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Derek Sivers Renounces his US Citizenship

federalregister.gov

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Re: Derek Sivers Renounces his US Citizenship

#171

Post by michaelcampbell »

jebblue wrote: post #166
michaelcampbell wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the guy in the story you're linking to overstayed his visa by over 6 mos. This cannot be seriously considered an "oversight", and Singapore is not known for leniency to lawbreakers, which he clearly is. He rolled the dice, and lost.

I agree they were enforcing their laws but to me they seem a bit harsh. I'm glad that in the US you don't get harsh punishment for being here illegally.

...yet. Will be interesting to see what happens after the next presidential election.

Re: Derek Sivers Renounces his US Citizenship

#172

Post by jebblue »

michaelcampbell wrote: post #171
jebblue wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree they were enforcing their laws but to me they seem a bit harsh. I'm glad that in the US you don't get harsh punishment for being here illegally.

...yet. Will be interesting to see what happens after the next presidential election.

I think the US will never create a law stating to cane people who are caught here illegally; regardless who occupies the White House.

Re: Derek Sivers Renounces his US Citizenship

#173

Post by michaelcampbell »

jebblue wrote: post #172
michaelcampbell wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...yet. Will be interesting to see what happens after the next presidential election.

I think the US will never create a law stating to cane people who are caught here illegally; regardless who occupies the White House.

I agree, but there are other ways to do "harsh punishment". Still, I get your point; the US will probably never be as harsh as many other places.

Re: Derek Sivers Renounces his US Citizenship

#174

Post by woe »

Mz wrote: post #169
woe wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany has a very restrictive dual nationality policy. Though technically their rules do permit an immigrant to apply to be permitted to keep his original nationality, this is not something you can expect.

Thanks for replying, though I seem to have given the wrong impression. I am a former military wife. One of my children was born in Germany. I have told him it would be a bad idea to just show up in Germany. My understanding is he has dual citizenship and could potentially be drafted. The discussion here made me wonder if there might be more info online regarding potential repercussions of his status. I have no plans…

Ah, OK.

Germany has always been a "jus sanguinis" country, meaning that the basic principle of its nationality law is blood descent. This stands in contrast with "jus soli" countries like the United States where the basic principle is place of birth. A child born in Germany is not automatically a German national. It used to be that birth on German soil was completely irrelevant to questions of nationality, but children born in Germany since 2000 can acquire German nationality by birth if one of the parents was a long-term permanent resident. I question whether a military baby would qualify, as a soldier stationed in Germany would presumably not be there under a German permanent residence permit.

Assuming for the sake of argument that your son did have German nationality, he would certainly be subject to the draft - if it still existed. Germany ended compulsory service last year. But this does point to a larger issue: anybody with multiple nationalities is fully subject to all the legal obligations imposed on citizens of each country.

(I am not an immigration lawyer, but I've sent a lot of time researching nationality issues. I've also spent some time in German embassies: I have a German wife and a child who is therefore also German by virtue of jus sanguinis.)

Re: Derek Sivers Renounces his US Citizenship

#175

Post by Mz »

woe wrote: post #174
Mz wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for replying, though I seem to have given the wrong impression. I am a former military wife. One of my children was born in Germany. I have told him it would be a bad idea to just show up in Germany. My understanding is he has dual citizenship and could potentially be drafted. The discussion here made me wonder if there might be more info online regarding potential repercussions of his status. I have no plans…

Ah, OK. Germany has always been a "jus sanguinis" country, meaning that the basic principle of its nationality law is blood descent. This stands in contrast with "jus soli" countries like the United States where the basic principle is place of birth. A child born in Germany is not automatically a German national. It used to be that birth on German soil was completely irrelevant to questions of nationality, but childr…

Thank you very much. That makes me wonder if I qualify as a dual citizen. My mother is German and did not make her American citizenship until I was 18. My father is American and I was born in the U.S., so I definitely have American citizenship.

Also, I will note that the son in question is in his early twenties. So it sounds like he is not a dual citizen and does not need to worry about the draft..etc.

Again, thanks!

Re: Derek Sivers Renounces his US Citizenship

#176

Post by noahc »

noahc wrote: post #163
patrocles wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

~20M dollar exit; in the US, trusts have to pay out 5% per year; he has a ~1M income provided the trust invests well.

My understanding is that ~1M a year isn't enough to justify most people loosing their US citizenship over. However, Derek isn't exactly most people. My general sense on the issue is that money, in particular taxes, is something Derek worries about.

just noticed this. I wanted to say, "Not something he cares about"

Re: Derek Sivers Renounces his US Citizenship

#177

Post by woe »

Mz wrote: post #175
woe wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, OK. Germany has always been a "jus sanguinis" country, meaning that the basic principle of its nationality law is blood descent. This stands in contrast with "jus soli" countries like the United States where the basic principle is place of birth. A child born in Germany is not automatically a German national. It used to be that birth on German soil was completely irrelevant to questions of nationality, but childr…

Thank you very much. That makes me wonder if I qualify as a dual citizen. My mother is German and did not make her American citizenship until I was 18. My father is American and I was born in the U.S., so I definitely have American citizenship. Also, I will note that the son in question is in his early twenties. So it sounds like he is not a dual citizen and does not need to worry about the draft..etc. Again, thanks!

If you're older than 37 you're probably out of luck, since before 1975 Germany operated a lovely double standard: citizenship was transmitted based on the father, not the mother.

Have a look here: http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/FAQ/Staatsange...

Re: Derek Sivers Renounces his US Citizenship

#178

Post by Mz »

woe wrote: post #177
Mz wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you very much. That makes me wonder if I qualify as a dual citizen. My mother is German and did not make her American citizenship until I was 18. My father is American and I was born in the U.S., so I definitely have American citizenship. Also, I will note that the son in question is in his early twenties. So it sounds like he is not a dual citizen and does not need to worry about the draft..etc. Again, thanks!

If you're older than 37 you're probably out of luck, since before 1975 Germany operated a lovely double standard: citizenship was transmitted based on the father, not the mother. Have a look here: http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/FAQ/Staatsange...

Again: Thanks.
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