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
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