I am hoping to get some feedback on how long the current wait times are for formally giving up one's US citizenship.
I sent everything off to Bern by email yesterday and after hearing that I have a wedding to attend in the US in August they recommended that I delay my renunciation until after the wedding. They also recommended that I apply for a new US passport (!?) since I let mine expire.
In the meantime I have a 92 yo grandmother in the middle of MT and could need to travel urgently at any time. Apparently using my CH passport would not work for the US.
I really want to get the process over with ASAP. Has anyone gone through the process in the last year or so who can give me an idea of wait times? Thanks!
This thread at Isaac Brock Society discusses CLN wait times in Europe and Canada. Based on several recent comments, it looks like a CLN arrives about five to six months after renunciation:
The State Department will apparently return a valid US passport to the renunciant if s/he intends to travel to the US under the guise that the renunciation is only valid when the CLN has been approved. See this blog for details:
Oath given @ US Embasy in Bern on 16-June-2015 --> CLN finally arrived on 6-January-2016
However, if you need to travel due to a life/death situation, the US Embassy can "based on need and on an exceptional basis" return your US Passport to you if you sign an affidavit to return the US Passport back to the US Embassy in person so they can invalidate it before you get your CLN.
Others in this Forum will tell you they travel to the US with the CH passport although they are US Passport holders...and have never had a problem.
Did they offer you an appointment date to renounce?
You may or may not get hassled if you travel on a Swiss passport. It depends entirely on how the border control people feel on the day. If you have to travel urgently it would be a very mean border control person to stop you entering.
That of course is a risk which you may not want to take.
Another option is to travel with the Swiss passport and take the receipt for the renunciation fee you’ll get with you as well. This would prove you have renounced your US citizenship. Again, this may be a risk you don’t want to take.
You can also check people’s actual experiences with embassy/consulate and CLN arrival times here:
Unfortunately no one can tell you when a CLN will arrive. Looking at the Directory, the most recent report puts the CLN at 4 months (2015). The next report (2014) the CLN only took a week. I got mine in 5 weeks back in 2013.
If you decide to renew your American passport, don’t worry - it won’t affect any future renunciation.
Thanks for the info. I may just risk it (6 mos until the wedding date). As I mentioned, my US passport has expired so physically having it or not isn't the issue. It seems strange that they recommend getting a new one for someone who doesn't even want to be a citizen! Conveniently, if I postpone it's more $$$ for them come tax time. I wish I had never made the mistake of using my US passport to enter the US as it disqualified me from the otherwise expatriating act of getting Swiss citizenship. I did it because I wasn't sure I was able to be a dual citizen (ie, sort of hiding my CH citizenship, just in case!) and I was still waiting for my professional credentials to come through in order to be able to work independently in this country. Now that I have everything I need to live and work in CH as I wanted the US citizenship has simply become a burden. I had a terrible time getting financing to open my office and there is no way I would ever be able to get a CH mortgage as an American. So I am having to choose! In any case I feel much safer in CH - no metal detectirs in the hospitals or schools, better quality food for my family, etc. It's a real shame the US doesn't see the error in their ways.
If an appointment is difficult to obtain at the US Embassy in Bern, it has been suggested to try Luxembourg. Should be able to drive up and drive back in the same day, and apparently there's free parking near the embassy. Or take the train.
If the wait time for a renunciation appointment is long, you could look at going to another embassy for an earlier appointment such as Luxembourg. You might have to re-submit your renunciation documents and then cancel the Bern process. Limited details at:
"Appointments for renunciation of U.S. citizenship can be scheduled directly with the Consular section at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) "
As far as I know, the US Ambassador in Bern is responsible for Switzerland and Liechtenstein only, and not Luxembourg.
I have an appt in Bern for next week. They said the wait for the CLN can be 1-2 mos or more. Hopefully no more than 5 so I will make it to the wedding.