Which countries have a reasonable path to citizenship?

[BlueSun]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

If you can show you are of semi- current Irish descent, you can get a Irish passport !!just a thought! it's been done

Yup, I'm a dual Irish/Aussie citizen because my Grandpa was born in Ireland. Weird, because I haven't been there (yet!), but nonetheless awesome! Has benefits for my husband too in terms of working in the EU etc.

[fwalschots]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

I can think of one reason to give up my citzenship- taxes.

I am sure in the US as here in australia you don't need to change citizenship to avoid taxes.. You just need to become a Non-Resident for taxation purposes.

Panama is currently the No.1 retirement hot spot. Worth checking out.

Another one worth checking is Bali. If you're over 55 and retired you can live there like a king for less than $20k per year. That includes a 2bedroom apartment, all food etc etc..

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by swisscraft

Interesting enough there are less than a handful countries in the world which taxes there citizen if they live abroad and have no income in the home country. But the current economic situation may change that and more countries could think the US system is actually a good system

At the risk of thread drift ........

.....over here we have a certain reputation as being a centre of tax dodging (all entirely unfair of course ) - in general nowadays (last decade?) folks here don't touch US citizens, unless a very good reason (lots of $$$ into own pocket ) not only because the IRS / US rules (esp. the worldwide income thing) make the stuff we do hard for US people to access but also because the potential downside for us (with the US having a long reach and no SOH ) usually outweighs the benefits (who really wants an orange jump suit, a judicial kidnap and perhaps a forced baptism followed by 5,000 years of incarceration getting butt f#cked by members of smackmybitchup.com....because the paper work didn't fit with the Puritans during an election year ).

Nowadays with recent US legislation, that "not touching with a bargepole" approach is also extending into the genuine commercial world, where having anything US (whether investors or US investments) "infects" things for others beyond commercial sense (by both paperwork and disclosures) making the sensible decision simply not to bother. Fortunately the ROTW still needs to make money and therefore can find a (legitimate commercial) use for places like us to act as the universal coupling or gasket between systems that on their own don't quite match up enough to work - esp. far east and europe. The irony is that Delaware's approach is the same as Jersey, circa the 80's......but apparently that ok .

Anyway, rant over

[atoll]

i know a bloke in nigeria that might be able to help

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Wotname

I think you can look at this another way.
If the path to citizenship (of any another country) is difficult, it is most likely a good / nice place to live; if the path is easy, then that country is desperate for new folk and one has to wonder why!

EXACTLY! The countries where it is really easy, and really inexpensive, to get citizenship are all third-world rat-holes that people are trying to get OUT of, not INTO.

You don't seem to want to do this, hblask, but you really do need to narrow it down. What are you looking for? A particular climate, maybe? Low taxes? Specific sorts of regulations that you want to get away from?

Narrow it down a bit and then you can look at the specific rules for specific countries. As others have mentioned, almost all countries will allow you to buy a permanent resident visa--it's just a matter of how much it will cost and how long it will take (and, again, the more desirable the country, the more it will cost and the longer it will take). Getting actual citizenship is then usually a matter of living there long enough (and yet once more, nicer country = longer time).

But as vague as your questions are at this point, I don't see you getting any particularly useful information.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by fwalschots

I am sure in the US as here in australia you don't need to change citizenship to avoid taxes. You just need to become a Non-Resident for taxation purposes.

No, you are wrong about that. As long as you are a citizen--no matter how long you have lived outside the country, and no matter that NONE of your income derives from U.S. sources--the United States requires that you file an income tax return and pay taxes (with deductions for taxes paid to other countries). The U.S. is quite unusual in this regard, so it is not surprising that most people are unaware that it works this way.

As for the lump-sum, "expatriation tax," that only applies if you have a net-worth in excess of $2 million, or have paid an average of more than $139k in taxes over the last 5 years. And even then your first $600k of gain is exempt from the tax. Still, for some people, this could obviously amount to a substantial tax burden.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by fwalschots

I am sure in the US as here in australia you don't need to change citizenship to avoid taxes.. You just need to become a Non-Resident for taxation purposes.

Panama is currently the No.1 retirement hot spot. Worth checking out.

Another one worth checking is Bali. If you're over 55 and retired you can live there like a king for less than $20k per year. That includes a 2bedroom apartment, all food etc etc..

As a US CPA I can tell you this is not true. No matter where you live (I live in Thailand) you still have to pay taxes to the US on all your worldwide income. Becoming a "non-resident" does not save you any US taxes.

[hellosailor]

WHy do folks always leave out the best part, the backstory?

Citizenship? Just hop down to Cuba and apply for asylum. China, Venezula, Iraq, North Korea, lots of places will get good mileage from your new citizenship.

I'll bet the OP made a bet that if Obama was re-elected, he was leaving. So now he's got to skedaddle fast.

After all, if the only issue was money and taxes, there are plenty of ways to fall off the books, pay the IRS a nominal sum every year, and just join the underground economy here in the US.

But we need the backstory!

[s/v Beth]

I think this is all blown out of whack. Lets say you move to Panama for your retirement. You draw just 1000 a month from your nest egg. After you pay local taxes you pay what you owe Uncle Sam. But since you are living below poverty level (compared to US) you pay much less, if any at all. That is the legal tax less loophole.

[ohdrinkboy]

You are correct Newt. And under the new Obamacare you qualify for medisomething. However not sure how you can use medisomething outside of the US.

[AnchorageGuy]

hblask, To try and answer your question without questioning why you want to know, I can tell you that we have friends that are both Canadian and US citizens and have been long time cruisers. When they were ready to move back to land they found that living on their current pension or retirement put them below the poverty level in both the US and Canada. To the point, they could not afford to live there without going back to work full time. After some research, many settled on Panama and some Costa Rico. There is one that is in Mexico. In every case, the areas they chose to live in, they were able to purchase homes with the sale of their boats and can live quite well on their retirement incomes. I hope this helps some. Chuck

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

You are correct Newt. And under the new Obamacare you qualify for medisomething. However not sure how you can use medisomething outside of the US.

Not sure we were discussing medical care, but since you brought it up, no medicare does not cover you if you reside overseas.

As for taxes, remember most countries do not tax your retirement income or investment income, only income you "earn" in their country. And unless you have a work visa you probably won't be allowed to work and most retirement visas prohibit you from working. That's how it works here in Thailand.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Doodles

As for taxes, remember most countries do not tax your retirement income or investment income...

I don't know about "most," but I do know that the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany... many of the industrialized nations, definitely WILL tax you on your investment income. As to whether or not they tax you on retirement income really depends on exactly where that money comes from.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

I don't know about "most," but I do know that the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany... many of the industrialized nations, definitely WILL tax you on your investment income. As to whether or not they tax you on retirement income really depends on exactly where that money comes from.

Why would you want to retire to any of those countries where the costs of living, etc. will be as high or higher. I was referring to developing countries like Panama, DR, Thailand, etc.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Aussiesuede

Spending a bit of time learning the language & local customs of your new home so as not to become an undesirable class of immigrant is also highly advisable, as is a lowered earnings expectation.

We don't worry about that in the US any more.

"Press 1 for English" is common.