Overseas American here. The whole paying tax and getting nothing out of it really sucks. I’ve been out over 10 years, here are some of my good and bad experiences.
Good:
1. When I first got here, super cheap drinks put on by the marines at the US embassy. People would get wasted and it was an obvious security threat so those parties don’t happen anymore.
Bad:
1. No access to covid vaccine despite paying taxes and not having vaccine access in local country for a while. This was a hot topic in many US expat communities. Globally, Embassy and consulate staff were all vaccinated but it was “bad optics” for overseas citizens to have vax access.
2. Brother (also citizen) was on a trip to Kilimanjaro as covid was kicking off. The Europe travel ban was announced so I tried calling the embassy for travel advice, not even a return call.
3. While I haven’t personally needed it, if the doo-doo hits the fan, you’re on your own. You pay for the cost of your own evac, even if it’s a Govt flight.
4. The annual pain and cost of tax filing and bank account reporting.
5. The ongoing pain of trying to get financial services as an overseas US citizen. Banks, stock brokers, etc don’t want you.
It’s my understanding that in French government, they have a specific representative for overseas citizens. In the US, our voices are scattered across 50 states (and homelanders don’t care about us) so we always get shaft.
Countries were not vaccinating permanent residents? I had no problem getting a vaccine as a foreigner in Turkey. I thought all countries would be like that.
I got the vax eventually. Given that I was a foreigner and under 40, I was at the back of the line to get my shots. My family back stateside were fully vaxxed a good 4 to 5 months ahead of me.
Good: 1. When I first got here, super cheap drinks put on by the marines at the US embassy. People would get wasted and it was an obvious security threat so those parties don’t happen anymore.
Bad: 1. No access to covid vaccine despite paying taxes and not having vaccine access in local country for a while. This was a hot topic in many US expat communities. Globally, Embassy and consulate staff were all vaccinated but it was “bad optics” for overseas citizens to have vax access. 2. Brother (also citizen) was on a trip to Kilimanjaro as covid was kicking off. The Europe travel ban was announced so I tried calling the embassy for travel advice, not even a return call. 3. While I haven’t personally needed it, if the doo-doo hits the fan, you’re on your own. You pay for the cost of your own evac, even if it’s a Govt flight. 4. The annual pain and cost of tax filing and bank account reporting. 5. The ongoing pain of trying to get financial services as an overseas US citizen. Banks, stock brokers, etc don’t want you.
It’s my understanding that in French government, they have a specific representative for overseas citizens. In the US, our voices are scattered across 50 states (and homelanders don’t care about us) so we always get shaft.
All that being said, I have no plans to renounce.