Renunciation and Relinquishment of United States Citizenship: Discussion thread (Ask your questions) Part Two
Ask your questions about Renunciation and Relinquishment of United States Citizenship and Certificates of Loss of Nationality.
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NB: This discussion is a continuation of an older discussion that became too large for our software to handle well. See Renunciation and Relinquishment of United States Citizenship: Discussion thread (Ask your questions) Part One
Duchesse. Might I suggest you review your thoughts expressed starting Aug. 14 or thereabouts on the Grief and unsuspecting US person thread.
@Portland and Heidi
I bow to your better understanding
Thanks
@ Portland: I’m reluctant to lay out some personal details here (and also grateful for the advice). I am indeed learning toward renouncing, but there are some issues to resolve. Your perspective is particularly important to me and I have re-read your comments many times.
I’m still very stressed, too, but at least I have much better information.
@nevada and friends – i figure that my balance in social security is tens of thousands of dollars that the US government will steal from me with the “R”, so really they owe me. My plan is to credit them that money as the fee, but its pretty cheekey to steal the money and then ask for more. I will write them a note of credit from my social security account to cover their fees.
Duchesse, if you wish to communicate further , the admins can give you my private email.
@Duchese….no matter what path you take……as long as you have read lots of personal stories….and then hit your own pause button for a spell…………..the stress will indeed go down.
There is no right decision and there is no wrong decision…..there is only your decision.
At Brock we have proud ex-pats, proud dual nats, proud renouncers, proud undocumented relinquishers, proud self documented relinquishers, proud CLN relinquishers who exited cleanly, proud CLN relinquishers who did not exit cleanly. You know what? Most of them made the right decision for themselves and their families.
Sleep well………..
Oh, stay away from the bottle and the pills……if you are so inclined.
@ PortlandPLC: I will do that. Was wondering how.
@ George: Thank you; that peace will come but it will be hard-won as I see from others’ stories. I have intermittently taken some medication, which has helped me to see the top of the trough, but I am also very careful as have seen it take down persons dear to me.
@George Well said! And thank you for the reminder 🙂
@ PortlandPLC: How do I reach the admins, please? Have been searching the site to no avail.
Re investments outside a RRSP: Another option is US ETFs (exchange traded funds). ETFs are like mutual funds, thus giving you the benefit of diversification. US ETFs, which trade on US exchanges, are not considered PFICs and are thus not toxic. As they trade on US exchanges they are readily accessible to anyone with a trading account (i.e., anyone who wants to, can do this). You can find approximate US mirror images of a number of Canadian ETFs (including Canadian equity ETFs, e.g., iShares MSCI Canada ETF (EWC)). Additionally, the MERs (fees) of US ETFs are typically lower than their Canadian counterparts. The downsides are that they trade in US dollars and thus there will usually be a currency conversion fee involved, and you may not always find a US counterpart for a particular Canadian ETF.
So, if you’re saddled with US citizenship, not trying to fly under the radar, and need to invest in something other than GICs, US ETFs are worth considering.
Admins, would you kindly give this email to Duchesse?
Been waiting 7 months for CLN. Told would be around 4. Nothing received yet. Should I contact the consulate and ask for an update? or would you wait a bit longer? I remember a while back there was a post with phone numbers in Washington to call. Can’t find them now, does anyone know?
Thank you.
I was told last week, at the Calgary US Consulate, to expect a wait of 7 – 10 months. Hope you get word soon. I think I won’t panic unless I don’t see it after a year.
@ Canadian eh!
Did you see Pacifica’s reply to you yesterday?
http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/consulate2/comment-page-44/#comment-6667610
And the waiting begins….. I made an appointment via the internet with the US Consulate in Calgary for “notarial services” on September 11/15 I received confirmation of my appointment on September 15, with the cautionary note that this appointment was not to be used for relinquishment/renunciation purposes. I responded to that email immediately and asked for the first available appointment for relinquishment purposes. I received an email requesting that I complete and email the appropriate form and checklist back to them and that I would then receive an appointment date. I completed that task on September 16 via fax. I received an email on September 18, offering me an appointment for relinquishment purposes on September 28. When I emailed to make the initial request for an appointment re: relinquishment I did stress the fact that 1) the closest US Consulate is a 9 hour drive from my home; 2) I am retired and my husband is on medical disability and 3) that it was my understanding that there would soon be a charge for relinquishment and that would cause considerable financial hardship for our family. I thanked them in advance for making any efforts to get me an appointment before the charge came into effect. I don’t know if that had any effect, or if I was just very lucky and got a last minute cancellation spot.
When I attended the appointment, I was not asked ANY questions about “why” or “why now”. I did point out to them that I just wanted to formalize my relinquishment which I felt I had already done in 1974 when I became a Canadian citizen. They had me sign a declaration that I understood the seriousness of what I was doing and a couple other form letters, and sent me out the door, telling me that there would be a 7 – 10 month wait.
Whatever you do, make sure you have the ExpressPost envelope with you and that you give it to them! That envelope is apparently the equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket. And they are very serious about security….and I thought security at airports was bad!! That’s nothing compared to security at the US Consulate in Calgary.
@ SEE
So glad to hear you were lucky enough to get an appointment prior to the fee change. It does sound like you might have got a cancelled appointment but wouldn’t it be nice if it’s because they decided to step up their services. Hopefully it all bodes well for a speedy CLN. Good advice about the ExpressPost envelope. I made sure my husband arrived there with one. His CLN took 4 months to arrive, back in 2014. BTW, do have any idea how many others were there that day seeking their CLNs? There were 9 others when my husband had his appointment.
@EmBee
No idea how many others were seeking relinquishment. At my 1 p.m. appointment time, there were 8 other people in that time slot. I was the only relinquishment. The others were there for passports, visas and one gentleman who was working his way through renunciation (it was not going well). I felt bad for him — he was well into his 70’s and the whole thing appeared to be exhausting him.
@ SEE
Well, I was just wondering. That poor man. I understand how he was feeling. Just waiting down below in the hallway for my husband to return was exhausting for me.
For those possibly interested in information on the European front… I had my appointment for relinquishment at the end of April 2015 in Frankfurt, Germany and received my CLN last week, October 1st, 2015. Just over a 5 month wait… Both of my dual born daughters decided to take the plunge with me and renounced at the same appointment, but they haven´t heard anything yet. We were told that Frankfurt had generally been experiencing waiting times of 2-4 months for CLNs to arrive back after the appts., but I figured the summer months/vacation time might end up slowing things down a bit… We would have never gotten through this without all of you guys so a heartfelt thank you to everyone contributing at IBS. This girl´s made it! ;D
@3Muskateers, congrats to all of you.
@ 3Muskateers
Glad to hear you made it. Hopefully your girls will soon follow. Heartfelt congrats to you! Mind if I ask you how many were relinquishing with you that day at the consulate in Frankfurt? I know sometimes it’s hard to tell who is there for what purpose.
@Medea – Thanks! It´s a relief, but I still feel terrible for all of us having to even have to do this.
@Embee – There was absolute no one else at the consulate, just security. We had our appt. at 1 pm and there was no one to be seen anywhere – as if all had left for the day.
@3Muskateers
Congratulations (times 3) and do let us know how long it takes to get your/your daughter’s names onto the Name-and-Shame list.
Thank you everyone for your replies regarding CLN wait time. Thank you also to pacifica777 for the phone number in Washington. I may wait another month and see. It sure is nerve wracking.
@SEE Congratulations! I relinquished at Calgary this year and found them to be very kind and helpful there. I would like to think that there is some humanity in the people who are working in that system, and that hopefully your plea for consideration did not fall on deaf ears and they brought you to the front of the line. Take a deep breath. It seems your journey with this may be almost over.