renunciation tourism”. Maybe that would be a good sideline for some of the bricks and mortar travel agencies which I have read are facing an existential threat from the many online travel sites.
@ Heidi
Renunciation tourism … thanks for the term. I just used it in a comment section below an article about US birth tourism which Trump wants to end. Hope you don’t mind.
@Maz57 and EmBee
‘Renunciation tourism’
Not sure if it is my term, I have been here so long I may have picked it up somewhere! LOL
If I only had time! However, a nice trip to Montreal to cut the wait in half is doable and enjoyable.
I haven’t heard back from the State Dept. yet about renouncing in a city that isn’t closest to where I live. I just wanted confirmation that it’s ok from them, as I read somewhere here about someone who went to renounce in Montreal and was told that they needed to rebook in the city closest to where they lived in Canada. This was a few years ago, but I was wondering if anyone had heard of such an experience or had a personal experience to the contrary recently?
Mark. All appointments for all the consulates are done from one office in Vancouver. They are not made by the individual consulates. If they give you an appointment in Montreal or wherever, it will be honoured.
If you want very fast you could consider Iceland. When I renounced you could pick any Wednesday that you wanted. All staff very friendly. Non-stop flights from Canada.
FYI- I got a response from State Dept. and they included current wait times for Toronto and Montreal (initial email had stated that wait times wouldn’t be provided)!
“Thank you for you inquiry. Please be advised that you may schedule an appointment anywhere in Canada. Sure to complete the section on the questionnaire that asks for your first and second (optional) choice for a location in Canada. The current wait time for Toronto is 11 to 12 months and 5 to 6 months for Montreal. Please note that these are subject to change and merely reflect the wait times at the time this email was sent.”