quote:

Originally posted by Amanda:
I guess it differs from country to country, but from the superficial info provided, I'm left completely confused about just what the 'entrance free" pays for.

Is it a donation to the government or could it just just pay for a residence?

What about taxes?

Speaking as someone who's been checking out overseas retirement for years (mostly as a hobby), it seems to me being a dual citizen of the US requires in some cases paying taxes both to the add-on country and the US (possibly even inheritance taxes to both). Not that uber rich USians couldn't jigger the tax code so as to work around such requirements, but something tells me it's not *that* easy.

(FWIW the above caveats apply to dual Israel-Americans, among whom I count. You might have thought Israel would have been one of the countries to have been granted a tax "agreement" - exemption from US taxes, but unless the laws have changed, no...)

All of which only references retirees (with passive income), not those still earning. (It's really, really Byzantine.)

Then too I wonder about medical coverage and other perks (as we all know, Medicare doesn't cover citizens residing overseas). It's all well and good to have a back-up citizenship, but when it's not "just" a matter of fleeing an immediate catastrophe, there are many other costs to consider. (Note, many Israelis have long had secondary citizenship as a precaution, the dirty little motive being escaping a major war - something the generally poorer Sephardic Israelis are less able to afford).

quote:

Originally posted by Daniel:

quote:

Originally posted by Amanda:
I guess it differs from country to country, but from the superficial info provided, I'm left completely confused about just what the 'entrance free" pays for.

Is it a donation to the government or could it just just pay for a residence?

What about taxes?

Speaking as someone who's been checking out overseas retirement for years (mostly as a hobby), it seems to me being a dual citizen of the US requires in some cases paying taxes both to the add-on country and the US (possibly even inheritance taxes to both). Not that uber rich USians couldn't jigger the tax code so as to work around such requirements, but something tells me it's not *that* easy.

(FWIW the above caveats apply to dual Israel-Americans, among whom I count. You might have thought Israel would have been one of the countries to have been granted a tax "agreement" - exemption from US taxes, but unless the laws have changed, no...)

All of which only references retirees (with passive income), not those still earning. (It's really, really Byzantine.)

Then too I wonder about medical coverage and other perks (as we all know, Medicare doesn't cover citizens residing overseas). It's all well and good to have a back-up citizenship, but when it's not "just" a matter of fleeing an immediate catastrophe, there are many other costs to consider. (Note, many Israelis have long had secondary citizenship as a precaution, the dirty little motive being escaping a major war - something the generally poorer Sephardic Israelis are less able to afford).

Excuse my ignorance, but who are the Sephardic Israelis?