Posted on 07/04/2016 8:49:14 AM PDT by lulu16
"Are you still entitled to consider yourself an American if you choose to live abroad?
As Vice President of Business Development for Best Places in the World to Retire, I have been told by many people living abroad that they have been told (let’s say, by their sister-in-law, Betty) that, because of their decision to live abroad, they were no longer “American”. A month and a half ago, my wife and I crossed over the US – Mexico border into Mexico and became expats, which makes this is our first American Independence Day living abroad, and which makes Betty’s challenge now a personal one for me. Because I’m now living outside the US, am I now less American?
Before we see if you agree, let’s clear up come confusion by first defining the term “expat.” “Expat” is short for “expatriate”, which just means someone living outside his or her country of citizenship. It has nothing to with the word “patriot” or “patriotism.” “Expatriot” isn’t even a word. If you don’t believe me, look it up.
We can define “American” in two ways. The first should be pretty unarguable. An American is someone who is a citizen of the United States. So, unless someone renounces his or her citizenship, any US citizen living in the US or anywhere else in the world is still an American, which means that Betty is wrong in the legalistic sense.
But I believe that Betty is communicating something more, which is that if you choose to live outside the borders of the US, you relinquish your right to be included in the social or cultural group as an “American,” that perhaps you have rejected America, or that perhaps you are in some way less American than those living in the US..."
(Excerpt) Read more at bestplacesintheworldtoretire.com ...
Go to an embassy or consulate
Have am appt with a consular official
Sign declaration
That ain’t hard. You just want to play
You are not an American if you have decided to live as an ex pat
Americans don’t run away from their homeland when things get rough.
Last time I checked, anyway.
Sigh... here we go again, Dawgs....
I’m not a Canadian. If I ever become one, and you’re willing to put your money where your mouth is, I’ll happily pass the hat to you if you’re willing to chip in a thousand or two towards what it would take to renounce citizenship.
In the mean time, if you’d be interested in bothering to respond to any of my actual questions or observations in my previous post, I’d be happy to have an intelligent discussion—but perhaps you don’t think people who have been educated for more than a semester outside of the U.S. are intellectually worthy.
You are a veritable fount of inaccurate quips and misinformation.
It costs nothing to renounce your citizenship
Do you fly the Canadian flag cause you live there yet still claim your American systus?
Hypocrite
The IRS considers your income abroad very American.
It costs because you already there
Should have done it in the US
This is a ridiculous stance for those who have already shown that they don’t want to be Americans
No better than the Hemingways and other ex pats in Paris
Pathetic bellyaching.
What if a U.S. citizen were to live 6 months of the year inside the country and 6 months elsewhere? Would that make a person only half an American? And what about dual citizenship?
Not trying to provoke, I’ve sincerely been considering exactly that if I can get the financial part of it to work out. Have a house here and a house ‘elsewhere’ and share my time between both.
I guess there are myriad scenarios and situations that might make a single answer unrealistic.
We complain (and rightly so) about foreigners who come to America to live but refuse to give up the customs, traditions, languages, etc. of their home countries. We do not regard such people as American, because they do not wish to become “one of us.”
I would say the same thing to an ex-pat. If you are going to move to (for example) Mexico, then go all-in. Learn to speak Spanish. Embrace the customs and traditions of Mexico. Become, culturally, Mexican. And cement your attachment to your new home by renouncing your American citizenship and becoming a Mexican citizen.
Otherwise, why are you there, living in someone else’s country, yet not willing to become one of them?
I think I have managed to retain my American identity even overseas. A good demonstration of this is the tangible love of country exhibited by my children in their reverence for the flag. But more than that, I have two sons in the Army, one of whom is Special Forces.
Some women spend their lives looking for their hero. I gave birth to mine!
God bless you in your work.
I live in Norway and it would cost me US$2,500 to renounce my US citizenship plus prove that I have a clean 10 year IRS tax bill.. They raised it from $450 because so many US citizens were renouncing theirs mainly because of FATCA whìch empowers the US to look into your foreign spouse’s bank account to see if you are hiding any money.
I’ve been in Japan for 30 years .
“Expats cannot buy firearms in the US because they are not residents of a state—so in that sense the are less ‘American!’ than green card holders.”
We returned to the US in April 1995 and lived in NH for 6 months . Up until then I was able to renew my New York driver’s license from Japan . When in NH , I had to turn in my NY license and get a New Hampshire one . We went back to Japan in October ,and a few years later when my NH license was due to be renewed that would not renew it because I did not have a residence in the state !!! They said the only way I could get a new license was to start all over again and take the written / driver’s tests next time I was in the USA ! Haven’t driven since .
“I lived in Japan for 5 years - broke a collarbone and my wife had a baby there, so when someone starts talking about how marvelous universal health care is, I sidle up and say, “do you really want to know about universal health care...?””
When back in the US from Japan in the spring of 1995 , I got a hernia working at a supermarket in New Hampshire . It was a part-time job so no insurance coverage . The quacks wanted 20 grand for an operation and couldn’t guarantee I would be 100% again . We went back to Japan , got into their heath care system again , and with 2 months of physical rehab and just 2,000 for the hospital stay I was cured . No operation necessary .
So take a plane to the US
All y’all who don’t want to be here go ahead and leave. Renounce before you leave then you won’t be paying the huge processing fees
Breathes there a man with so so dead.....
You shame yourself and disrespect those who gave all
To you English-only monoglots, the “ex-” in “ex-pat” is derived from the Latin term meaning “from” or “out of,” as in “creatio ex nihilo,” “Deus ex machina” or “ex pluribus unum.”
Uses meaning “formerly” as, such as in “ex-wife” or “ex-con” are corruptions created by someone who failed high school Latin (and who apparently would be in good company here).
Franklin sailed for France first, sent on a diplomatic mission by the Continental Congress to secure a formal treaty and established our alliance with France against Britain.
Franklin went back as the first Ambassador to France (one of two world powers at the time). He stayed 9 years in that role. He was replaced by Jefferson.
“Authoritarian much? “
Yes. I am an American. If you hate this country so much as to leave, FU!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.