My story began in the early ‘80s (or so I thought) when we closed our family business in Western Canada, and considered moving to the U.S. to join friends who had moved there two years earlier. Our daughter had been accepted to a U.S. College in Indiana, which was quite an independent choice of hers.

In considering our options, we learned of a little known U.S. law that stated that anyone born before 1947 of U.S. born parents, could receive their U.S. Citizenship without any category attached, by notifying the U.S. government of our existence. I qualified. My father was 6 years old when his family moved to Alberta from North Dakota, and my mother was 2 years old when her family moved to Alberta from South Dakota. At the time, Canada was under British rule, and in order for people who moved to Canada to get farmland, the father needed to apply to be a British Subject. When approved, the status of British Subject would be apply to his entire family.  I was born as a British subject, seven years before Canada became an independent nation. All those living in Canada in 1947, automatically became Canadian citizens.

Back to the ‘80s! I received my U.S. citizenship, our daughter claimed her green card, AND we decided to stay home in Canada, where we were born and raised. My newly acquired U.S. passport went into a “memento box” never again to see the light of day, our daughter married her best friend and lives in Western U.S., and her green card helped her in her early days of working (until her career change, becoming a full-time mother and homemaker). We have visited many parts of the U.S., have many longtime and new friends from coast to coast, and visit our daughter and family three times a year, all on my Canadian passport.

In 2012, I was informed that the U.S. Government was trying to find all U.S. citizens living outside of the U.S. because of unpaid taxes. Well, that didn’t apply to me; I wasn’t born there, I never lived there, I never owned property there, I never used my passport there. Wrong! There was  one year of amnesty granted if I told the U.S. government that I exist (dah! They gave me the citizenship!) AND then I would only have to declare my Canadian assets for the past three years. WHAT?  It was then that I discovered that the citizenship that I received in the 1980s was dated on my birth date. What a lot of hooey! However, if I didn’t comply (according to the well-known International Accounting firm that we hired), and the U.S. government found me, the penalties would be severe and I would be barred from the U.S. I certainly didn’t want to be barred from our family. I complied, and you would be shocked if I told you how much we had to pay the Accounting firm to date.

My plan for future actions:

• Fire the Accounting firm
• Recind my U.S. citizenship ... but not my friends!
• Live my remaining days as a Canadian citizen; born in the true North, strong and free!

This is my story and I’m sticking to it … !

Tags: Government History Family