The quarterly list of US renunciants has been published for July, 2012 (pdf, xml). I am highly suspicious of this list. First, only 189 people were reported as having renounced and this is one of the lowest numbers in years (it should have been at least twice this number). Given that people are saying they've renounced and their name is not showing up on the list and others reporting long waiting lists to get a renunciation appointment, I simply don't find this list very credible. I also wonder about "John Joseph Bentley" and "John J. Bentley", both of who are reported to have renounced.
I don't know if this is deliberate political tampering with this list or if it's just inefficient bureaucracy, but I find it highly unlikely there are only 189 renunciations (unless people have wised up and started relinquishing their citizenship instead of renouncing, thereby skipping this list).
My software has flagged several interesting names and I'm sending emails to people to verify (I won't report results unless they give me permission). Others, such as Chris Moonkey Nam are already known to have renounced their citizenship.
As an interesting side note: I was thinking about how many Republicans wanting to define life as beginning at conception. Since the US recognizes jus soli, are they going to start screaming about "anchor embryos"? Tourists visiting the US for their honeymoon could conceive on US soil and conceivably (hah!) give birth to US citizens in their home countries.
I'm pretty confident relinquishers end up in the Federal Register too. It's hard to find solid examples of people who definitely relinquished, because the media always lump relinquishment and renunciation together, but one person I'm sure of is Grenadian PM Keith Mitchell. He was determined in 2001 to have relinquished in 1995 (there's no way that was a renunciation); he showed up in the Q1 2002 list.
ReplyDeleteThe only advantage relinquishers get over renunciants is that they save the $450 fee and they're not subject to the Reed Amendment (though they would be subject to the Ex-PATRIOT Act).
Damn. I've been reading through the 6039G law and it appears that you're right.
DeleteI was curious about that too. Do those who relinquish also end up on the list or not? Previous comment says "yes" and gives an example.
ReplyDeleteIs there any place when one can find clear info about who is supposed to be on this list and who isn't?
"Birth embryos." That's a good one. :-)
Dumb question, but what's the difference between renouncement and reliquishment? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a dumb question at all! Most people have no idea that there are separate processes for giving up your citizenship.
DeleteA renunciation is going into a US consulate on foreign soil, paying your money and stating filling out the paperwork stating that you wish to renounce your US citizenship. Usually you have to wait three months and then go back, state that your intention has not changed and you are not coerced. Your application is then (usually) accepted and a few months later you receive your cancelled passport and a CLN (Certificate of Loss of Nationality).
A relinquishment is when you commit a potentially expatriating act with the intent of relinquishing your US citizenship. A potentially expatriating act would be be acquiring the citizenship of a foreign state or swearing an allegiance for a foreign state. Relinquishments do not have the three month waiting period, not do they require the $450 fee that renunciations charge.