The Cross Border Living Blog

Dual Citizenship Debate - Your Action is Requested

The New York Times' Room for Debate is tackling the subject of dual citizenship. The question being debated is "Can Dual Citizens Be Good Americans?". Apparently Representative Michelle Bachmann had obtained Swiss citizenship through her husband who is the son of Swiss immigrants to the United States registered with the Swiss consulate. Due to the political heat she took for her "dual allegiance", she renounced the Swiss citizenship.

I congratulate the New York Times for hosting this topic and Peter Spiro, a law professor at Temple University, for suggesting the topic.

A dual citizens, particularly those born abroad, to American parents need to contribute to this important debate. Visit this link to read the various posts and add your thoughful comments. This is a huge opportunity to educate the world on this important topic. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/05/14/can-dual-citizens-be-good-americans

 

 

Gallup Poll Lists the USA as Most Popular Dream Destination

According to a recent article posted by Ray Clancy on the ExpatForum, "About 13% of the world’s adults, or more than 640 million people, say they would like to leave their country permanently and roughly 150 million of them say they would like to move to the United States, according to research from Gallup".

The United Kingdom and Canada are the next most popular. Australia ranks 6th, after France and Saudi Arabia.

According to the article, the Gallup poll found that the most popular reason for migration is the search for opportunity. "Opportunity could mean the chance to join family members who are already in other countries, to start a new business, to express one’s views without fear, or to live where children are treated with respect."

For more information, check out the article either from the link above or here: http://www.expatforum.com/america/the-united-states-is-the-most-popular-dream-destination-poll-reveals.html

 

Dual Nationality - An Effect of Globalization Not Widely Accepted

"The golden age of mutliple nationality may be dawning. But it is not here yet." This is the final sentence of the January 7, 2012 article, "Dutchmen Grounded. Multiple citizenship is on the rise. But some states continue to deter it.", in The Economist.

The article uses a new law proposed by the Dutch government to "limit dual nationality among immigrants" and "to make it easier for the authorities to strip members of the 850,000-plus Dutch diaspora of their nationality, should they secure a second citizenship abroad", to educate the reader on some historical facts as well as current trends, citing policies of several countries.

The fact, as supported by this blog, is "increased migration and rising numbers of cross-border marriages mean that ever more children are born to multinational families." I encourage readers of this blog to check out the full article.

Possible US Visa Could Assist Cross-Border Retirement in the USA

A bill introduced in October may provide individuals who want to spend part of the year living in the United States with a special visa to do so.

The Visa Improvements to Stimulate International Tourism to the United States of America Act ("VISIT-USA Act") would provide a non-immigrant visa to an individual (and his or her spouse and children) who:

1. uses as least $500,000 in cash to purchase one or more residences;

2. maintains ownership of residential property in the United States worth at least $500,000 during the entire period the alien remains in the United States as a nonimmigrant; and

3. resides for more than 180 days per year in a residence in the United States that is worth at least $250,000.

Home buyers under this program, however, will be encouraged to pay a premium for their residence(es), as one of the proposed rules are that the residence must have sold for more than 100% of the "most recent appraised value of such residence, as determined by the property assessor in the city or county in which the residence is located".

If you are thinking that this proposal might assist you in an unofficially "permanent" relocation to the United States, it is important to note that for financial planning purposes, a visa-holder would not be able to receive government benefits such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. In addition,  the visa would not authorize the holder to engage in employment in the United States, except for employment related to management of the property, and the program would not lead to citizenship.

There is the question of how the visa holder would be taxed. Since this is technically an immigration bill, the income and estate tax implications of this proposed bill are not addressed. For planning purposes, as it stands right now, one could argue that once the Substantial Presence Test is triggered, the non-immigrant visa holder would be considered resident for income tax purposes, unless they can claim the Closer Connection Exception. Of course, one would need to seek advice from a qualified professional.

Today, on CNBC, however, Senator Charles Schumer implied that taxes would be paid on US source income: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000060614 

We will post updates to The Cross Border Living Blog as more information becomes available.