Job Discussion Forums

[Dragonlady]

[mejms]

[MotherF]

A relavant article was posted in the guardian's blogs yesterday.
Are you an expat or an immigrant?
People who think of themselves are expats are probably less likely to be seeking citizenship than people thinking of themselves as immigrants.
Personally, I don't really feel like either term applies to me. I guess because I came to Mexico for a year maybe two.


Here's the link
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mind-your-language/2011/apr/11/mind-your-language-expat-brits

[amaranto]

Thanks for the information, guys. It seems that you have to renounce your US citizenship in person at an embassy for it to be considered legit. So, even if you were asked to renounce it in writing by the Mexican authorities, it shouldn't be a problem. And if they asked you if you intended to renounce it when you were naturalized as a Mexican, you could just say no and they would take your answer at face value.

[MotherF]

[amaranto]

I guess this is the only positive to continuing to file those returns

[spiral78]

The US Embassy in the Czech Rep told me last year that to give up US citizenship, you have to actually make three separate appointments with the Consul (this takes some time) and to swear a formal oath on all three occasions that you want to give it up - along with some tonnes of paperwork.

They basically said that surrendering your passport to a foreign official as a requirement for obtaining a second citizenship is NOT grounds to lose US citizenship.

It's hard to get out of being a 'merican

[Tretyakovskii]

My impressions correspond with many of those stated here-

American citizens do not lose their citizenship merely by acquiring another; there is a presumption against renunciation of U.S. citizenships such that any number of acts which might indicate an intent to renounce are ineffective to do so; some nations require you to make a renunciation of other citizenships at the time of your naturalization- Mexico does not, as I understand it; and, even if it did, it is still up to the U.S. Government whether such a renunciation would be treated as effective.

As a result of laws passed in the last decade, it is possible to both effectively renounce your U.S. Citizenship, yet remain liable for U.S. income taxes.

The U.S. Government, while requiring a formal renunciation (by oath) of other citizenships at the time of naturalization, does not have an effective means to enforce this and many people do, as a matter of fact, retain their former citizenships after naturalization in the U.S.

[naturegirl321]

[naturegirl321]

[Tretyakovskii]

One of the things that could cause a foreigner to hesitate before applying for citizenship would be the loss of the exemptions from taxation under Mexican tax laws that foreigners are given on their foreign pensions, and income from their foreign investments.