Overseas Exile

Australia Seeking Foreign Students

2013-06-11T17:51:00.000+02:00

Australia — the land of sunshine, drop bears and Olivia Newton-John — is working to make Australia an attractive destination for skilled expats. I've previously written about how Australia is making it much easier for skilled US workers to seek work in Australia, but now they've changed the Australian Temporary Graduate Visa to make it easier for international students to remain in Australia.

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PRISM's Impact on Europe

2013-06-08T18:41:00.001+02:00

Over on my personal blog, I've written a post about the US government's PRISM surveillance program. It's going to impact Europe, too, which is why I mention it here. In short: this program mean that many large US companies have been violating EU law and were probably explicitly lying about it. This is not going to end well.

A Trio of Painful Stories for Americans Abroad

2013-06-07T17:47:00.002+02:00

IRS Logo

Given the recent scandals involving the IRS, it's probably no surprise to anyone that the IRS has now been accused of "entrapment" of Americans who live abroad and — gasp! — have bank accounts where they live. Many of the punitive US laws against offshore bank accounts, such as FBAR, FATCA and others, and programs such as OVDP and OVDI are specifically intended to catch tax evaders. This is the IRS description of their objective for the OVDP (Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program) (emphasis mine):

The objective remains the same as the 2009 OVDP and 2011 OVDI – to bring taxpayers that have used undisclosed foreign accounts and undisclosed foreign entities to avoid or evade tax into compliance with United States tax laws.

But the problem is that many people abroad who have met all of their tax obligations but never knew about little-publicized laws are having huge portions of their assets confiscated, despite no demonstration of intent to avoid or evade taxes. The American Citizens Abroad director has this to say (again, emphasis mine):

“By luring them into the OVDP in a form of entrapment then hitting them with ruinous penalties based on the overseas assets, instead of using the discretion which was within IRS purview for benign actors, the IRS treated ordinary, hard-working Americans like criminals. Most of the unreported accounts were pension funds and basic financial accounts used for living expenses and were not being used to hide assets.”

In the next painful story, the Atlantic writes about the unintended consequences of these laws against expat banking. In particular, the article points out that the laws being passed will have little effect on the wealthy they're designed to target but will continue to hurt middle-class Americans who live abroad and have bank accounts for the sole purpose of paying their bills. After all, as I live in France, it would not be particularly easy or convenient for me to drive all of my banking through a US account.

Americans living abroad are also sometimes getting their bank accounts frozen due to the new US laws. Writes one lawyer from the Atlantic article:

“I know of one client whose parents live outside the US. They are in their 90s, and have a bank account in their home country. They added their son as a signatory because if they become incapacitated, they want him to have access to money to pay their bills. But their account has now been frozen because he's American. The bank wants the son to provide the last five years of his tax returns before it will unfreeze the account. He has had to hire a lawyer to sue the bank to let his parents access their own money.”

That article also discusses how some companies have simply stopped hiring Americans for jobs with signing authority over accounts because that would require these foreign firms to spend money and time reporting to the IRS, even if they have no US business. I have personally lost a business opportunity as a result of this.

And for the third painful story, a tax lawyer writes to the House Ways and Means committee to explain how US tax law for expatriates is hurting many innocent people. He talks about how Americans are often double-taxed on social security (this is usually in countries without tax treaties with the US — about two-thirds of the world's countries), how we're taxed on our retirement plans, and many other areas. While I've read that the Committee on Tax Reform was interested enough in the letter to fix the problem, I've no evidence that this is true. I list this as a "painful story" because this problem is still very real and I do not believe the government wants to fix it. When you have such factually void stories as this Mother Jones hit piece against Rand Paul (a man I otherwise don't particularly care for), it's hard to get politicians to look past the emotion and try to get to the truth. Nobody cares about the one in fifty Americans living abroad.

On the bright side, for most Americans living abroad, this actually won't impact you very much. You'll annually spend several hundred dollars filing a tax return with the US government but not owe any money. However, for those unlucky enough to get caught up in the IRS' web of hunting down those who fall afoul of little-publicized laws, it's a tough time being an expat. Of course, that's why we have far more Americans renouncing their citizenship than ever before.

Spit, Shoes, and Austin

2013-06-03T11:58:00.001+02:00

Austin Skyline at Night
Photo by LoneStarMike

I'm writing this from Austin, Texas. I grew up more or less in Texas and it's been 26 or 27 years since I've been back. I'm only here for three days where I'll be speaking at a conference, and while I'm looking forward to seeing some of my professional colleagues again, I'm really looking forward to meeting some family members I've not seen in years (or in some cases, ever). I'm also craving Tex-Mex cooking. I've not had proper Tex-Mex in a long time and in Europe it's almost invariably rubbish. As I explain to my European friends who tell me that they don't like Mexican food: "you've probably never had it."

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Why not retire to a cruise ship?

2013-05-31T12:39:00.000+02:00

Bermuda

A few years ago I took a cruise to Bermuda (lots of pics!) with a bunch of friends and had a blast (as an interesting bit of trivia, a documentary was made of that cruise and I'm briefly in one scene). If you've never been on board a cruise ship, you'll be astonished at modern ones. Imagine an expensive, upscale, shopping mall designed by someone with very poor taste. And instead of mall rats, you're rubbing elbows with a bunch of senior citizens and families. And sometimes, you're rubbing elbows with someone who's retired and lives there.

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The Public Hearing That Wasn't Public

2013-05-29T10:54:00.000+02:00

I'm just a little creeped
out by what's going on.

Over on her blog, Victoria Ferauge has an interesting account of her attendance at an EU Parliamentary meeting on FATCA. The meeting's exciting title was:

The fight against tax evasion - FATCA as a

step towards international automatic

exchange of information?

And it was described as a public hearing. I heard about it on short notice and wasn't able to attend, but Victoria and others around Europe took the trouble to head to Brussels to ensure their voices would be heard. The meeting was public, but you weren't allowed in the building.
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Why You Should See the World

2013-05-27T09:37:00.002+02:00

Wouldn't seeing it firsthand be better?
Photo by Carsten Ullrich

There's a very thought-provoking article at Why Young Americans Should Work Overseas. As is clear from the title, it's very much aimed at Americans but the main points are this:

University education in the US is not worth the return on investment.
The quality of life you get for your money is much better elsewhere.
US jobs aren't going to return.
It's time for everyone to explore the world.

While clearly not everyone is going to agree with the above reasons, I'm rather partial to the last one, if for no other reason than to see firsthand that the world is a much different place than what you see in the media. Still, I'll touch on all of these points as I have a front-row seat for the expat life.

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A Green Card for Africa?

2013-05-22T09:30:00.002+02:00

Africa. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1890
Public Domain Image

I've long wanted to post more information about jobs in Africa, but it's been hard to get solid information. Aside from a couple of classmates from the US who now live in Lilongwe, Malawi (who have a great blog, by the way), most people I know who are associated with Africa have come out of the continent, not gone to it.

Today, aside from some opportunities in Nigeria and South Africa, there doesn't appear to be much of a way to find permanent work in Africa aside from limited opportunities with NGOs. Believe it or not, some people would like to immigrate to Africa but African countries make this very hard to do.

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Best Country for Retirement?

2013-05-20T09:35:00.001+02:00

Quito, Ecuador
Photo by Marcio Ramalho

Thinking about retiring abroad? I've previously written about Ecuador being voted the best place in the world to retire and recently International Living readers again voted Ecuador to be the number one retirement spot in the world. With a three-bedroom apartment in a major city center costing $200 a month, you can imagine why it might be attractive to some. But maybe Ecuador's not your cup of tea? Here's a list of the top 22 retirement havens around the world, taking into consideration lifestyle, real estate costs, climate, and so on.

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Move to the UK on a "start up" visa

2013-05-17T08:14:00.000+02:00

Photo by Conor Ogle

For those of you who have thought about starting your own business, why not do it in the UK? Trying to become an expat and move to the UK is getting to be difficult (for non-EU citizens) as the UK is sharply curtailing immigration, but since June of 2011 they've had a Prospective Entrepreneur program, more commonly referred to as the Start Up Visa. It's surprisingly straight-forward.

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Teach English at a French University

2013-05-15T07:12:00.000+02:00

Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg, France
Photo by Francisco Antunes

You do not need to have a university degree to live and work in other countries. However, having a university degree does make life so much easier for those planning on becoming expats, as I saw again with my latest research. While doing my usual work trying to find new opportunities for you to live abroad, I stumbled across a very interesting article about applying for a job as a lecteur d'anglais in a French university.

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Violent Crime In the US

2013-05-13T10:44:00.004+02:00

Photo by Chang Liu

Pardon today's divergence; I'm still in shock. Today I started with the news and saw that 19 people were injured in a Mother's Day parade shooting in the US. Described by the FBI as "strictly an act of street violence", as if somehow that is more reassuring than terrorism. You have to wonder just how bad things have to get in the US before someone does anything. Sadly, due to overwhelming evidence that gun crime in the US has plummeted sharply in the past two decades, many in the US are using this as an excuse for inaction.

What they're ignoring is that gun murders in the US are far higher than the rest of the industrialized world. Just because we've improved this statistic doesn't mean that it's suddenly "acceptable." There's also another little statistic that many would rather you didn't know.
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The End of FATCA?

2013-05-10T10:10:00.000+02:00

Rand Paul, US Senator for Kentucky

For those outside the US who do not know who Rand Paul is, he's the son of Ron Paul, a US politician who's perennial quest for the presidency was at first met with mockery but eventually garnered enough support that it's widely believed that the Republican party deliberately locked him out of contention for the Presidency.

So why would I talk about Rand Paul in an expat blog?
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Stateless Americans and Renunciants

2013-05-08T08:57:00.001+02:00

So close ...
Photo by وسام زقوت

On the subject of renouncing one's citizenship, I previously reported that I only knew of two individuals who've renounced US citizenship without having another citizenship, making them "stateless". Being stateless, in this context, means "not having a legal nationality." There are many ways in which one can become stateless, with Palestinians being the most prominent example. Other examples stem from people being forced out of their country due to war, or being denied recognition by their home country. Sadly, the problem of statelessness is widespread, with an estimated 12 million people stateless around the world.
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A Class for Integrating into France

2013-05-06T09:37:00.000+02:00

Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix

"A government of the people, by the people and for the people." Does that sound familiar to anyone? That's actually the fundamental principle of the French republic, as enshrined in their constitution. In fact, as an American reading about French history and culture, I note how strong the parallels are between the two. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, separation of church and state, freedom of association, and so on. Despite superficial differences, the US and France have more in common than than either side seems to think and this was reinforced last Saturday when I attended the convocation à la formation civique, or my "call to civic education".

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Belgian Blue Card

2013-05-03T10:27:00.002+02:00

Bruge, Belgium
Photo by Wolfgang Staudt

In September of 2012, Belgium finally introduced their version of the European Blue Card. As with every country in the EU, the Belgian implementation of the Blue Card is unique and many Web sites appear to be reporting incorrect information. I've gone out to the French language Belgian government web site for Service public fédéral Emploi, Travail, et Concertation sociale, or their "Employment, Labor, and Social Services" web site and found the Belgian government's detailed explanation of their Blue Card laws.

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The Face of Islam in Europe

2013-05-01T09:39:00.003+02:00

Kahina Zed: The terrifying face of Islam

A friend of ours here in Paris, Kahina Zed, was recently in Canada with her partner and she met a bunch of Americans. After getting to know her for a couple of days, they were shocked to discover the horrifying truth: she's Muslim. They were incredulous, first assuming she was pulling their leg. With a drink in one hand and a cigarette in another, Kahina, who speaks French, English, Spanish and Arabic, is very proud of being a Muslim and, more importantly, she's practically the poster child for Islam in Europe, but you'd never know it from the news reports.

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Austrian Blue Card

2013-04-29T13:25:00.002+02:00

St. Wolfgang, Austria
Photo by Richard Taylor

If I had to do my move to Europe all over again, I'd seriously consider Austria. I've been there several times, it's a lovely country, the people are very friendly, and despite the occasional gay neo-Nazis running around, it's awesome. Now, thanks to the Austrian Blue Card, you can go there, too.
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Official European Blue Card Information

2013-04-24T08:39:00.000+02:00

Photo by openDemocracy

Sigh. So I promised that regular postings would continue this week, but I didn't expect our child minder to become gravely ill, nor our car to break down, leading this week to be unexpectedly complex. C'est la vie.

While I'm doing my consulting gig and keeping up this blog, I also research the European Blue Card. Meanwhile, my wife is also working on our company and to better assist clients with recruiting opportunities, she turned to the EU's official Web site and read their information about Blue Cards. It turns out that they have a country-by-country breakdown of Blue Card laws, but it's woefully inadequate. My wife was rather frustrated by this, so she contacted them and this is part of their response:
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International Recruiting

2013-04-19T10:34:00.002+02:00

La Grosse Cloche in Bordeaux
Photo by Joancharmant

Regular expat postings should continue next week. Today is the last day on my current contract and my new contract (and the company I'm building with my wife) starts next month. If your company is looking to expand their candidate search to include the world market, drop me a line. International recruiting is only one area of interest for our company, but it's the one you're most likely curious about if you read Overseas Exile.
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France: Kiss or Shake Hands?

2013-04-17T09:32:00.000+02:00

Skyline of La Défense business district in Paris
Photo by Rosss

Today's guest post is from Géraldine Lepere, the creator of Comme une Française, a web site aimed primarily at expat women who are new in France, but nonetheless is chock full of interesting tips. Today, she writes about whether or not you should kiss or shake hands in the office.
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Who's Hiring H1B Visa Workers in the USA?

2013-04-15T09:48:00.000+02:00

Still a dream for many people.
Image courtesy Biersaufer

My sincerest apologies for not posting last week. Between wrapping up my current contract, starting a new company, a (very mild) flu, having guests, and time off from work for an OFII meeting, I was a bit swamped last week.

I haven't written anything previously about the US H1B visa program, though I know I have a decent non-US readership. Part of this is because I don't find that visa route as interesting, but the politics of it are fascinating.
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A list of high-demand international jobs

2013-04-05T10:04:00.001+02:00

This job is global
Photo by Vaya

If you search for the "STEM" on this Web site, you'll find I've referenced it several times before. It's an acronym which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine. While there are plenty of opportunities for unskilled or younger would-be expats, for people who already have an established career, are considering a university degree, or have a family, teaching English in Thailand, while exciting, might not pay as much (note: South Korea sometimes pays TEFL teachers reasonably well). So what jobs are in demand abroad?

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UK/US family on verge of being split apart?

2013-04-03T16:44:00.000+02:00

Justice
Public domain image

Thanks to a lovely combination of US and UK law, this family is about to be split apart. Their son will be forced to live with one parent or another, in either the US or the UK.

If anyone with knowledge of immigration laws or who has the ear of a politician has any ideas about what they can do to help them, please do so! Spouses shouldn't be torn apart, not their children taken away, just because the governments have the cash register open.

The Cyprus Banking Disaster

2013-04-03T07:15:00.000+02:00

The Cypriot banking industry
Photo by Jonathan Boeke

By now you may have heard of the infamous Cyprus "haircut", a tiny little euphemism which obscures the fact that there's a serious issue with the European economy and rather than fix the underlying problem — a common currency without a common economic policy — Europe thought it would be a good idea to fix Cyprus' economic woes by partially paying for the national debt by confiscating part of the money that people had kept in Cypriot banks. Northern Cyprus, a state recognized only by Turkey, was once upset that Cyprus joined the EU, but now they may be having the last laugh.

That's a gross oversimplification, but it tells you in a nutshell what is scaring the hell out of a lot of people in Europe, including me. You see, as I'm going freelance in a few weeks, my wife and I have been looking at other countries to see if we could find a better cost of living. In fact, Cyprus was one of the countries we looked at before the government-sanctioned bank robbery occurred.
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