Category Archives: Citizenship

Invitation to participate in Carleton University study

A student at Carleton University has asked if we would allow him to use our blog to find volunteers for a study on the experiences of American/Canadian duals and former American/Canadian duals. Lynne and I have agreed to this, and we are very interested in the results. I’m not going to say much more, as the student, James Eastman-Timmons, will provide an introduction. I will say that I checked the Carleton U site and did some Googling, and did confirm that the professors who he listed as being on the ethics board who approved the project really are on the board, and that James has a profile on linkedin.
I hope many of us do take him up on this as, from my perspective, it’s an opportunity to help educate and inform a whole new set of people, who may, after this study comes out, join us in our fight.

Renunciation Costs To Soar

If this report in Diplopundit is accurate, the cost to renounce U.S. citizenship will soar from $450 to $2350.

The percentage increase in the renunciation fee is 422%. With an estimated 2,378 annual renunciation of citizenship cases, this increase would net the USG an estimated $4,518,200. Using the projected FY 2014 workload, Consular Afffairs’ estimated change in annual fees collected for affected consular services is $64,003,862.

U.S. Department of State is expected to justify this with this statement:

The CoSM demonstrated that documenting a U.S. citizen’s renunciation of citizenship is extremely costly, requiring American consular officers overseas to spend substantial amounts of time to accept, process, and adjudicate cases.

Hmmm. I seems no one thought of another solution. Make the process easy. Allow it to be done via mail like Canada and many other countries do.

More Renounce US Citizenship But Defy The Stereotype

A couple of familiar names are featured prominently in the Associated Press story More Renounce US Citizenship But Defy The Stereotype.
Carol Tapanila (aka Calgary411):

“You know, we are not rich people and we are not tax evaders and we are not traitors and I’m more than tired of being labeled that way,” Tapanila says.

 

John Richardson:

Decisions to renounce “are driven by a whole range of emotional considerations. … You’ve got anger, you’ve got fear, you’ve got a strong sense of indignation,” said John Richardson, a Toronto lawyer who advises people on expatriation. “For many of these people, this is not a tax issue at all.”

Peter Dunn (aka Petros at Brock) also tells his story.  Many of the other names are not familiar to us, but their stories are.
I understand this Associated Press story will be in many more American newspapers tomorrow.

Synopsis: Solving U.S. Citizenship Problem with John Richardson (London, Ontario)

Finally, I’m posting a synopsis of Solving the Problem of US Citizenship information session presented by John Richardson of citizenshipsolutions.ca that was held in London, Ontario on February 8, 2014.
I apologize for the delay. Other FATCA projects have consumed my life.
You can read the synopsis in the link, but here are a few highlights:
CITIZENSHIP:
John first gave an overview of US citizenship laws, tax laws, renunciation and relinquishment and many changes that have taken place over decades.
People have many differing circumstances and each one is unique. Because of the complexities, John stressed:

 “The bottom line is you have to check the law at the time the act took place.”

 For people born in Canada to one or more parent born in the U.S., John suggested they should not automatically assume they are US citizens or US persons. There are many different rules around that. In addition John questions whether the US can apply their laws on people born outside of U.S.  So, he recommended people explore that before making an assumption they must be a US citizen.
He said:

“I would never, never, never under any circumstances advise someone to simply swallow hook line and sinker, well my father was American, therefore I am American for a number of reasons.:

A Supreme Court decision from the 1960s dealt with the forcible destruction of US citizenship. John confirmed many in the room felt they were being forced to relinquish US citizenship.
John believes:

The forcible destruction of US citizenship is going to become THE argument on this issue.
 

John explained renunciation is one form of relinquishment, along with other expatriating acts like becoming a citizen of another country with the intent of relinquishing US citizenship, working for a foreign government and other actions.
For numerous reasons, John recommended people who are renouncing or relinquishing by other means should get a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN) through US Department of State by renouncing or reporting relinquishing at a US Consulate.
John reported there are various reasons to

“Deal with this sooner, rather than later.”

For many different reasons, John thinks:

“U.S. citizenship is probably the most dangerous, toxic citizenship in the world today.”

Lynne advised people who became naturalized Canadian citizens may be able to get information from their Canadian citizenship file by applying through Access to Information at (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/atip/form-imm5563.asp)
PERSONAL EFFECTS:

John recognized the toll these issues are taking on people.  He stressed:

“Your life, your health, your family is so, so much important than any of this stuff. If you focus on this in a way that jeopardizes the things that make life worthwhile, you’re going to let these people win–absolutely destroy your life.”

TAXES:

John said there are two types of US persons:
1. Those Who Are Compliant
2.  Those Who Are Not Compliant

No matter what, you’re going to have a problem.  “When we talk about U.S. taxes, we’re talking about much more than taxes. It’s a whole information reporting regime, which is a huge problem.”

He covered many of the issues relating to taxation, but said the most important message was:

“One thing you should absolutely not do is enter the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program” (OVDP).

CANADA REVENUE AGENCY, CANADIAN COURTS:

John explained that under the Canada-US Tax Treaty, CRA will not collect penalties for the IRS for Canadian citizens or residents. CRA also will not collect taxes for the IRS on a US citizen who also was a Canadian citizen at the time the tax liability arose.
Plus, under the Revenue Rule, Canadian courts will not issue a judgement for the IRS.
FATCA:
John thinks FATCA is a “gross abuse of power” by the United States.

“FATCA allows them to redefine any time they want what the information is and any person who is affected.”

 Lynne noted the proposed legislation to allow FATCA to be implemented will prevail over other federal laws, including banking, privacy and human rights laws.  Some individuals have contacted a constitutional lawyer about this and more information will be posted at Maple Sandbox (maplesandbox.ca and Isaac Brock Society (isaacbrocksociety.ca)
UPDATE: Money was raised and constitutional lawyer Joseph Arvay was retained on March 10 by Dr. Stephen Kish and Lynne Swanson to provide a legal opinion on a possible challenge to the FATCA IGA enabling legislation under the constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
 

Relinquishment of US Citizenship by Persons-Born-Dual or who Naturalised in a Foreign Country as a Minor

I was very happy to report on a born-dual friend’s successful consulate meeting this week, in which he applied for a CLN based on his relinquishment at the time of taking government employment.

However, people have reported some consulate personnel erroneously telling them that a person born dual or who acquired their non-US citizenship as a minor is unable to expatriate except by renouncing.  In fact, there is no automatic disqualification of such persons from having the capacity to perform certain other relinquishing acts.

Such consulate personnel are probably conflating s. 349(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act with all other non-renunciation methods of relinquishing one’s citizenship.  Section 349(a) (1) is naturalising in a foreign country after Continue reading Relinquishment of US Citizenship by Persons-Born-Dual or who Naturalised in a Foreign Country as a Minor

Let's send Finance Canada OUR comments on the IGA

Below is a link to the Dept of Finance Canada site, with information about the IGA and how we CAN SEND IN OUR COMMENTS!
We need to JUMP on this and pepper them with letters and emails on how we feel about what they’ve done to us and our families. Note that the deadline is March 10th.
Email: IGA-AIG@fin.gc.ca
Snail Mail address:
Tax Policy Branch
Department of Finance
140 O’Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G5
“An Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States for the enhanced exchange of tax information under the Canada-United States Tax Convention was signed on February 5, 2014, in Ottawa.”
Comments on the legislative proposals can be submitted to the Department of Finance at IGA-AIG@fin.gc.ca or to the address below. The closing date for comments is March 10, 2014.”
http://www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/notices/fatca-eng.asp
 
 

Canadian Government Proposing Changes to Citizenship Act

According to several sources this morning, our government is going to be announcing changes to our citizenship act today. I think we will all be anxiously waiting to see how this affects us.
The Toronto Star: Conservatives set to announce ‘comprehensive’ changes to Citizenship Act
Macleans: Conservatives set to announce ‘comprehensive’ changes to Citizenship Act
CTV News: Tories to unveil ‘comprehensive’ changes to Citizenship Act
The Globe and Mail: Tories’ citizenship revamp to lengthen permanent residents’ waiting period
The Macleans Article:
Conservatives set to announce ‘comprehensive’ changes to Citizenship Act
“Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander will detail the changes at a Toronto news conference. The government is calling the overhaul the first comprehensive reform to the Citizenship Act in more than a generation. Alexander recently said the government planned to implement new rules that will ensure Canadian citizenship “has value.” Among the reported changes is one that would allow Ottawa to revoke the citizenship of dual nationals in “extreme cases,” such as in cases of treason or acts of terrorism.Alexander also suggested recently the government will try to give citizenship to those who have been wrongfully denied it in the past, such as the children of war brides.”
Don’t know about anyone else, but I am very afraid, considering how they caved so absolutely yesterday.

Relinquishing: No Obligation For CLN

George has made another great find. This one is from US Congress on CLNs.

There is no obligation for an individual to obtain a CLN or otherwise notify the Department of State of relinquishing one’s citizenship.

Too bad Congress didn’t bother to tell US Treasury and IRS or banks and governments around the world about that hidden gem.
Calgary 411 cross-posted our thread on Dual Citizenship: “Paramount Allegiance-Predominant Claim at Brock (where I originally picked up the information from George). I am now cross-posting Calgary’s thread from Brock on this Joint Congressional Committee published report, 84-288-GPO-CPRT-JC-2-03-7-2, B. Aquisition and Loss of Citizenship
I suspect this will not help our friends in Switzerland,  France, Israel or elsewhere where banks are demanding CLNs or closing accounts.  Alone, it won’t win the battle for us in Canada. But, it’s one more weapon in our growing arsenal to fight this,
We are a diverse army, but together I think we are formidable. I think Flaherty, Shoom, Trudeau and the CBA know thatl–but they will never admit it to us.

“Where you are born should not dictate your potential as a human being.” (Romeo Dallaire, retired general, humanitarian, Canadian Senator)

Let’s make Romeo proud of our troops!
 

Another great find from George.  This one from US Congress on CLNs:

There is no obligation or requirement for an individual to obtain a CLN or otherwise notify the Department of State of relinquishing one’s citizenship.

Someone in US Department of State might want to inform US Treasury, IRS, banks and governments around the world of that hidden gem.
Calgary411 cross-posted our thread (which we picked up from George at Brock) over at Brock.  I am now cross-posting her Brock thread here. Joint Congressional Committee published report, 84-288-GPO-CPRT-JC-2-03-7-2, B. Aquisition and Loss of Citizenship 
Somehow I suspect this won’t help our friends in Switzerland, Britain, France, Israel and elsewhere. It may not even suffice on its own in Canada. But, it is definitely one more arsenal in our ever-growing Canadian military to fight FATCA.
It’s certainly one more thing to send to Flaherty,  Shoom, Trudeau, Canadian Bankers Association and others.