U. S. Expats Are Revealing The "We're Being Scammed" Realizations They Had After Moving Abroad

[Alberta Bound]

129. ...so, you're "leaving" the U.S. huh ?

(...first post since joining DU. ...long time lurker.)

I am an "Expat". A "real" Expat.
"Expat" means different things to different people. And, well yes, you could "move out" of the U.S. and take up residence elsewhere but technically, according to the U.S. Department of State AND Internal Revenue Service, you likely would remain as a U.S. citizen. In IRS parlance, by law (code not cited here), you would be defined as a "U.S. Person".

Having "moved" to Western Canada in 1976 from Pennsylvania (...I was divorced, no children, and young-ish) I met all of the Canadian requirements for immediate "Express Entry" to accept a job offer and take up probationary residence as a Canadian "Permanent Resident". [...probationary, meaning: behave yourself, we're watching you with our stink eye.]

I remained as a Permanent Resident, but still U.S. citizen until 1993 when I became a Canadian citizen, thus holding dual U.S./Canadian citizenship. Why ?...I believed there was some value or "comfort" in remaining legally "tethered" to the U.S. and my "homeland ". The desire to remain "tethered" was a personal struggle to reconcile...but why ?

Skipping over and omitting many details up to ~2016, it was largely due to the IRS "Offshore Voluntary Income Disclosure Program" (2008 ?) that I believed it necessary to, not only simplify U.S. Treasury reporting requirements (think FinCen, FatCa, FBARS, 1040's, etc.), but much more important, to eliminate forever, the extremely burdensome and likely very, very expensive legal work necessary to settle my estate affairs with the U.S. Government upon my death. And, it was in 2018 that I reached the decision to renounce my U.S. citizenship. [...renounce ?..relinquish ?...do your research.]

So, what does it cost to de-citizen yourself ? Short answer: depends. The complexity, breadth and depth, sources and forms of any U.S. income, assets and related financial entanglements will largely enable a qualified citizenship/immigration/tax attorney to scope out attorney's fees. My particular situation was as simple as it gets because since 1976 my only "tethers" to the U.S. were spiritual and psychological in nature. Thus, from 2018 to 2022 I was immersed, priority #1, in reading, cross referencing, building files, jumping through hoops, re-reading, ferreting out definitions (..so really, who is a "U.S. Person" ?), submitting forms, ad infinitum. So, to answer this paragraph's leading question...rather than paying $30, to $40, to $50,000 in legal and/or accounting fees, through perseverance, patience, and the determination to exit this world without burdening my family, the project cost $0, other than a few filing fees, copier and paper.

During 2022, having signed the Declaration of Renunciation of U.S. Citizenship at the Calgary, Alberta, U.S. Embassy, I then was officially a "real" "Expat", free and clear, otherwise designated by the IRS as a "Non-Resident Alien".

Now realize, everyone's situation is different regarding assets, financial entanglements, thresholds of frustration, timeline expectations, and personal attributes brought to the task; but, to promise yourself and declare to others that you're "leaving" or "moving out" of the U.S. does not adequately characterize one's intent, rather, the inference taken by those who have worked very hard or paid dearly to do it, is that most folks are quite ignorant of the process and ignorant enough in believing they're eligible to reside elsewhere.