Dual Citizenship
flyi...@my-deja.com
Read a small article on a Radio Sweden link. It said parlament was
studing the possibility of dual citizenship but was concered of people
living in Sweden to get health benifits.
Has anyone heard if they are leaning toward dual citizenship?Would it
be more costly on a retired couple to have dual citizenship(if and when
it is offered) or just part time resident status?
I have heard some tax horror stories on Sweden, most I dont know are
true or false. On the other hand, my grandmother received many social,
health and old age benifits for being a Swedish citizen.
We love Sweden and would like to have it as our second country. The
people have always been friendly and helpful. I feel safer in Sweden as
it seems to have a lower crime rate. Here in the USA many are gun crazy.
( Still love the USA though). Also I like the idea that Sweden is a
neutral country. If we could afford it, it would be nice to have a
little place in southern Sweden and live there 4 or 5 months of the
year.
We are not retirng for a number of years. Maybe by then the laws will
change and it may be possible to be a dual citizen in Sweden.
Tack sa mycket, Tom
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gwo...@my-deja.com
The recent Commission on Citizenship recommended changing the law to
allow dual citizenship, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of opposition
to the idea. So it may be enacted within a couple of years.
At present Swedes are not allowed dual citizenship. The American
position seems to be a bit ambiguous, if I recall correctly you lose
American citizenship if you receive foreign citizenship with the
intention of losing your American citizenship, some kind of Catch 22,
circular thinking like that. Although perhaps this is because the courts
redefined the previous regulations against dual citizenship. (Learned
all this in an article in a California newspaper several years ago about
how Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans were being encouraged by
Ireland and Italy to apply for citizenship, which they apparently
qualify for if they had one Irish or Italian grandparent.)
I've passed your letter on to Nidia, so something on those lines may be
appearing in "In Touch". I wouldn't want to hazard a guess on the tax
situation for pensioners. Swedish taxes are much higher than American
(so that I tend to giggle every time I hear an American politician
calling for tax cuts...you guys don't know how low your taxes are)
(personal opinion, not that of Radio Sweden). On the other hand we get a
lot for our taxes. The operation I had a couple of years ago cost me
something like 10 dollars, the birth of our first kid was free, by the
time the second was born we had to pay maybe 25 dollars.
So even if they are often cutting back and hiking fees here, every time
I hear the latest HMO debate or scandal on NPR, I'm glad I'm in Sweden.
I guess you get what you pay for.
To get back to your comments: If you live a certain amount of the year
here, you have to pay Swedish taxes. I assume you don't get full social
benefits unless you do. Americans abroad always have to file tax
returns, but if they pay taxes in another country, they don't owe
anything to the IRS.
Take care,
George Wood
Radio Sweden
In article <7mqn99$i4b$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,
jamese...@cwcom.net
I'm a half-Finn living in the UK. It would seem Sweden is not the only
Nordic country talking about dual citizenship. Finland, which has set
up an "Expatriate Parliament", is also on the same path. Finns, like
Swedes, at present can only hold one nationality.
However, it looks like it could be on the way to changing. The Finnish
President, Martti Ahtisaari, has expressed support for the idea of dual
citizenship being allowed. So, it may be just a question of time , as
in Sweden.
Thanks Radio Sweden for what is the best programming out of
Scandinavia. (Which is why I listen to it, in addition to Radio Finland
from Yleisradio).
James
St Albans, England
In article <7n6es0$jgl$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,
flyi...@my-deja.com
> Hej James,
Thanks for posting about possible Finnish dual citizenship in future.
Interesting that both Finland and Sweden are finally thinking about
changing their laws in regards to dual citizenship.
My wife and I are hoping that Sweden eventually does offer dual
citizenship and the USA will allow it. We got confirmation from the
Swedish Embassy on what George Wood said.
Alas, at this time Sweden does not offer dual citizenship.
So for now we are trying to get information on the "resident status",
and what taxes we as a future retired couple would pay in Sweden to
live there partime (about 4 or 5 months of the year), and what benifits
we would receive.
If medicare is still around in the USA when we retire and with our
health insurance we would be OK for medical care in the USA. Willing to
pay our fair share of Swedish taxes partime but dont know
if being a "resident partime" in Sweden we would be eligible for health
benifits and retired benifits.
I would be too old to be used in the Swedish military( who would want
to draft an old retired man). Also we are not going to run for public
office.
Would NEVER want to lose our US citizenship. but living in Sweden
partime we would like to be able to vote and do other things Swedish
citizens are allowed to do.I think that would only be possible with
dual citizenship.
Sweden is such a beautiful country with friendly people.
We really do hope Sweden changes its laws and the US would be more
flexable too.
YES, I agree with you on Radio Sweden being one of the best radio
broadcasts. I have been a listener for over 25 years and Radio Sweden
has always been my favorite.
and...@my-deja.com
> Read a small article on a Radio Sweden link. It said parlament was
> studing the possibility of dual citizenship but was concered of people
> living in Sweden to get health benifits.
>
> Has anyone heard if they are leaning toward dual citizenship?Would it
> be more costly on a retired couple to have dual citizenship(if and
when
> it is offered) or just part time resident status?
It might be worth mentioning that Swedish nationality (and nationality-
type rights) are already moderated by Sweden's membership in the EU,
and its treaty obligations to Nordic Council members.
Nationals of EEA member countries (the EU 15 plus Norway, Iceland and
Liechtenstein) have establishment rights (so that the authorisation of
residence required for naturalisation is not discretionary on the part
of the Swedish authorities).
The Nordic treaties allow cross-border settlement, and in addition
provide that residence in one Nordic country shall, under appropriate
circumstances, be deemed residence in any other for naturalisation
purposes:
Relevant treaties: nationality acts, Copenhagen, 21 Dec. 1950, 90 UNTS
3, No. 1222 (1951); passport waiver agreement, Copenhagen, 22 May 1954,
198 UNTS 29 (1954); nationality, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden,
Copenhagen, 25 Jan. 1969, 667 UNTS 73, No. 91491 (1969); common labour
market, Copenhagen, 6 Mar. 1982, 1347 UNTS 36, No. 22678 (1984).
The above allow for easy change of nationality and restoration of the
original nationality subsequently.
Many European countries have liberalised the rules regarding to dual
(or multiple) nationality: Germany as recently as last month
(Bundesgesetzblatt I Nr. 38,
http://www.bundesanzeiger.de/bgbl1f/b1findex.htm )
Can Sweden be far behind?
Involuntary dual nationality due to the equal treatment of men and
women (and hence different nationalities passing to a child from the
mother and the father) has greatly increased the number of dual
nationals all over Europe, including Sweden. Involuntary dual
nationality can't easily be proscribed without violating human rights
norms; very few European states try to force dual nationals to divest
themselves of the "other" nationality at or prior to majority.
Andy