Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 30 days after the close of each calendar quarter, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register the name of each individual losing United States citizenship (within the meaning of section 877(a) or 877A) with respect to whom the Secretary receives information under the preceding sentence during such quarter.
— 26 USC § 6039G(d), second sentence
For the third time since Jack Lew took office in 2013, he’s managed to meet the 30-day deadline for his quarterly homework, but only by handing in an incomplete assignment. The latest Quarterly Publication of Individuals Who Have Chosen to Expatriate is now available in pre-print PDF form, but it’s just 14 pages long and has barely five hundred names in it. That makes it the second-shortest list during Lew’s term, beaten by only the Q2 2015 list. (Clearly Lew is a firm believer in Petros’ principle that less is better when it comes to complying with the U.S.’ “Internal” Revenue Code.)
Meanwhile, the Renounced United States Citizenship category in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS; note the new web address) went from 33,947 records as of 31 March to 36,028 as of 30 June, an increase of 2,081 records. (And NICS only covers 8 USC § 1481(a)(5) renunciants, not people relinquishing U.S. citizenship under other paragraphs of that same subsection.) Furthermore, based on the response to Shadow Raider’s latest Freedom of Information Act request with USCIS, it looks like about seven or eight thousand people are filing Form I-407 to give up their green cards each quarter. In other words, at least forty thousand people per year are deciding to cut their legal ties with the United States rather than retain or pursue citizenship.
Green card abandoners definitely not in list
The Federal Register list includes a very carefully-worded statement that “[f]or purposes of this listing, long-term residents, as defined in section 877(e)(2), are treated as if they were citizens of the United States who lost citizenship”. Certain inattentive journalists interpret to mean that the list actually includes people who gave up green cards which they’ve held in eight or more of the last fifteen years, but that’s clearly impossible.
The IRS complained more than 15 years ago that they couldn’t include ex-green card holders in the list because the files which the old Immigration and Naturalization Service gave them “do not distinguish former long-term residents from other former green card holders and generally do not include tax identification numbers”. That little inter-agency snafu has continued up to the present day: there’s still nowhere to write your SSN on I-407 even after the recent redesign, and USCIS explicitly stated last year (emphasis mine) that when you file I-407, “we will provide only your name and the filing date to the IRS”.
As always, after the jump please find a table of recent media reports naming individuals who have given up U.S. citizenship.
Media reports on individual ex-citizens
Here’s a table of people mentioned by name in media reports as having given up U.S. citizenship since the beginning of 2014. I’m no longer including 2013 and earlier reports in the table, since it seems safe to guess that relinquishers from that long ago not included in the Federal Register by now — e.g. René González or Donald Keene — will never appear. One public figure appearing in this quarter’s list, Rachel Azaria, renounced U.S. citizenship more than a year and a half ago, just before she took office in January 2015 as a Member of the Knesset in Israel. Three out of 11 relinquishers from 2014, and all relinquishers after around mid-2015, are missing from the Federal Register published expatriates list.
It’s not which missing names will appear at some future date, and which will remain missing. Some people who gave up U.S. citizenship much later than mid-2015 have already appeared in The List — for example, Sandra Leung Shuk-bo, who took office as Political Assistant to the Secretary for Innovation and Technology of Hong Kong in January, and whose name appeared in last quarter’s list. (It is not a legal requirement to renounce foreign citizenships in order to take a Political Assistant position in Hong Kong. However, there is a very strong public expectation that candidates will do so, ever since the government faced criticism back in 2008 over the large numbers of dual citizens nominated to such positions.)
| Name | Occupation | Other citizenship |
Giving up US citizenship | Appeared in Federal Register? |
Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reason | Date | |||||
| Lu Shu-hao | Military | Taiwan | Service in Republic of China Army | January 2014 or earlier | No | Taipei Times |
| Sandy Opravil | Housewife | Switzerland | Save her mortgage | February 2014 | Q3 2014 | Newsweek |
| Roger Ver | Bitcoin investor | St. Kitts & Nevis | Libertarian political opinions | February 2014 | No | Bloomberg |
| Sophia Martelly | Politician | Haiti | Run for Senate of Haiti | March 2014 | Q3 2015 | Haiti Press Network |
| Ya’aqov Ben-Yehudah | Writer | Israel | Complicated; see source | March 2014 | Q2 2014 | Times of Israel |
| Sean Cavanaugh | Technology | Canada | FATCA | April 2014 | Q1 2015 | Tweeted own CLN in August 2014 |
| Mona Quartey | Politician | Ghana | Become Deputy Finance Minister of Ghana | July 2014 | No | Graphic News (Ghana) |
| Alex Kim | Singer | South Korea | Obtain South Korean citizenship & serve in military | August 2014 | Q1 2016 | Herald Business (South Korea) |
| Nicole Beaudoin | Unknown | Canada | FATCA | September 2014 | Q3 2014 | La Presse (Canada) |
| Kim Sungkyum | Military | South Korea | Be commissioned an officer in the Republic of Korea Army | December 2014 | Q1 2015 | Kookbang Ilbo (South Korea) |
| Lin Jou-min | Architect | Taiwan | Take position in Taipei city government | December 2014 | Q3 2015 | Central News Agency (Taiwan) |
| Rachel Azaria | Politician | Israel | Take office as Member of Knesset | January 2015 | Q2 2016 | Times of Israel |
| Jonathan Tepper | Macroeconomic analyst | United Kingdom | FATCA & other U.S. tax reporting requirements | January 2015 | Q1 2016 | The New York Times |
| David Alward | Politician | Canada | Become Canadian consul-general in Boston | April 2015 or earlier | Q3 2015 | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
| Alfred Oko Vanderpuije | Politician | Ghana | Stand for election to Parliament | August 2015 | No | Starr FM (Ghana) |
| Philip Ryu | Singer | South Korea | Serve in South Korean army | September 2015 or earlier | No | Money Today (South Korea) |
| Rachel Heller | Writer | Netherlands | FATCA & other U.S. tax reporting requirements even when no U.S. tax is owed | November 2015 | No | Blog (will be included in TV news programme at a later date) |
| Kang Dong-suk | Violinist | South Korea | Restore South Korean citizenship | 2015 (month not specified) | No | News1 (South Korea) |
| Neil Llamanzares | Businessman | Philippines | Public opinion (his wife ran for President, but lost after he renounced) | April 2016 | No | Rappler (Philippines) |
| Lee Chih-kung | Physicist | Taiwan | Appointed Minister of Economic Affairs by President-elect Tsai Ing-wen | May 2016 | No | Apple Daily (Taiwan) |
| Ned Mannoun | Politician | Australia | Run for Australian parliament | May 2016 or earlier | No | Liverpool Champion (Australia) |
| Yehuda Glick | Politician | Israel | Take office as Member of Knesset | May 2016 | No | Arutz Sheva (Israel) |
| Judy Chan Ka-pui | Politician | Hong Kong | Run for Hong Kong Legislative Council | July 2016 | No | Apple Daily (Hong Kong) |
Kang Dong-suk’s renunciation is a rather interesting one. South Korea generally disallows dual citizenship except when acquired by birth or adoption — therefore, natives who naturalise in other countries automatically lose their South Korean citizenship, and applicants for naturalisation or for restoration of citizenship must give up their other citizenships within a year. However Article 10, Paragraph 2(4) of the Nationality Law provides an exception to this principle for people over age 65, allowing them to hold dual citizenship. Kang, who is already 62 and has been living in South Korea as a non-citizen for more than a decade, could have waited three more years and then restored his South Korean citizenship without giving up the U.S. one, but for whatever reason he decided that he’d rather give up U.S. citizenship and get his South Korean citizenship back sooner rather than later.
Congratulations to all those who made the expat honour roll this term!
“Clearly Lew is a firm believer in Petros’ principle that less is better when it comes to complying with the U.S.’ “Internal” Revenue Code.”
LOL
No Boris?
Do we need any more convincing that US consulates are restricting renunciations?
I was expecting Boris de Pfefell Johnson to show by now since he apparently renounced in March. You’d think he’d let his buddy the US ambassador to the UK know the importance of having his name on that list if he had.
The D.C.Pukes and remote offices wants to look like the president was correct when he said recently, The people are prospering in a very safe atmosphere. The main stream media has prospered and their friends have prospered, but middle America is suffering the pangs of poverty.
No body guards to keep them safe and no money to live on. This administration will be judged as inept by historians and liars by everyone who is soffering.
W00t!!!!!!
I made “the list”!!!! I’m printing that sucker out!
🙂
Renounced December 1, 2015 @ 2:00 p.m. @ the Calgary Consulate; received the CLN early March. I still do not appear on the list.
Thank you Eric for another fine post!
On the list is the name of a Fiat heiress who will certainly be of interest to the US media as another example of the champagne-swirling, mink-swathed Americans who renounce the citizenship of the greatest country on earth:
Agnelli, Virginia Asia is the daughter of Giovanni Agnelli and the Anglo-American Avery Howe. Her father, Giovanni, died tragically at the age of 33 in 1997, shortly after his daughter’s birth according to his obituary in a UK newspaper:
“In October last year, Agnelli married Avery Howe, an Anglo-American architect (and daughter of the interior designer Sally Howe) who he had met when they were both students at Brown University. In September, when Agnelli’s illness was already advanced, the couple’s daughter Virginia Asia was born.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-giovanni-alberto-agnelli-1289009.html
Ms. Agnelli was not only born to tragedy but then carried the burden of American citizenship for another 18 years. She is now free.
A Belgian countess also renounced but it is difficult to identify her beyond her family name: Comtesse Loraline Marie de Liederkede de Pailhe. Even aristocrats seek freedom. Congratulations to both, Jane and all others on the freedom list.
International Tax Blog/ Andrew Mitchel also raises Eric’s point that the FBI list, which should in theory have fewer entries than the IRS’s, is actually twice as long as the IRS’s for the first six months of 2016:
“The number of published expatriates for the quarter was 508. The number of published expatriates for the first two quarters of 2016 has been 1,666 (1,158 + 508)….
We continue to believe that the IRS is likely missing a significant number of names from its quarterly publication of expatriates. During the second quarter of 2016, the FBI added 2,081 individuals who renounced their U.S. citizenship to the NICS index. Coupled with the first quarter number of 1,281, the FBI has added 3,362 former U.S. citizens to the NICS index this year – over double the number on the IRS list this year.”
http://intltax.typepad.com/intltax_blog/2016/07/2016-second-quarter-published-expatriates.html
@Jane congrats!
The whole list is a non-sense since the Register doesn’t publish the actual date of renunciation. The USG can ‘stockpile’ and spread it out. The law says it only has to be published not when.
@Karen @ Innocente
I’m thrilled to finally see my name! I may have had to wait a long time & it took three consulate visits to get things done, but it is finally DONE.
@Ann#1
I relinquished months before you did so I doubt you’ll see your name (if you ever do) much before end of 2016 or into 2017, fyi.
Cheers!
No me. Again.
Me neither. Renounced Oct 2015, CLN Feb 2016.
Eric: Another remarkable piece of research and analysis!
Jane: Congratulations on your freedom! The time it takes to complete the process, the effort (3 consular visits?!) and, of course, the damnable fee, never cease to shock me.
Rudy Takala of the Washington Examiner (Twitter: @RudyTakala) is first out the barn door with a completely wrong story, which is now all over the place because the Drudge Report picked it up …
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/americans-renouncing-citizenship-near-record-highs/article/2598074
David Lesperance also makes an interesting point
https://twitter.com/dslesperance/status/758968333173530628
You would think that such an important discrepancy, concerning such an important issue, would attract the interest of a journalist in the U.S. media to get to the bottom of this repeated problem and confront those responsible for fulfilling this requirement to clarify what the reality is and why thousands of names of renunciants go unreported, even though it is a federal requirement that they are. Will somebody here, with high level media contacts, like at the WSJ or Time Magazine take the challenge and alert them to this manipulation and falsification of, what should be, public information?
I always worry when an article about renunciations also refers to the number of people taking the oath of US citizenship.
@Damien
The government is full of secrets the people know nothing and people like Julien Assange and Snowden are in hiding and get condemned for trying to implement transparency.
@Jane
Congrats!!! And I’m happy to report I’m on the honour roll right there with you 🙂
@Polly, @iota
I had my appointment in January and got my CLN in March, so I expected to be included in the 2016 Q1. Fingers crossed that you both show up in the next honour roll.
One story mentions fee revenue:
http://hypeline.org/guess-how-many-americans-have-renounced-their-citizenship-this-year/
Tbe rest don’t
http://sputniknews.com/us/20160730/1043772503/us-citizenship-renunciations.html
https://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/renounce-citizenship-america-usa/2016/07/29/id/741241/
No one besides Andrew Mitchel mentioning NICS or calling out the BS on green card holders yet. Forget the mainstream media, not even the libertarians know how to question government statistics:
Simon Black: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-29/17359-americans-have-renounced-citizenship-under-barack-obama
Bob Livingston: https://personalliberty.com/citizenship-renunciation-soars-options/
@Westcoaster – ” I had my appointment in January and got my CLN in March, so I expected to be included in the 2016 Q1. ”
Can I ask, what date was your CLN approved?
Logically, and also legally, a renunciant should be named in the list for the quarter in which Treasury receives a copy of their CLN. If that rule was being adhered to competently and correctly, most renunciants would appear on the list for the quarter in which their CLN was approved. A few would appear in the list for the following quarter. A sprinkling might get mislaid and appear later or never.
The approved date on my CLN is 24 Feb 2016, well within Q1, so my name should have appeared on the list that was published 05 May 2016. They’re running two quarters behind what the law requires, with respect to my renunciation. So far.
@Westcoaster
It has been years, so I don`t expect my name on there anymore.
Renounced 2012. Was never on the list, and most likely never will be.
Assuming the list is indeed being deliberately manipulated, I wonder at what point (or points) the manipulation occurs.
DoS-side, CLN approvals might be delayed, or notification to Treasury might be delayed. Or both.
Treasury-side, publication might be delayed or suppressed.
@Don – “The law says it only has to be published not when.”
The law does say when:
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 30 days after the close of each calendar quarter, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register the name of each individual losing United States citizenship (within the meaning of section 877(a) or 877A) with respect to whom the Secretary receives information under the preceding sentence during such quarter.”
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6039G