Renunciation of citizenship

Renunciation is a voluntary act of relinquishing one's citizenship (or nationality). It is the opposite of naturalization whereby a person voluntarily acquires a citizenship, and related to denaturalization where the loss of citizenship is not voluntary, but forced by a state.

In law

Renunciation of citizenship is particularly relevant in cases of multiple citizenship, given that additional citizenships may be acquired automatically and may be undesirable. Many countries have pragmatic policies that recognize the often arbitrary nature of citizenship claims of other countries and negative consequences, such as loss of security clearance, can mostly be expected only for actively exercising foreign citizenship, for instance by obtaining a foreign passport. However, some people - in particular politicians and government officials - may wish to be free even of the purely theoretical obligations and appearance of dual loyalty that another citizenship implies.

Another relevant case may be political refugees who may wish to renounce allegiance to the country they have escaped.

Renunciation of citizenship has also been used to avoid tax obligations (see tax haven), in particular in the United States which is one of the only countries that tax based on citizenship rather than residency. As nearly all countries tax based on residence rather than citizenship, the number of renunciants from other countries is far less than in the United States. The United States has over 600 renuniciants per year, which can be principally linked to tax-related expatriations. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/17/news/expat.php Americans abroad are giving up citizenship for lower taxes] International Herald Tribune, December 17, 2006] Information on the number of renunciants from the United States can be found in the Federal Register (www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html), which records on a quarterly basis the number of US citizens renouncing US citizenship. Renouncing citizenship is also referred to as expatriation or expatriating.

In one case (Vincent Cate [ [http://www.efc.ca/pages/media/nytimes.06sep98.html Peter Wayner, "Encryption Expert Says U.S. Laws Led to Renouncing of Citizenship"] The New York Times Sunday, September 6, 1998] ), an encryption expert living in Anguilla chose to renounce his US citizenship to avoid the possibility of violating US laws that may prohibit US citizens from "exporting" encryption software.

Regulations in different countries

Each country sets its own policies for formal renunciation of citizenship. There is a common concern that a person about to relinquish their citizenship do not become a stateless person and many countries require evidence of another citizenship or an official promise to grant citizenship before they release that person from citizenship.

Some countries may not allow renunciation of citizenship or establish administrative procedures that are essentially impossible to complete.

Renunciation of citizenship is the most straightforward in those countries that recognize and strictly enforce a single citizenship. Thus, voluntary naturalization in another country is considered as "giving up" of one's citizenship or implicit renunciation. For practical reasons, such an automatic renunciation cannot officially take place until the authorities of the original country are informed about the naturalization. In Japan, a formal report is required from the renouncing person to be submitted at an embassy. Germany actively investigates whether its citizens living abroad have naturalized there when they apply for a passport, for instance in Canada German passport applicants have to [http://www.ottawa.diplo.de/Vertretung/ottawa/en/04/passports/UB_20passports.html submit a search of citizenship record] .

The United States requires that an expatriating individual attend a U.S. Embassy to expatriate. [ [http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_776.html Renunciation of U.S. Citizenship] from the United States State Department] During the procedure the individual must complete a number of documents, explain his or her reason for renouncing citizenship, and present evidence that the individual will not become stateless. Under normal procedures at the U.S. Embassy, they will not allow a U.S. citizen to become stateless; however, the U.S. law does not expressly forbid a U.S. citizen from becoming a stateless person. The formal confirmation of the loss of U.S. citizenship is provided by the Certificate of Loss of Nationality and is received by the renunciant a number of months later.

Canada and Australia are signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and renunciation is possible only if it will not result in statelessness [http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/applications/guides/CIT0302ETOC.html] [http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/128.pdf] . Applications for renunciation of citizenship need to be submitted in those countries with a waiting time of several months until approval.

Political radicals in the United States

In the United States, various radical organizations and individuals, sometimes collectively called the Sovereign Citizen Movement, attempt to renounce U.S. citizenship while remaining "common law" citizens of their states or counties. This is typically done to avoid payment of debts or taxes, as a form of tax protest. They claim various legal bases for doing so; these typically involve claims that the Fourteenth Amendment created a new and more onerous form of national citizenship that can be renounced by U.S. citizens, or that the U.S. government has enslaved its citizens by using them as collateral for foreign debts, but that through various documentary maneuvers you can "redeem" yourself from this servitude. A conspiracy theory explains why these secret legal maneuvers are not better known, and why public officials refuse to accept the claims made for them.

These maneuvers have no legal effect under U.S. law. [" [http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=74 Beyond Redemption] " - Southern Poverty Law Center intelligence report.] Renunciation of any sort of U.S. citizenship must be done on foreign soil. [U.S. State Department information, "supra".]

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