While our legislators debate bills relating to comprehensive immigration reform, another hot topic flies more under the radar. While foreign nationals and their advocates petition for smoother paths to U.S. permanent residence, simultaneously, a number of Americans, particularly high net worth individuals, seek to renounce their U.S. citizenship in ever-increasing numbers. But contrary to popular belief, from the immigration perspective at present, the act of renunciation does not necessarily foreclose subsequent visits to the United States as a visitor for business or pleasure.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues quarterly reports with renunciants' names; and the most recent report of Aug. 9, 2013, lists 16 pages of names.1 In fact, the number of named expatriates for the first two quarters of 2013 was more than the total number for all of 2012. As another comparison, there were 1,780 expatriates in 2011, in contrast to only 235 in 2008. Perhaps the press coverage of the 2012 expatriation of Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire cofounder of Facebook Inc.,2 as well as others like Tupperware founder Edward Tupper and Denise Rich, who was formerly married to Marc Rich, raised awareness of the option to similarly situated citizens.3 Commentators have speculated that these expatriations may have been due to increased enforcement of tax penalties. This article will discuss expatriating acts, the procedure for renunciation, visits to the United States as a tourist following the renunciation, and legislative responses.
Surrendering Citizenship
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