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Why Americans Are Going Abroad

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Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#21
post #19

Bloody immigrants. Go back to your own country. Oh wait, sorry, Americans aren't immigrans, they're expats. My bad. Double standards on immigration are pretty shitty.

Most people don't say that. But nice strawman you building.

Millions of people want to come to America. Most countries don't have open borders I am not sure why America is expected to.

Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#22
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other than president who can you vote for? Who represents a US citizen's interests when living abroad? Some never have been to the Unites States and have no home state. Yet they are required to file and pay taxes.

You can vote in the state you last resided in or even the place you feel is 'home' in the US. I still participate in Oregon elections, for example. http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/leg... I don't know the details for people who have never lived in the US, but they are entitled to vote, being citizens. Being forced to pay taxes is an unwelcome burden with few benefits, but you can vote if you l…

Parent's point is that your Oregonian congressman is not looking out for your interests but those of his resident-constituents. If emigrants comprise a population roughly equivalent to Maryland, why don't they get their own representation?

Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#23
post #15

Immigration is complex but what I hate is the BS and half lies that are told like this author does. "We debate immigration and border controls for Mexico ad nauseum, yet, on the whole, the typical immigrant isn’t Mexican." Like many newspapers the author is trying to blur the line between legal and illegal immigrant. The reason we are talking about border controls is because yes most come from Mexico. The typical per…

It seems part of the problem is that:

> You have a great passport and can come back to a country that has a wealth of opportunities that are not available in most other places and in some cases no where else.

could be said about many other countries which don't tax non-residents on their financial affairs in the country in which they've chosen to live. So I think some find it hard to see how the US can justify it.

Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#24

For comparison, when asked in the UK Parliament, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs gave an estimate for the number of British nationals living abroad of around 13 million people. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/v... Which given the UK population of 64 million, is a massive diaspora and completely dwarfs the 7.5 million foreign-born residents in the UK. edit - these…

It's the legacy of colonialism. There is an assumed right for Brits to go anywhere we want. It looks like a majority of the Brits abroad are in Commonwealth countries, which is sort of what I'd expect. Over a million in the US!

If you look closely at UK newspaper comments/letters complaining about immigration, quite a few of them are from people living in Spain. And one of the more notorious anti-immigrant columnists lives in Florida, IIRC.

Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#25
post #19

Bloody immigrants. Go back to your own country. Oh wait, sorry, Americans aren't immigrans, they're expats. My bad. Double standards on immigration are pretty shitty.

I know quite a lot of first generation immigrants who call locals "foreigners." Seems especially common among east asians, I always assumed it's just a translation of language that makes sense in (eg) China (non-chinese = foreigners) that doesn't make literal sense in the new context but just stays a part of the language. Not everything is malicious.

Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#26
post #23
post #15

Immigration is complex but what I hate is the BS and half lies that are told like this author does. "We debate immigration and border controls for Mexico ad nauseum, yet, on the whole, the typical immigrant isn’t Mexican." Like many newspapers the author is trying to blur the line between legal and illegal immigrant. The reason we are talking about border controls is because yes most come from Mexico. The typical per…

It seems part of the problem is that: > You have a great passport and can come back to a country that has a wealth of opportunities that are not available in most other places and in some cases no where else. could be said about many other countries which don't tax non-residents on their financial affairs in the country in which they've chosen to live. So I think some find it hard to see how the US can justify it.

Except the passport obviously not all of it as I said. If you are paying that much tax then paying $2k to not be American isn't that high.

Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#27
post #15

Immigration is complex but what I hate is the BS and half lies that are told like this author does. "We debate immigration and border controls for Mexico ad nauseum, yet, on the whole, the typical immigrant isn’t Mexican." Like many newspapers the author is trying to blur the line between legal and illegal immigrant. The reason we are talking about border controls is because yes most come from Mexico. The typical per…

Three reasons:

1. The US is the only country in the world whose citizens must declare and pay taxes even when they're living out of the country.

2. The paperwork involved is a royal pain in the neck.

3. Failure to do it subjects you to ridiculously high fines.

Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#28
> there was only one country that had received more historic migration from the US than the US had received from it: Australia

In NZ we call Australia "the 52nd state", but perhaps it's now taken "the 51st state" title from Canada!

Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#29
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many countries (including Israel, where I live) have tax treaties with the US. You still need to file US taxes every year, but any money you pay toward your country of residence counts toward your American taxes, up to a certain ceiling. The fact that US income tax is lower than those in most other countries means that such people will almost never paying any actual tax -- and, believe it or not, are even entitled to…

> The fact that US income tax is lower than those in most other countries means that such people will almost never paying any actual tax -- and, believe it or not, are even entitled to a tax refund from the US government. After you exhaust the foreign-earned income credit (which is roughly 90K), you're basically paying the higher of US and local tax. And it's not always lower e.g. Americans in Hong Kong will end up p…

The netherlands at least has a "highly skilled migrant" system wherein you are refunded a chunk of your dutch taxes. This results in paying a similar amount to the US.

Re: Why Americans Are Going Abroad

#30
post #19

Bloody immigrants. Go back to your own country. Oh wait, sorry, Americans aren't immigrans, they're expats. My bad. Double standards on immigration are pretty shitty.

Actually no. I want to live at least for a short time in US, so I will either try to get some of the visas or start a company there, or hope to win the green card lottery or any other legal venue. I would never under any circumstances cross a border illegal or without respecting the country borders and laws.

Crossing a border/ living somewhere without legal permit is direct attack against the sovereignty of a country. And that is why I will support deporting (or shooting while crossing the border) any person that enters without a valid visa at a valid border entry port worldwide.

Americans living abroad are usually in possession of full stack of legal documentation allowing them to live there.

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