Letter of a Canadian businessman to his dual US/Canada citizen son on the occasion of his high school graduation renounceuscitizenship.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/let…
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) March 2, 2013
I just remembered a recent conversation with a U.S. based immigration attorney and thought I would post about it.
Last month I was talking to a U.S. based immigration lawyer. He confirmed that there was a huge increase in inquiries regarding expatriation. He told me that although he understood why people were renouncing (but like any homelander) he thought it was short sighted. Why? Interestingly he said that one consideration in the renunciation decision was that:
Once you cease to be a U.S. citizen you lose the ability to automatically pass on U.S. citizenship to your future children.
He was arguing that this was a reason to retain U.S. citizenship!
Family Planning For U.S. Citizens Abroad Who Can Pass U.S. Citizenship To Their Offspring:
Some U.S. citizens abroad are capable of passing U.S. citizenship to their offspring. Read the rules here.
Althought these decisions are based on your life circumstances, it may make sense to relinquish U.S. citizenship before having children so that your children are not born with the disabilty of U.S. citizenship. As the letter from the Canadian businessman to his U.S. citizen son implies, restrictions on U.S. citizenship abroad are simply to great.
Taxes are often a minor consideration for those renouncing US citizenship isaacbrocksociety.ca/2013/02/22/blo… -It’s the life restrictions stupid!
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) February 26, 2013
Family Planning For Green Card Holders Resident in the U.S. Who Are Thinking Of Having Children:
Consider having them born outside the United States.
It’s funny that in Homelander school we are taught that the 14th amendment (Everyone born in the U.S. is a citizen) was used as part of ending slavery. We can now see that the 14th amendment is being used to create slavery! Also the U.S. defintion of equality is that:
The law in its majesty prohibits both the rich and the poor from sleeping on the park bench.
@badger
Oh, you mean a REAL mock trial! 🙂
I suppose its more theatrics than making a legally sound case, is it? That could be relatively easy, you just need a script and some actors.
@bubblebustin;
I was also thinking about ‘moot courts’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moot_court ” …The modern activity differs from a mock trial, as moot court usually refers to a simulated appellate court or arbitral case, while a mock trial usually refers to a simulated jury trial or bench trial. Moot court does not involve actual testimony by witnesses or the presentation of evidence, but is focused solely on the application of the law to a common set of evidentiary assumptions to which the competitors must be introduced. In most countries, the phrase “a moot court” may be shortened to simply “a moot” and the activity may be called “mooting”……”
Well, would there be the possibility of a debating society or law students who might assist in making it more ‘realistic’? It is an interesting legal/academic problem to consider.
Problem with staging a more realistic mock suit, trial or court in this case, is that it would require such specialty skill and knowledge, and associated costs, that it would not be attainable. And would require the interest in, and participation by people with the requisite knowledge.
Otherwise, we’d have to stick with the more ‘street theatre’ type of mock trial. If we got to the stage of a FATCA IGA here in Canada, staging an mock trial might also lend interest to what otherwise would be seen by the public as too arcane to notice (i.e. a treaty and civil rights and /or constitutional issues).
Just throwing the idea out there…..
@badger
It’s an interesting idea, especially if through theatrics we could manage to convey the real-life damage these policies are causing people and their families. Perhaps Allison Christians would lend a hand with all her legal experience and knowledge.
I still think that a good consular protest with protesters wear bags over their heads to protect their identities from the USG would go a long way to bring our plight to the public eye. Bring your kids, bring the handicapped, the old and infirm. Is it exploitation when no one can be identified?