All good points. I still don’t make the jump from these events to the idea of a conspiracy, but we agree that things are getting worse, not better! My son will renounce once he turns 18 in June. My daughter, meanwhile, is studying in the US, so her tax forms suddenly got simpler and less intrusive when she moved there! If she takes a job back here after graduation, she’ll renounce too. I hope the fee hasn’t gone up by then!

Idk, Rachel…reading those links provided doesn’t give me a “warm & fuzzy feeling” about how things are headed, either. As far as your stance that the gov’ts aren’t “up to” such an elaborate plan- part of the plan could be to present chaos out front, whilst those dedicated to such a plan can do their work unencumbered & “behind the scenes”, so to speak. NSA has been data gathering, illegally, for years. Major tech companies have been, too- & storing it all for the NSA…that’s now a very well known fact.

And with FATCA/the IGA’s– we all see them as clearly unconstitutional, yet here we are. The USA extorting via monetary, world-wide threat that other countries give up data which their own countries policies say is illegal? Thus the USA is applying their laws supremecy over the laws of all other countries.

Btw, what’s to stop the USA upping the penalties when they don’t see enough income from this “plan”? Not $2350, but how about $10,000 to renounce? Not the already outrageous (& retro-active) $10,000 per penalty, but $50,000 per? There’s absolutely NO recourse if they do!

I’m generally NOT a conspiracy-theorist, but so far what’s been happening is frightening to me…so much so, I’m advising my children to renounce. I would never have seen this coming.

And don’t forget: the homeland US sheeple are bombarded about “patriotism” 24/7. When they hear, “expatriate”, they ignorantly think, “EX-PATRIOT”. It’s quite the campaign…

Yes, that makes sense: the US rejected Europe through its revolution, while Canada preserved its European connections. Thanks for the book recommendation!

http://www.amazon.ca/Why-We-Act-Like-Canadians/dp/0140104429

I don’t want to get in a whole argument with you about this, but I decided to approve your comment anyway because I think your story is typical of “accidental Americans.” What I don’t agree with is your conclusion that it’s an intentional conspiracy. I don’t think the world’s governments–in this case the US and Europe–are anywhere near organized enough to carry out the kind of long-term plan you assume. And if you’re talking about governments trying to grab people’s money, FATCA is a very inefficient way to do it because it won’t end up making very much, in my view, once they nab the ones who were originally intended: American residents who hide money overseas.

My parents met in Paris in the early sixtees (my father was in the US army and my dutch mother was fille au pair).

So I was conceived in Paris but my parents quickly got maried in Haaksbergen NL and moved back to the States. So, unfortunetly (amazing to say that being american)I was born in one of the States protected by the US constitution that the federal corporate gouvernment in Facshington (not Washington anymore) has completely over run.

My dad fell in love with France and so we came back in 1973 (I was 7 years old) to live here permanently. We’ve been many times to visit relatives in holland of course and I do speak Dutch 🙂

The suprise I got when I received a FATCA letter from my bank in october 2014 made me so furious I felt like blowing up the US embassy in Paris !!!

Especially when you know that what they’re doing is completely illegal. After watching the Thrive movie on You Tube and especially Aron Russo’s “America : from freedom to fascism” I began to militate against the US federal gouvernment and the IRS on social media while discovering the plans of the corporate federal sytem created in december 1913 to rule the USA and now the world.

FATCA is only just a branch of this World Company empire. With the IMF they want to put us so deep in debt that they’ll own us. They almost succeded in the 2008 crisis but the coming one(wich has allredy begun) is going to be 100 times worst and they know it.

That’s why they’ve comme up with the BRRD directive (Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive) that allows banks to bail in meaning that starting january 1 2016 banks are legally allowed to rob the money in our bank accounts to stay afloat !!! http://ec.europa.eu/finance/bank/crisis_management/index_en.htm

Here in France there are many articles on the subject :
http://www.lepoint.fr/invites-du-point/bertrand-chokrane/chokrane-ponctionner-les-comptes-bancaires-bientot-legal-en-france-17-11-2015-1982303_2466.php
http://www.businessbourse.com/2016/01/05/faillite-bancaire-vos-comptes-seront-mis-a-contribution-et-sans-vous-demander-votre-avis/

FATCA will definetly not be enogh to save the corrupt system, so now they’ve come up with overall legal robery on all our bank deposits.

That’s where we stand now.

Fasten your seatbelts and by gold coins to protect your savings, 2016 is going to be a very rough ride.

Yes, that’s it exactly! Will you also renounce once you get Mexican citizenship?

I’m sorry that I was not clear, because I agree with you. It is not a question of “not wanting to be,” but rather, for me, feeling it is impossible to affect positive, compassionate, human-centered change within the existing systems. Thank you for clarifying!

Thank you for being so supportive! The only thing I disagree with is when you say that I don’t want to be part of the US. I would prefer to stay a citizen and work on influencing the system towards rational policy. But I didn’t feel that I could: I felt persecuted, unwanted, and powerless in a way I never felt when I lived there. It’s shameful how many patriotic, loyal citizens are being pushed into renouncing.

I returned to San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico in September, from my 5 months of wanderings in Europe (where we met at TBEX Costa Brava in May), to receive my Permanant Residency after 4 years of temporary residency. I am grateful that Mexico is so welcoming to US (and Canadian) citizens, unlike the treatment they receive from the U.S.

Here I have full medical coverage for free under the national program Seguro Popular (unlike my friends in the US who are forced to buy expensive high-deductible insurance policies or be fined), and excellent medical and dental care is available here for a fraction of the cost up north, in addition to being able to buy medicines directly from a pharmacy without a prescription.

Like you – and many of us who are living outside the U.S. – I see and distain the bullying policies of the U.S. in regards to FACTA compliance for every bank in the world, the IRS requirements for citizens to pay taxes even if you earn no money in the states, and the ever-increasing power to limit personal freedoms. Add to this the $19 Trillion debt and the power of The Fed, and I marvel at how much my fellow citizens are willing to tolerate.

For me, the breaking point was the bank bailouts in Oct. 2008 when Congress voted to transfer the irresponsible gambling of commercial banks (which they created through deregulation) and transfer their debt to the American people. While millions, like me, lost their businesses and had their homes foreclosed – so these same banks could put the numbers back on their books for shareholders to see. (BTW, my beautiful home in Santa Fe – which I designed and physically built, creating the asset – sits empty, not even for sale). This was a criminal act and all the irresponsible bankers behind it, now richer than ever, have gone unpunished. With money as the greatest value – and lack of it the greatest fear – Americans are held hostage by their own government… and most don’t even have a clue.

I know it was a difficult and deeply-considered decision for you to renounce your citizenship, and it speaks to how far the U.S. has strayed in its principles, so that people like you (and me) no longer want to be part of a country in which we grew up and of which we were so proud. Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts and process regarding this. And bravo for being so brave! I think Thomas Jefferson would be proud of you.