This is not a post

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

I’m sorry, guys, I had a post started, but my brain has been hijacked by dealing with the unbelievable stupid of foreign bureaucracy.

In the aftermath of dealing with mom’s estate the Portuguese government has decided that I HAVE to be a dual citizen, even though I’m no way a dual citizen.

To wit, I followed the procedure at my naturalization ceremony, of mailing back my passport with a letter renouncing citizenship. I don’t know of any other procedure to do this.

Also so far as I know the US does NOT recognize dual citizenship except for minor children, though we turn a blind eye to it.

To make it perfectly clear: I haven’t had a Portuguese passport in 37 years. My marriage is not even registered in Portugal, nor did I bother to notify them of my name change. My kids were never registered in Portugal and therefore not dual citizens. All my entries into Portugal since 1988 have been on my AMERICAN passport. I couldn’t be more of a non-Portuguese citizen if I had never set foot in the place.

However for inscrutable reasons, possibly having to do with idiocy and taxes, they very badly want to claim this.

I’m very, very close to leading a Hun raiding party to hit them with dictionaries till they get over their illusions. And only because I’m informed a private citizen cannot declare war on a country.

At this point, I want a document saying “I was never Portuguese. You took advantage of my being an infant to falsely imprison me for 25 years.” But they’d probably refuse to get THAT too.

I’m going to try a notarized letter politely (AH!) informing them I renounced the citizenship. (Should I also include some sand I shook from my sandals?)

If it weren’t for the fact that I’d like to see dad once more, and therefore don’t want to be persona-non-grataed before the end of October, I’d turn Heinlein’s picture to the wall, roll up my sleeves and tell them exactly what I think in this post.

Since I can’t, I’ll try the… polite way.

Post tomorrow.

153 thoughts on “This is not a post”

  2. There’s a photo I shared elsewhere recently, in which an inscription over a door reads, “PLEASE GOD NOT PEOPLE,” and although I believe it’s meant as an admonition, the lack of comma allows me to interpret it as the prayer I pray all the time anyway.

    And now I shall pray that for you as well. Because @$&*+%£€¥π√§∆ PEOPLE.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Sarah, you have cats. I’m sure they think they’re People, and I’m also sure there’s furrin’ involved somewhere….. and everywhere.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Now, I can see the choice of your unctuation, but I heard a far less enthusiastic version in my head. A resigned, nearly silently spoken plea to the Good Lord to save the wretched soul from an onslaught of people.

        Liked by 1 person

          1. Yeah, “unctuation” isn’t quite a word, or at least not the one I thought I had typed! Maybe ululation would do for your reading of that phrase.

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            2. Etymologically unctuation would seem to be applying an oil or ointment to something or someone. The sacrament of confirmation might be an example. But it could also be buttering someone up, metaphorically.

              Liked by 1 person

  3. They obviously think they can get some money from you. California tries this with people who have left the state years ago or never lived or worked there. Don’t admit you ever made a single escudo from them.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I could see California trying that, but they didn’t do it with me. They accepted my filing a partial year residency tax return in 2020 (from a Kansas address), and a couple of years ago they sent me a formal notice that I was no longer registered to vote in California. The hardest part was changing our auto registration from California to Kansas (partly because that was a three-way deal: the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the Kansas Department of Revenue, and the lender), but even that got sorted out handily when I managed to talk with a human being in the DMV. Just lucky, I guess.

      I have to say that when we drove across the Colorado River I thought of Moses crossing the Red Sea and leaving behind his people’s Egyptian bondage. . . . But damn it, the Atlantic Ocean ought to be wide enough!

      Liked by 2 people

      2. When we moved to very southern Oregon, we traded the fairly new Ford Focus for a 4WD pickup–necessary due to snow/ice/mountains. Apparently, the dealership doesn’t have to tell California that the car had been traded. I got a registration renewal bill a couple months later, and proceeded to ignore it. That was followed by a dunning letter, threatening the direst of direness if I didn’t pay up. I wanted to see what the next level would be (all of this was getting forwarded from the old Cali address), but $SPOUSE wrote back, telling them the car was gone.

        We used to have family in California, but when MIL passed, we did a couple stops at Lava Beds Nat’l Monument, then we decided that we wouldn’t set foot or tire prints in Cali again. Nothing there attracts us any more.

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        1. About a year later, we elected to extract all pension funds from the California-based companies we had worked for. Not huge amounts of money, but enough to be attractive to the leeches in Sacramento.

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          2. Still drawing on CALPERS – but they don’t withhold CA taxes unless you live in CA, and won’t withhold for any other state. Thus my quarterly estimated tax payments to OR.

            Order of operations can be important to government functionaries. We moved to OR, and got OR car insurance, cancelling the CA version; it was a bunch cheaper in OR. Shortly thereafter, CA DMV sent a nastygram saying that since our car was no longer insured, they were going to cancel our registration.

            Oops.

            Since we still had a loan on the car, getting it registered in OR was Taking A While. Couldn’t afford to risk a ticket for unregistered vehicle (with California plates! – the horror!) so sent CA proof of OR insurance and some fee like $10 to soothe the savage beast.

            Many moons ago, was a clerk during tax season for CA FranchiseTax Board. Got to open envelopes and sort returns (anyone else ever used a Tingle Table?), bundle them (by weight!) for the next unit to stamp numbers on every frickin’ page and enclosure. (By hand with mechanical hand numbering stamps. Lots of the folks in that unit were deaf**, a real advantage. Ka-CHUNK! ka-Chunk! ka-CHUNK! for hours). Got to see returns for a few Hollywood types (Lucille Ball, for one), a bunch of wealthy doctors, and watched a supervisor hand-carry Gov. Reagan’s return through the system.

            ** also learned how to swear, a little, in the local dialect of ASL.

            Saw a lot of CA 540NR – non-residents – from sports figures, who were taxed on that portion of their compensation earned at games/matches in CA.

            Clerk 1 (seasonal) wasn’t a career, but it wasn’t too bad. Hated the hours, though.

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            1. Aunt worked for Oregon tax department until she retired, 20+ years ago. She processed family tax returns through the system when she could. We’ve always, even now, snail mailed in state returns (if they want payment to electronic return, they get snail mail). Now all the tax department has to do is use a scanner because of the embedded data barcode, VS hand enter.

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              1. I got twitchy about snailed tax returns when OR-Revenue said they never received a copy of the F-1040 and “adjusted” my return. A phone call and a coldly polite appeal letter did the trick, but subsequent years included a cover letter.

                The last straw for snailed returns was when my Oregon tax return never made it to the state. It was either send via certified mail (which we’d done occasionally) or go E-file. The Flyover Falls post office was closed for sorting under Obama, then the Medford one closed under Biden. Even local mail has to go up to Portland for sorting. And lossage. I pay the occasional local bill in person.

                Liked by 1 person

                1. We, hubby and I, and son’s, send state returns certified tracking snail mail. Mom doesn’t but then technically she doesn’t have to file either feds or state ($0 owed at either level for almost 2 decades).

                  Aware of the Portland sorting. Sending mail across town? Mail goes on a journey traveling to Portland and back. Have tracked mail from Eugene, to Portland, Eugene, Medford, Portland, Grantspass, Portland, Baker, Portland, back to Eugene, and finally delivered. A leash for the dog custom made by local. The local maker, and dog community (trainer, and agility group) got a kick out it. What can one do, but laugh?

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                2. I always send snail mail, registered, receipt required. There have been several times the IRS has sent me letters saying they never received my tax return. The last time I sent them a photocopy of the receipt telling them than making false statements on official documents is a federal crime. They never replied back.

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        2. I would like to visit the San Diego Zoo again, and C (my wife) dreams of seeing Yosemite. But the trip would be expensive and the cultural milieu is too crazy.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Hubby is from San Diego. Mention going back and he swears. We’ve made our last trip to Yosemite. Not bad if one can take the east side route and come in through the high country. But although we went during the “off season” (so high country route not open), driving through central valley then Yosemite valley itself? OMG Yosemite not as bad as in season when the timed entries are required, but still bad. Too many people. We’ve made our last trip.

            Liked by 1 person

        3. There are two vehicles on our DMV that we haven’t owned for 15 to 20 years. One we sold, buyer must of took out of state somewhere. The other we traded in and the dealer took it out of state (I guess). Will take VIN # to get them off via online (we didn’t keep that). Probably could make an appointment to deal with in person. Not insured. Nothing from DMV.

          Threatening letter reminds me of the threatening letter we got from Washington state on hubby’s ’58 Plymouth, in mid-’80s that we never registered in Washington state. They weren’t wrong that it should have been. But we “replaced” and parked it almost immediately on private property after we moved into the state. By the time the state complained (someone turned us in, not hidden) it was not moving on it’s own for the required “Vin inspection” trip. Grass growing through parts of the base, and no breaks. Still ran, I think. State letter said “license it”. Called and said “no”. State said “will confiscate”. Asked “when are you picking it up?” State rep hung up, the coward. Sold it to someone for body parts rather than try to move it back when we came back to Oregon.

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    3. Mac, I am not familiar with either Portuguese law or Sarah’s specifics, but I have had to deal with CA, NY, and Canada after consulting engagements, and I suspect the problem is here:

      In the aftermath of dealing with mom’s estate

      That probably means that the probate process started, and if her mother left her (or the boys, probably) so much as a first grade coloring book page, they are claiming that as having gained value while on Portuguese territory and therefore she had assets there.

      The Portuguese words for hyenas, jackals, vultures, and maggots are re-entering Sarah’s vocabulary with unusual velocity…..

      Liked by 3 people

    4. Maine did this to me. Claimed taxes on all money made in the year, though I worked 5 months there. In medicine, it’s “known” that California does this so don’t go temp there. Don’t know if it’s currently true, but just one more reason to avoid California.

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      1. My last contract requiring physical presence in CA was 2016, and it was still a thing then.

        OTOH, Canada tried to get money out of me in 2024 for a contract in 2014, so I’m not relaxing vigilance….

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    5. Maine did this to me. Claimed taxes on all money made in the year, though I worked 5 months there. In medicine, it’s “known” that California does this so don’t go temp there. Don’t know if it’s currently true, but just one more reason to avoid California.

      Liked by 1 person

    6. Many years ago, California tried to assert it’s right to tax your pensions that you earned living in California even if you now lived in Texas or Florida. They claimed that you had gotten the tax deferral in CA, so you now owed them tax on the income when you withdrew it. Took about 9 months for the US Supreme Court to slap them in the ass for that one.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. NYC also tried to tax its Florida expats. SCOTUS broke out the rolled-up statute, and they did smite the wicked…

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  4. Dual citizenship was legalized in the Clinton years. I was astonished years ago when a colleague (with a Secret clearance) told me he was a dual citizen of USA and Mexico. Was not legal when I was growing up.

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      1. Yes, I also remember the phrase “…and forever renounce any allegiance to any foreign prince or potentate.” Loved that last word.

        I found this https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/Relinquishing-US-Nationality/Dual-Nationality.html which appears to give the current rules. Fascinating, particularly the bit that you can be naturalized in another country and retain your US citizenship. It also mentions you may be a dual citizen simply because of the laws of the two countries involved.

        I remember reading years ago the case of a Moroccan immigrant to Holland who was naturalized there, renouncing his Moroccan citizenship in the process. Apparently Morocco said not so fast, we don’t recognize such a declaration, and you’re still subject to the military draft. Oops. It was quite a legal fight, I don’t remember how it ended up. Part of the problem is that Dutch law (at the time) like some other countries said that serving in a foreign military causes loss of citizenship.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. I think the biggest reason for our silence on dual citizenship, bluntly, is Israel. Every Jew theoretically is a citizen of Israel should they choose to exercise the Right of Return. When that was announced, the ancestors of the groypers used it as another basis for the “dual loyalty” bullshit, and were using that “forever renounce any allegiance to any foreign prince or potentate.” to try and claim that if you kept the Right of Return instead of renouncing it, you were in violation and had renounced American citizenship instead. It’s the kind of mindless nonsense that has me thinking longingly of Gordian solutions, but I can ignore it until they “make me care”.

          It also kept various other dictator regimes from trying to impede American citizenship for their refugees by refusing to recognize the renunciation of their old citizenship.

          Liked by 1 person

      2. I believe the USA dual citizenship ruling was that a
        native born USA citizen” could not have their citizenship removed by government ruling. As naturalized into the USA the ruling would not apply.
        OTOH those with unintentional USA citizenship (being born in the USA or having one parent (later separated) as a USA citizen) are the ones with serious difficulties in attempting to remove it.

        Liked by 1 person

        2. My sister was born in Belfast, because we were staying with my father’s parents at the time. (My paternal grandfather was born and raised in Belfast). On that basis — being born in Ireland and having an Irish grandparent, the Republic of Ireland offered her citizenship. (I have the same Irish grandparent, of course, but I wasn’t born in Ireland, so that option was not available to me). She was a U.S. citizen from birth (two citizen parents), but because she planned to spend some time traveling in Europe as a young adult, she accepted Irish citizenship as well and crossed European boundaries using her Irish passport, which made border checks trivial for her. She never renounced her American citizenship, nor was she ever required to; she now lives in the midwestern United States with her husband and child(ren). (Not going to reveal how many or what age(s)). As far as I’m aware, she’s still a dual citizen (though I’m pretty sure she has let her Irish passport expire without renewing it as she doesn’t have any plans to leave the US anytime soon).

          And yes, I’m fully aware that Belfast is in Northern Ireland and is part of the UK, not the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland’s government decided that Belfast was Irish enough for her to qualify.

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          1. Yes, Ireland still considers everybody on the island to be Irish. I remember a pub in LA called Ireland’s 32, referring to all 32 Irish counties including the 6 in Northern Ireland that are “technically” part of the UK.

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            1. For the record, I didn’t think you did; I posted that comment because of the interesting (to me at least) fact that the Republic of Ireland still considers people who were born in Northern Ireland, were UK citizens all their lives, and never wanted to be Irish citizens, to be Irish enough to convey citizenship on a granddaughter also born in Northern Ireland (with US birth citizenship, no less). The Republic of Ireland did not ever try to claim that my grandfather was a citizen of theirs, as far as I know: I think I would have heard stories about that if they had ever tried to collect taxes from him.

              Liked by 1 person

    2. Canada offers dual citizenship to offspring of former Canadian citizens. $BIL was born in Canada (as was $SPOUSE), while their kid sister was born in the USA. Kid sister was offered dual, but declined. $BIL’s son was offered and accepted. (He’s now based in Switzerland, and is contemplating getting Swiss citizenship. It might make sense for him.)

      I figure $SPOUSE would be eligible, but dual citizenship is as attractive to her as the concept of moving back to Silicon Valley. She seldom swears, but there are occasions…

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      1. It wasn’t that long ago that an American politician found to his surprise that he was a Canadian citizen.

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    3. Huh, I am really surprised any Dual Citizen can get a clearance. Had two coworkers/friends that were originally from Taiwan/ Republic of China. Both had long ago naturalized (like 10-15 years ago). But Taiwan apparently is of the view once Chinese ALWAYS Chinese. Female coworker actually had her provisional clearance rescinded when investigation found she was considered a dual citizen by Taiwan. Took her like 3 months to clear it up, including appearing before a magistrate in Taipei. Male coworker had luckily gone through the process one time when he was visiting home and had the paperwork showing he had rescinded his citizenship.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Just don’t go Full Dragon on Portugal.

    However, you might go Full Dragon on some Portuguese Rats (short for Bureaucrats). [Twisted Grin]

    Liked by 2 people

  7. if Portugal is like my former country of birth in S America, they never recognise you are NOT a citizen even if old passport expired or was returned. I too renounced all others when becoming American. Try the notarised letter issued in the USA with legally crafted language. Then officially translated to Portuguese by govt recognised translator in Portugal which is then made official by notary in Portugal. Getting a local attorney in Portugal who is bilingual or help from Portuguese consulate in USA would help guide this. Good luck, it took me 2 years to settle my dad’s estate. The bureaucracy is always horrendous.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Portugal will likely claim the passport and letter never arrived or was “misfiled”, so “please try again but it will date from today, not from your original attempt.”

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  9. i naturalized many decades ago, and dual citizenship was not an option. I thought that was the end of it, but oldest son has to renounce his dual citizenship to join the armed services. He was born here and visited the old country once!

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      1. Better a picture of you holding just one chancla and wearing a severe Mom-look.

        Illigitimi non carborundum, as the fake Latin goes.

        My daughter visited me for a few days last week; I bet your dad will be glad to see you.

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      2. Better ye beat ’em up[side the head with said sandal. I’m of the opinion it works better. At least, their attention will be quite focused, at least for a mite, about what prezactly you are saying.

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  10. i naturalized many decades ago, and dual citizenship was not an option. I thought that was the end of it, but oldest son has to renounce his dual citizenship to join the armed services. He was born here and visited the old country once!

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  11. i naturalized many decades ago, and dual citizenship was not an option. I thought that was the end of it, but oldest son has to renounce his dual citizenship to join the armed services. He was born here and visited the old country once!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Still isn’t officially, though as you note the telescope is held up to the eyepatch, especially for friendly countries and the enormously wealthy, as with the Silicon Valley types getting New Zealand citizenship and buying zombie apocalypse escape estates there.

        Liked by 1 person

            1. And on the gripping hand, here’s an article that says it’s a grey area in law:

              A Legal Analysis of Dual Nationality in the United States: Recognition, Rights, and Responsibilities

              By Brian Figeroux, Esq.

              <…>
              Section 1: The Official Position: A Policy of Ambivalent Recognition

              The U.S. government’s official position on dual nationality is a carefully constructed balance of legal permission and policy discouragement. This stance is not codified in a single, clear statute but is rather expressed through a combination of legislative silence, administrative guidance from the Department of State, and the symbolic interpretation of the naturalization oath. Understanding this official position requires deconstructing these components to reveal a deliberate policy designed to navigate the tension between constitutional rights and pragmatic governance.

              1.1. Statutory Silence: Permission by Omission

              The cornerstone of the U.S. approach to dual nationality is what is absent from its laws. The primary federal statute governing citizenship and immigration, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), is notably silent on the matter. The INA contains no provision that explicitly prohibits or, for that matter, formally authorizes dual citizenship. U.S. law simply “does not mention dual nationality” nor does it “require a person to choose one citizenship over another”. This legislative void creates a system of “permission by default”.   

              See entire article at: https://askthelawyer.us/a-legal-analysis-of-dual-nationality-in-the-united-states-recognition-rights-and-responsibilities/

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              1. Not sure how mom’s South African neighbors handle this. Do know a number of Canadians who “maintain” dual citizenship. They carry both passports across the border when going from one to another. Using Canadian going into Canada (“Heading Home”). Using US coming in to the US (again, “Heading Home”).

                Interestingly enough BIL’s current wife’s (SIL) son is in Thailand. Going to marry a local. Not only he cannot naturalize as a Thailand native, he cannot own property. She, as the native, must own their property, even if he is the one buying it.

                I know my last boss waited until it was pointed out that inheritance tax would destroy his US survivors (family) financially, if he didn’t naturalize in the US. By then any estate from the old country was long settled (he was over 70), all estates parents and siblings. He’d been here since ’80s or late ’70s. (Same boss we thought we’d have to ransom from the state department when he got on the wrong ferry coming back from San Juan Islands county. Wrong ferry in that it started in Canada, which meant customs even though he got on at the San Juan terminal. He did not have either his passport or his green card. Did have his Oregon registered vehicle and drivers license. We told them we’d like our boss back, please.)

                Liked by 1 person

                    1. Apparently now they have a procedure. TBF they might have had it back then. Don’t care. I obeyed the rules of the country I’d joined. The one I’m leaving doesn’t get to dictate terms.

                      Liked by 1 person

  12. I’m sure at least one person in Trump staff is a fan. Start with State Department. Make Portugal sorry they ever messed with you. Oh, and double post this on Glenn’s site.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I was going to suggest contacting her Congressman and Senators’ constituent service, if she thinks they’ll help.

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    2. Some TSA flunky at the Denver airport decided Peter Mayhew’s explicitly-by-law-approved cane was verboten and told him he couldn’t take it on the plane. Mayhew tweeted about it to his fans. It took about five minutes (according to CNN, anyway) before enough fecal matter rolled downhill for them to apologize and give him his cane back.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Why do you think the Lieutenant would disapprove of you telling off the bureaucracy? No matter what sort of language you use, I doubt you could shock him. He was a sailor, after all. 😛

    Liked by 2 people

  14. Did a quick search. For what it’s worth, here’s the USCIS page on it: https://www.uscisguide.com/dual-citizenship/renunciation-of-citizenship-in-portugal/

    The fun part (emphasis added) – “Exit Tax: When renouncing Portuguese citizenship, individuals may be subject to exit tax on their worldwide assets as if they had disposed of them on the day before expatriation. This could result in taxable capital gains and potentially significant tax liabilities.”

    Also says that you have to appear in person in the embassy or a consulate.

    DEFINITELY time to lawyer up, and use any contacts into the State Department!

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    1. Sarah exited with no assets, zip, none. She and Dan were just starting life. Of coarse PTB in Portugal are not going to look at it this way.

      Liked by 2 people

      2. This. And there was no official way to renounce citizenship back then.
        For instance, the reason we never had our marriage recognized is that it cost 5k which we didn’t have.

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    2. “worldwide assets” — means they’re going to try to tax every shekel Sarah has made in the last 40 years, and every house she’s ever owned too.

      Not fair, you say? Since when has ‘fair’ had anything to do with the government?

      Liked by 1 person

  15. I’ve heard two stories regarding naturalized citizens and estate settling in their birth country. One was Canada, the other South Africa. Not only were estate settling a PIA, even though most the participants were still, at least Canadian example, were still Canadian, but in country, but for the naturalized citizen getting any assets into the US was a PIA. Canadian example the siblings might have been buying the US citizen out (family ranch/farm) as part of the problem. The South African example, they were liquidating property (in addition they were white South Africans and lucky to not have had everything just confiscated when they left).

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    4. Probably not. That’s why they have secretaries and staff to shield them.

      In… I think it was Gerald Ford’s book about the JFK assassination, he talked about when Oswald’s mother came to DC. She took the bus all the way from Texas. She was turned away from the White House, and Earl Warren wasn’t around, so McCloy was next on her list. He was a former Secretary of War and former High Commissioner of occupied Germany. He was a Somebody in DC, at the time working as an advisor to LBJ as well as being on the Warren Commission.

      She made it into McCloy’s outer office, where a secretary stalled her long enough for McCloy to escape out a side door rather than talk to her.

      Mrs. Oswald must have been a *formidable* woman.

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  19. You might try sending a duplicate of your ever-so-polite missive to the American Embassy in Portugal, with a cover letter asking if they could make an ever-so-polite phone call.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. That Lisbon-located bon-bon set of tools may be a tad more useful under President Trump. And (I’m not joking a whole bunch now), a duplicate set to the president’s incoming basket pointing out that there is an active attempt to steal one of his voters, and a publicly active supporter, might cause some stiffening to ripple Lisbon-wards. At worst such communications accomplish nothing, but cannot engender harm in your direction.

        Liked by 1 person

  20. If you have a copy of the letter and your old passport, include the date of naturalization as well as the relevant statute about dual citizenship not being allowed and when it changed.

    Also contact the American embassy in Portugal. They may know how to resolve the situation, or have resources who can. They’ve probably had to deal with similar situations and will have less invested in the Portugese status quo than a Portugese embassy in the US.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. How to make this fun? There has to be a way to highlight the stupidity by being even more stupid than them. What futile gesture can be made that even they won’t be able to miss the irony and sarcasm. I know, How about requesting a voters ballot for all the years you didn’t live in Portugal? An idea is all, with all the minds here on this page there should be something someone could come up with.

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    1. “But Madame we can’t send you a ballot, you didn’t live here” Bureaucrat says.
      “Ahah!” Sarah replied.

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          1. That helps those folks send money back – dual citizenship makes opening bank accounts in both places easier, and moving money from one account you own to another is less of a flag than sending it to someone else’s account. As remittances to Mexico in 2024 totaled $62.5 BILLION one can see why the Mexican government would do everything it could to make that easier.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Learned a lesson regarding Mexican ownership of property by non-Mexico citizens, including US citizens. They don’t. Cousin mentioned his wife’s family has a Mexican house/condo. It is “owned” through the bank.

              Liked by 2 people

              1. Or there are the expats who marry a local woman, open a new business, and put it in her name due to the property laws.

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                1. That is what they will do. Not married yet. The fiance wants surviving family at the wedding. In his case that is his mother, brother, and grandmother. But latter two are too ill to fly. Mom is flying there Feb/2026.

                  Liked by 1 person

            2. Yeah. Mexico desperately needs its emigrants to keep ties with the old country so that the emigrants send money back. No doubt partly because of that, the Mexican government tries to make sure that it’s citizens living in the US are able to vote in Mexican elections.

              Liked by 2 people

  23. I’m in a mood today, so my gut says “declare yourself a sovereign citizen, and charge Portugal for 25 years of taxes they did not pay to you for the privilege of having your presence until you moved to America.”

    This is why not everybody should follow their gut instincts.

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    1. I beg your pardon, but this is demonstrably incorrect. A private citizen CAN declare anything they damn well please. It’s just on them to back up the statements their alligator mouth puts out.

      As an aside, certain private citizens could, totally in theory mind you and not in any way based on anything as allergen to democrats as truth, do so and arm entire regiments with enough combat load of ammunition for, oh, several engagements, should they rustle up enough willing trigger pullers from ye olde presse gang of the local ne’er do wells. Theoretically, I must stress.

      That said, if’n we are in the business of declaring wars on idjit countries, I gotta list…

      Liked by 2 people

      1. TR raised the Rough Riders for the Spanish American War in this traditional fashion, outside of the formal US military. But TR was anathema to Woodrow Wilson in spite of TR being the guy who got Wilson elected in the 1912 election by splitting the opposition vote, and besides TR himself was a bit long in the tooth for such tomfoolery by then, so no such military entrepreneurialism was allowed prior to the 1917 US entry into the Great War.

        Liked by 1 person

  26. “Dont make me write a book about you.”

    “I have no money. But I have certain Fans. Fans that make me a nightmare for people like you”.

    ok that second one is probably … unwise.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. hmm.

      Letter to Trump.

      Hello. Proud America here, by choice. (see attached/enclosed.) Would you mind terribly telling these foreign ‘crats to go pound sand? I am a USA citizen by choice, and I and my heirs will fight to keep their “dual cit” crap off my cold dead body.

      Similar to congresscritter and senators (presuming proper similar alignment).

      Why?

      Once upon a time, the IRS was hounding me for (insane BS – I had hard proof of payment). Turns out my congresscritter was a Big Deal on the late 1990s “reign in the IRS” committee. His assistant was shocked, then amused, then, “oh -this- is going to be fun. You got -nothing- to worry about.” A few hours later, the former goosestepper called me, most meekly, to promise the IRS would not trouble me again, and pullleeese dont ever call your congrescritter again, sir.

      Sometimes, you get the bear.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. Sarah, this is one of those things where putting it out on X might have better reach.

          You know someone is monitoring THAT, and occasionally even the principals.

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      2. We did the same. Did not mail the stack, walked it in. Did not hear from the IRS-critter. We were assigned a new IRS-critter, er agent. Handled in *15-minutes. Instead of us writing additional check, IRS paid us. Audit us will you? Okay, here are the deductions we missed/forgot (did not know about) but weren’t going to trigger an audit by filing corrected returns.

        This over 22 year VS 24 year depreciation schedule on homeowner lived in turned rental house during timber crash mid-’80s. Minimal amount difference, until added in multi-year interest, and penalties (by the time audited). Unpublished rule: Mortgage span (30 years) – years lived in as home owners (6) = reasonable allowed depreciation schedule. Us? House is 50 years old – 22 years seems reasonable (actually said 20 but let’s fudge jic). Oh change Mortgage from 30 years to 15 years (which we could have taken it out at) 15 – 6 years, and gee, hmmm, 9 years is “unreasonable”. Go figure.

        (*) Okay. Cheated a bit. We’d just sold the house. So the math what they wanted VS what we wanted gave us the benefit longer term. I walked in with two options spelled out, with a weeks old newborn. Agent couldn’t get us out of there fast enough with the simplest of the two. Which was we were **right/correct (plus additional deductions), no interest and penalties.

        (**) Sarah will get this: Do not, seriously do not, tell a mathematician your bogus math is “correct” when it is (even to me, mathematician’s spouse) bogus. The original IRS-critter could not do math.

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  27. There’s no grift like government grift, there’s no grift that I know! Everything about it is demeaning, when you are stealing that extra dough …

    Imagine … all the heartless gub’mint grifters … all lined up in a row, waiting their turn at the lampposts … it’s heartwarming, don’cha know …

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Some countries just do not recognize renunciation of citizenship. I’ve heard of men who were taken to America as babies, got citizenship and grew up here and had American passports, being grabbed for “draft evasion” when visiting their parents’ home country as adults. At least you don’t have to worry about that! (Or do you?)

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Wait, WHAT? WTAF?

        If you have indications of THAT, then yes, I know the Trump Admin would like to hear from you.

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    3. My beloved’s grandfather could never return to France because they condemned him to death in absentia for “desertion.” He wanted to fight for the US in WWI but because he was making prosthetics (and no spring chicken) the government told him he was too valuable to let go.

      Liked by 1 person

  29. Did you renounce Portuguese citizenship to a Portuguese consul? That could be a sticking point. If you did, you should be clear. If not, you may want to do it.

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    1. I sent the passport and a letter back to the embassy. Per instructions at citizenship ceremony.
      This was 1990.
      Oh, I WOULD but now they want 30% of all my assets for the privilege of their doing what they should have done. I’m not amused.

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      1. I suppose mailing them a sealed letter containing about five pounds of genuine horseshit would be in poor taste? ‘Cause what they’re getting is Jack and shit, and Jack’s done gone a long time now, sister.

        Liked by 1 person

  30. I am reminded of my Fencing coach from College (RIP – Miss ya Sophie)

    She was originally from Soviet-occupied Poland, but defected to the USA and became a US citizen. (60s) When she would return there to visit family, she would wind up crossways with one or more border guards, whereupon she got .. combative.

    She would speak to them only in Russian, which to a Pole is a fairly high insult. She had an awe-inspiring command of Russian. Polish, and other swearing. She would say crap that I would not say with a gun in my hand. She was …. creative. Fearless.

    And when someone would inevitably get to “come with me”, she would take out that USA passport and whap them in the face with it. “You don’t dare. I have a real passport, from a real nation with a real army. You will be in Siberia before I have supper.” (apparently she was related to someone interesting by marriage. Her passport did have some interesting stuff in it. …. and that distinctive cover.)

    Fierce!

    Miss her greatly.

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  31. I’ve seen some statements reportedly from Muslims in Portugal claiming that it will soon become a Muslim nation. Never returning to that country sounds like it might be a good idea. Of course, the rest of your extended family might want to consider moving elsewhere before that happens.

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