Ahh … The Sweet Taste of Victory

Withers Wins Victory on Behalf of U.S. Clients Seeking to Renounce Citizenship

In a press release dated March 3, 2015, the Withers Law Firm announced that it was successful in persuading the U.S. Department of State (DOS) to abandon its long-standing position of treating a U.S. citizen who is attempting to renounce his citizenship as being ineligible for a visa to visit the U.S. for business or for pleasure. As a way of background information, while a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN) letter is pending, a person attempting to renounce his citizenship remains a U.S. citizen and is thus ineligible for a visa to visit the U.S. either for business or for pleasure (U.S. citizens are not eligible for visas).

Without a U.S. passport and deprived of the opportunity to obtain a U.S. visa, Withers argued that such a person is deprived of his constitutional right to travel to the United States. Making matters worse, the practice of retaining/returning the passport and issuing/denying a visa varies from Embassy to Embassy making the process as arbitrary as the price of oil. With no clear guidance and a complete lack of consistent, it is no wonder why so many renunciants are on the brink of insanity.

Raising the argument to a level of constitutional magnitude, Withers argued that either “the U.S. passport be returned to a renunciant or a temporary visa be issued.” In the wake of hearing this, DOS abruptly changed its policy.

After intensive lobbying efforts by Withers, DOS amended its regulations in February 2015. As a result, “Consular Officers at U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world are now instructed to return U.S. passports to any recent U.S. citizen renunciant with travel plans to America.”

Original Post By:  Michael DeBlis

As a former public defender, Michael has defended the poor, the forgotten, and the damned against a gov. that has seemingly unlimited resources to investigate and prosecute crimes. He has spent the last six years cutting his teeth on some of the most serious felony cases, obtaining favorable results for his clients. He knows what it’s like to go toe to toe with the government. In an adversarial environment that is akin to trench warfare, Michael has developed a reputation as a fearless litigator.

Michael graduated from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He then earned his LLM in International Tax. Michael’s unique background in tax law puts him into an elite category of criminal defense attorneys who specialize in criminal tax defense. His extensive trial experience and solid grounding in all major areas of taxation make him uniquely qualified to handle any white-collar case.

   

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