The Dystopian Times, 9. No More Promised Land.

The U.S. is no longer paradise on earth.

Americans who live abroad, around nine million, have had to send to the IRS details of their financial movements ever since 2010, when the FATCA law was enacted. This stands for Foreign Account Tax Compliant Act. The purpose of this law was to make sure that the rich paid their fair share of taxes. But, the ones caught up in all the bureaucracy are simple Americans living abroad for a myriad of different reasons, and most of them simply middle class, or even lower. 

Aside from having to send details to the IRS, the banks dealing with American citizens also have to send documentation to the American tax man. Rather than deal with the paperwork (banks may be banned from doing business with American companies otherwise), banks simply tell American customers to move their money elsewhere. So, aside from having to send the details, and pay U.S. taxes on earnings abroad, many Americans also have to look for banks willing to take them on as clients. Not many exist. 

That means that, from 2010 onward, more Americans living abroad have been renouncing their citizenship than previously. This year, the pandemic and Trump have been added to the mix, and 5,618 people have renounced being American in the first six months of this year alone. 

That is what is happening among Americans abroad. I am sure that there are more that would want to renounce, but they now have to pay over $2,300 to do so. Those that are middle class find it difficult to fork over that kind of money. (It's two months lower middle class salary in Spain, alone.) 

Americans living in the United States have it much more difficult to get away. It's not simply a question of packing your bags, throwing a dart at a map, and getting on an airplane. There's a matter of visas. Then, there's the little problem of the pandemic, with American citizens not allowed into almost every country in the world. And that is not going to change for the immediate future.

So, many Americans whose parents or grandparents were immigrants, are trying to see if they can reacquire that second citizenship. Most European countries allow children or grandchildren of people born on their soil to acquire citizenship. Each country varies a little. Ireland, I believe, allows grandchildren to become Irish again. Spain allows children to do so, but will make an exception for grandchildren of exiles from Franco's regime. Until 2019, it also allowed descendants of Jews expulsed in 1492 to acquire citizenship. (But it was a one-time shot. After 2019, that offer is no longer standing. All in all, only about 3,800 people acquired nationality that way.) All it takes is the birth certificate of the ancestor in question. How onerous that is depends on the country in question. Spain requires a literal copy of the birth certificate from the book in the Registry, that has been signed by the local Registrar. I believe there are citizenship lawyers who will do the searching for the client for a fee. According to an article in The New York Times, many are doing that.  

Once upon a time, everyone wanted to go to the United States. Now, people still do, but those in the know are looking elsewhere. The shiny dream that offered a good life is now tarnished. From the time I left, almost thirty years ago, my adopted country has slipped into a catatonic state. It still has marvelous people; warm and kind and helpful. But it's no longer the promised land. 

Life continues.