US Tax Issues for United States Expatriates With Dual Citizenship

Do you have your feet in more than one country?

You may have dual citizenship, or dual residency. You may live in one country and have citizenship in another. You may earn income in both. What do you do - and how do you file taxes?

By the way, world wide income is the name for everything that you earned over the year - everywhere. Most countries won't expect that you pay taxes on money that was earned in Country B, unless the grand total is considered extraordinary, and then everyone want to take a little bit more. What I earn in Croatia is taxed and paid in Croatia, what I earn from Hub pages (or anyone else) in the USA is recognized - and taxes separately - after reaching a certain minimal level. I will go into more details on that in a future Hub.

If you want to be together wherever you go, dual citizenship is the way to go. Having a passport into the country you are entering (or re-entering) into is the surest way of admittance into that country. No country will expressly forbid entry to its own citizens, barring some other express reason.

Children:

I gave birth to both my children in a foreign country. Born abroad, they were automatically qualified to become US Citizens because their mother (me) is an American citizen. All I had to do was to visit the US Embassy and bring them, with their father (both parents should be legally present) so that the embassy can see that these children really do exist! At that point, they received a document called Consular Report of Birth Abroad, which is a type of birth certificate. It is a beautiful, rainbow colored document (to discourage counterfeiting, I believe).

We applied using the US passport form online (see link) and bringing two 5x5 cm photos for their passports. The European ID has different photo dimensions, so be sure to check so you don't end up with the wrong size. The cost of applying for a passport is approximately $100 USD, payable in cash or credit card. The embassy does not want any documents in another foreign language nor will receive foreign currency. When you go to the embassy, you are in America - and god bless America!

The husband or wife of an American citizen may absolutely apply for citizenship. If he or she wishes. It is a bit of a hoop ring to jump through, with two trips to the US required within a relatively short time frame.

Another option besides citizenship is middle of the road solution called the Green Card.

The United States is somewhat unusual because it does not recognize any other citizenship other than its own.

For example, being a US citizen I am welcome to get European citizenry, only that the US will fail to recognize it!

Countries that DO recognize dual citizenship, like Croatia for example, take a more flexible approach. Their reasoning? "that silly US of A won't recognize us. But that doesn't bother us. Go ahead and keep your US citizenship if you like, and if you qualify, you can become a citizen here, as well."

In traveling to the US, bring your US passport to enter the United States. In returning to your new expat home, bring your foreign (other) passport with you to be admitted back into the country of your destination.