Renounce Your Citizenship ??

I'm sure people are willing to do it - they have been doing it for as long as we've had citizenship.

As far as collecting benefits - well I guess you'd justify that by weighing up your contribution to your previous country in blood, sweat, tears and taxes and look at it like a business transaction. Yay capitalism.

I would be first in line to do so if I could afford the move to another country.

Who are these people you are talking about? This, to me, is just sounding off. This is something akin to saying I hate my job, I quit. Would you then say to your ex-employer, oh don't worry about the vacation I didn't take during the year? Although I earned that time off and should be paid holiday pay when I leave, that's okay - because I quit on you, you can keep it. Yeah, right!

If people are disatisfied with things where they live they have several options:

1. Piss and moan about it - saying things they don't really mean but ranting all the same. There's nothing better than annoying the crap out of everyone else around you. Why should you be the only miserable ****?

2. Do something about it - whatever that may be.

3. Get over it, move on, stop sweating the small stuff.

4. Leave and go somewhere else that does not piss them off as much (only to find some minor detail there that drives you bonkers).

I don't think you necessarily have to renounce your citizenship to live elsewhere -- even permanently.

Never would I even think about renouncing my citizenship and moving to another nation. Things always look greener on the other side of the fence till you get there.
I would like to remind those that care to that there are no chains binding them.

The grass that looks greener on the other side has been fertilized with a lot of ****.

While I can understand the impulse to move to Canada (or elsewhere) right now, I think that the Bush team and its fans would be more than glad to see us leave.

Better to stay and fight!

totally agree - better to stay and work for change

I have seriously been thinking about this for some time. I am not sure - if the homosexual persecution continues on pace with what it has been in America lately that I can retain my citizenship.

We will see.

TF

To everything there is a season, TF. Or, as I said to a despondent colleague right after the election, this too shall pass...

I hope so... Man, I hope so. This new legislation in Alabama to ban books with Gay characters is killing me. Lets just ignore the first Amendment because we hate Gays. It is the moral and christian thing to do! Sheesh...

TF

Seriously? Is there a thread about that?

As someone else has already said, there is no need to renounce one's citizenship in order to change one's residence to another country. There are a number of disadvantages to this, however. For one thing, you'd be paying taxes to two countries now, instead of just one. I'm one of those lucky few who could claim dual citizenship (USA and Latvia) if I so chose, and set up light housekeeping in Riga. However, I have no intention of doing so. The fight is here, not in some other country. When a bunch of trolls take over the White House as well as the US Capitol, I feel it's my duty, as an American citizen, to stay and fight this travesty, not run with tail tucked between my legs. I have no quarrel with those conscientious objectors who, during the Vietnam fiasco (it wasn't a war) chose to go to jail, rather than serve in the armed forces. I have scant respect for the ones who fled to Canada, rather than let their outrage be known in an active way.

Interesting. What would happen, tax-wise, if you renounced your citizenship? Would you still get social security when you got older? Would you be able to at least get a portion of it, since you paid into it already? How would that work?

at last something I know about........we (Department for Work and Pensions) pay pensions to customers all over the world (mainly Canada, Australia and USA) who have paid into the National Insurance. GB also has reciprocal arrangements with the European Community for the payments of state benefits and health care......so technically, you can become a 'European Citizen'.

Look......no smut! :wink:

My parents renounced their German citizenship about 40 years ago, but are still receiving their German pension. kicky, you need to see which countries have reciprocal agreements - and then hope they last.

I'm just sure the SS retirement benefits would still be there, the same as for resident aliens. The formula is based on something like the best 35 years of earnings, divided by 40, or something like that, though. If you have 20 years of earnings, that works out to a basis of 20/40, which isn't a heck of a lot.

It's the agreements that need to stay in force, roger, not the pensions (though they need to as well). The pension dealio from Germany has changed a few times over the past coupla decades already. Out of country pensioners are expecting a letter any time telling them the dealio is ending. Their percentages seem to be steadily decreasing in comparison to local pensioners.