Second Citizenships, Residencies, and/or Temporary Relocation

It's chump change to get Croatian citizenship. I only had to pay the Croatian government $235 in 2018 to get it. I was granted it in 10 months. Likewise, getting the putovnica (passport) is easy as can be. I got my Putovnica at the Croatian Los Angeles consulate in the US as soon as I found out about ETIAS.

Remember that Croatia is very pro-EU, for obvious reasons that should never be mentioned (war), so I look at it as a form of insurance. I also use my Croatian citizenship primarily for healthcare, by the way. That is an awful thing to say, but I do believe in the Croatian nation and project and I am definitely Croatian-American, from a cultural standpoint. I have things to bring to the table.

Since both of your parents are legally Croatian citizens, you become Croatian under Article 4 through a form called a "citizenship affirmation" (if I am correct..I could be wrong. You should call, not email the consulate. I would call the LA consulate. They guy who answers the phone is both a Croatian lawyer and an electrical engineer. He really knows what he is talking about when it comes to citizenship matters, and knows them backwards and forwards). This is probably the form you need to fill out for your citizenship application: https://mup.gov.hr/UserDocsImages//2020/Obrasci/Dr%C5%BEavlj...

As you can see, the requirements are written on the bottom of the page.

You will need the Domovnica (citizenship certificates) for both of your parents.

The Croatian government almost never tells you this, but they will retrieve Domovnica, rodni list (birth certificates), etc., for around $67/document. You do that through the consulate you are assigned to, and that is who you mail with the check. This is the form you fill out to get these documents. You also need to make a copy of a driver's license or a national ID card, and enclose it in the envelope, as this is required too. I would also include a written statement with all of this: http://www.mvep.hr/_old/Portals/US/download/ZAHTJEV_ZA_DOSTA...

Typically, the consulates keep this information about retrieving documents under wraps, unless you are friendly with them, and you catch their interest...

But, this is typically the form one would fill out if applying for citizenship, especially if applying under article 11: https://mup.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/dokumenti/drzavljanstvo/ob...

See: https://americansoverseas.org/en/knowledge-centre/when-are-y...

These are the most important headers to look at:

* US Income Tax: How to Relinquish the Green Card

* Form I-407 or Letter of Intent to Abandon Resident Status

Both of my parents were American accountants, and my father was a CPA. So, I guess I have a different outlook on taxes. I do not see them as a big deal except for the fact that I take paying my taxes very seriously, and obviously I do my best when giving information. I always pay them on time. But, I just look at it like "paying my dues to society", whether or not I actually agree with it--which in this case really does not matter--as it is due, legally.

I am just stating this from purely a personal perspective, so please do not be offended. I know we all have different feelings about being taxed, double-taxed, etc.

By the way: I am not afraid of renouncing my US citizenship, even though I am culturally American and it would be harder to access my family.

The only reason why I do not: I have 2 rare immune-mediated neurological diseases affecting my peripheral nervous system. One of them I nearly died from, and is considered to be very rare, with case reports and small cohorts, at best, in the literature. The disease I have was discovered via National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funds, given to the Mayo Clinic, in the early 2000s. Ultimately, as problematic as the US is, they saved my life, along with the few thousand people diagnosed with this illness worldwide.

Please do not take offense to this. This will be infuriating, but I want you to understand the American mindset that causes this behavior.

Please know that I am found of Australians: In primary school, 2 of my neighbors were Australian, and I played with them every day. They were wonderful, very kind, loyal friends, and their family was amazing. In high school, one of my best friends at the high school was Australian, along with her sister. They were always kind to me and talked to me about thoughtful things. I have serious health problems, and one time I had a medical emergency (severe low blood glucose reaction) at school after hours, and her older sister took care of me for a what really was a long time, before adults could take over. I will be forever thankful to her and her family.

Everybody knows that Australia can be very cliquish, which really sets Americans off. While Australia does quite a phenomenal job of taking care of and looking after its citizens, if you are not a citizen then there is outright hypocrisy on that standard. This is awful to say, but it is true.

Just an example: you must be very healthy to become either a permanent resident or an Australia citizen (naturalizing via work--not marriage or descent), as there are medical inadmissability clauses in the immigration laws. Basically, if you cost more than $8,000 AUD/year total for both health care and other related social services, then you are medically inadmissable to Australia. If one of your immediate non-citizen family members in Australia exceeds this cutoff, then all of you cannot live permanently in Australia. It is brutal.

You also pay a lot for housing in Australia, and things are just not as well built or insulated there. It is an engineering problem, and Americans find it appalling. I posted this link in an r/IWantOut post, and prior to doing so, I said, "Australia truly is a great country, and its people take care of its own citizens, but there is going to be a serious housing crisis that is going to occur in the future. You need to be aware of this issue." Anyways, I got a TON of flak for it, by Australians, and rightfully so, as Australia is a great country:

Expert warns Australia could turn into slums in 20 years | 60 Minutes Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRSdiq3sOTc

Americans tend to find the "happy-go-lucky attitude" of some Australians to be appalling. In that sense, many Americans find Australians to be jarring and they get under Americans' skin.

As for American hypocrisy: Americans think that they are the center of the world. Many Americans think that we are the best country in the world, which is laughable at best. Those people are in for a rude awakening in the future. But, my point is, that in the past 4 years of Trump, American Empire has declined in reality about 40 years, due to Trump's "work".

Also, Americans are big on their BS "freedoms", in totally hypocritical ways. One could write books about it. It would actually be great satire.

We always had the strategic capacity, at least in theory, with our institutions and infrastructure (if Trump was not our president) to at least attempt the elimination strategy, although places like Australia and New Zealand have natural geographical advantages.

The problem is that very few Americans are willing to take pain in solidarity with others, for a short period of time, to potentially eliminate such a terrible infectious illness that will cause everyone even more pain long term.

In America, there is always a baseline level of fear and anxiety too, present all the time even pre-pandemic, which a president like Trump knows how to appropriate in "hits" of pain onto the right groups of people. Americans expect a lot of pain, just in general.

So, when Americans see failure (which is a very mild failure) in Australia from coronavirus leaks into the community, the Americans are doling out a "hit" of pain to you (Australians), in an "in your face way".

They are trying to say, "see social democracy and social solidarity don't work: you failed" and "see, look, we are better than you and for so many reasons" and "The pain you had to go through for those lockdowns never worked and never will work: you might as well give up--we have it better than you no matter what!"

Mostly, Americans are projecting this onto Australians: We (Americans) are better than you, because we never had to give up ANY of our freedoms: we can choose to live life on our own terms. Do not (you: Australians) tell us what to do with our country, which is the "best in the world".