Liberty and justice for all United States persons abroad

The Isaac Brock Society

Posted on by Posted in Issues regarding US persons abroad 59 Comments

Thanks to Helen who has written this post on Re-instating US Citizenship after Renunciation.  It’s a topic that doesn’t have a lot of coverage, and your knowledge and thoughts will be appreciated.

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I was granted my CLN in Sept 2014, the last day before the price increase from $495 to $2350.

I need to try to re-instate my US citizenship due to schooling needs of my son, as I am not finding adequate provision for his special needs in my resident country overseas and would like to return to the US for him. He is a US citizen.

The CLN is a 2 sided document.  On page 2, the back side covers Appeal Procedures.  It is poorly and vaguely written – but below is what is on page 2 of the CLN:

ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW OF A FINDING OF LOSS OF NATIONALITY

The premise established by the administrative standard of evidence is applicable to cases adjudicated previously.  Persons who previously lost US citizenship may wish to have their cases reconsidered in light of this policy.

A person may initiate such a reconsideration by submitting a request to the nearest US consular office or by writing directly to:

Director, Office of Policy Review and Inter-Agency Liaison, Overseas Citizens Services (CA/OCS/PRI)
SA-29 4th Floor, Dept of State, 2201 C Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20520

or via express mail/courier service to

Director, CA/OCS/PRI
2100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20037

Each case will be reviewed on its own merits taking into consideration, for example statements made by the person at the time of the potentially  expatriating act.

for additional information see:
http://www.travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_778.html
<http://www.travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_778.html>

 

I spoke with the Consul at the US Embassy in Slovakia, where I renounced 3 years ago.
He said I need to write an appeal letter containing statements such as, When I renounced my US citizenship:

“I was under undue influence of another person” or “I renounced without understanding of the nature of my act and knowledge of consequences.”

“I was acting under duress and my actions were not voluntary.”

The Consul in Slovakia will send in my appeal to the address listed.

I have heard there are a few examples of people regaining their US citizenship through the appeal process. I wanted to post this topic to this group in the event that people might
know of how they went about doing it.

The Consul seemed to think it was best to avoid political or taxation reasons why the CLN was sought and focus on emotional or extreme duress from family members.

59 thoughts on “Re-instating US Citizenship after Renunciation”

  1. I’m fairly sure that in the early days of IBS, someone (markpinetree ?) who contacted their US representative for assistance because of the difficult and nigh on impossibility of maintaining compliance from outside the US was advised by the politician (I think passing on direct advice from the IRS) that to renounce was the only remedy. I think I remember that one of the issues was that to pay US tax assessed by the IRS could only be done in US dollars, but in some countries there was no way to get or send payment in US currency – it was illegal. So, to satisfy the US government required an illegal act in the country where the person actually lived. Just as US ‘taxable persons’ in some cases are forced to choose between not filing a complete FBAR or to unlawfully (in cases without the consent of other non-US persons, joint accountholders, employers, etc.) disclose to a foreign nation the personal financial data of non-US others – even on non-personal accounts .

    I recall threads like the one below, but can’t find the comment where the US representative advised to renounce, and I think the politician was passing on advice from the IRS (anyone remember that?);
    http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/01/26/from-brazil/

    The governments of both the US and Canada can pretend that what they are about is lawful, and that it does not constitute duress, but we know that many awful and unjust things have been ‘lawful’ but clearly unjust and unwarranted in the history of both countries.

    And what is ‘lawful’? It hasn’t been decided yet. Because it is too hard for ordinary people to challenge it and get a hearing in courts. It is a miracle that a group of ordinary extraordinary people have brought about the legal challenges to FATCA in Canada and the US, and now in France.

    I remember the advice that probably the 2350 renunciation fee (and now relinquishment fee as well) could probably have a good chance of successfully being challenged as unlawfully a deterrent and barrier to the legal right to renounce. So, what is ‘legal’ and what constitutes duress might change if only there were money and expertise and energy enough to mount a challenge and stay the course for the time it would take.

  2. Here is the letter re the renunciation fee https://adcsovereignty.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/adcsbuteradoscommentoct262014.pdf http://taxpol.blogspot.ca/2014/10/litigation-over-new-us-citizenship.html
    I believe it was Prof. Allison Christians who said there was a good chance that a challenge to the size of the fee would be successful as an unlawful impediment to the lawful right to renounce/relinquish US citizenship.

    I relinquished in order to cut off the US hand that sought to constrain me unjustly and extraterritorially. I withdrew any even implied consent to be governed from afar by the US. And the fact that both the Canadian government of the CONS and now that of the Sunny Glibs have shown that they are willing to govern Canadians on behalf of the US is deeply offensive. Which is one reason why nearly 7 years later, I’m still here.

  3. @badger

    I am 99% sure that it was markpinetree and that he did have an issue will getting USDollars.Of course the US has been very clear. It does not matter if one breaks the law of another country while becoming compliant
    It’s absolutely mandatory.

    He definitely was
    told he should renounce, which made hm so sad. As an immigrant, he truly believed in the American Dream and when it disintegrated, his heart was broken.

  5. The problem getting US dollars makes perfect sense. I was in Argentina in 2013 and they could legally buy very few US dollars. Of course they could also buy US cash at hugely inflated rates on the street, but good luck getting that cash to the state dept. While $2350 is a huge and disproportionate sum anywhere for a middle-class family, its punitive (or disuasive) impact is quite different depending on where you live.

  6. @Badger,

    “I’m fairly sure that in the early days of IBS, someone (markpinetree ?) who contacted their US representative for assistance because of the difficult and nigh on impossibility of maintaining compliance from outside the US was advised by the politician (I think passing on direct advice from the IRS) that to renounce was the only remedy.”

    Yes, that’s right, it was in the early days, Spring 2012, and, as you remembered, the advice to renounce came from IRS but it was passed on to MarkPinetree through the congressman (who it appears did so without comment, let alone action).

    I’ll paste two* of his comments regarding this below, along with a comment you made in reply. (*He may have referred to this in future comments as well, but I just read his earliest ones in my search.)

    MarkPinetree wrote:
    http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/05/01/how-did-i-miss-notice-about-public-hearings-on-fatca/comment-page-2/#comment-16171

    . . . I was able to contact Rep. Van Hollen from Maryland and told him about this. He sent my e-mail- without revealing mt name – to the IRS that responded with a formal letter saying that Americans all over the world had to pay taxes and had Earned Income Exclusion and Tax Credit. I answered to this e-mail through Representative Van Hollen and then I got another answer from the IRS (through him) saying that if this was so difficult for me that I should renounce the US citizenship. This startled me. I have two married daughters and one son in the USA, I lived and worked thirty years in the USA. I used to love this Country and be proud to be a citizen…

    MarkPinetree wrote:
    http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/05/15/remaining-a-dual-citizen-2-we-hold-these-truths/comment-page-1/#comment-17990

    And to think that when I wrote the Representative of the State I lived in the USA about my problems with the IRS and he sent my message to them (without my name) they answered advising “me” to renounce the citizenship that up to recently I was most proud of having. Is this the America I came to in 1958 full of hopes and where I was accepted? A fair Country that I often defended abroad?

    Badger wrote:
    http://isaacbrocksociety.ca/2012/05/01/how-did-i-miss-notice-about-public-hearings-on-fatca/comment-page-2/#comment-16172

    @markpinetree, I remember that – it startled me too. I read that other post. I think that the Taxpayer Advocate Olson should be told about it. When it gets so that the IRS or any US official starts advising us that the only remedy is to renounce, then that should be flagged for the TAS’s attention.

  7. It’s the US government that says you must comply with US tax law even if it means you must break the law where you live in order to do so.

  8. Thanks @pacifica for finding the exact comment from @markpinetree along with the name of the government representative who passed it along from the IRS.

    Thanks to others who confirm it was markpinetree.

  9. Much as I sympathise with Helen and her predicament, I don’t hold out much hope of success in getting the renunciation overturned. Googling finds very few people who have managed to do so and none under the premise of being coerced. It’s over 3 years since she renounced and the question will be why hasn’t she applied for it to be overturned before now? And then there is providing proof of said coercion – how can she possibly do that? They will not just take her word for it and I don’t think they will just give the citizenship back without doing some sort of investigation. Too many Americans have relinquished/renounced these last few years and I expect any attempt to get said citizenship back willl be looked at very carefully.

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