From: johnl@iecc.com   
      
   >>The US does not recognize renunciation of US nationality unless it is   
   >>done freely in front of a US consular official (or due to voluntary   
   >>service in another nation's armed forces).  In particular, we reject any   
   >>renunciation done as a condition of gaining another nationality, e.g. as   
   >>part of an oath of citizenship.   
   >   
   >I think that's an income tax thing.   
      
   No, it was Afroyim v. Rusk, a Supreme Court decision in 1967, which reversed   
   several other decisions going back to 1898 and said the only way to lose US   
   citizenship is to voluntarily renounce it.   
      
   Since then the Congress has indeed passed a bunch of laws that make it   
   hard to renounce your citizenship, and demand large payments to   
   compensate for all the taxes a nonresident would presumably stop   
   paying.   
      
   --   
   Regards,   
   John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",   
   Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. http://jl.ly   
      
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