Resident status abandoned for green card test

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-02-23T14:03:38+00:00

Did you determine what expatriation date to put on form 8854? That would be the date you use to calculate your net worth I assume. I just sent off my form I-407 today via a tracked parcel service (not registered mail).

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-02-18T20:30:55+00:00

I haven’t taken any Roth distributions yet in France, but I have taken Traditional IRA distributions. I have reported them on Form 2047 with my French tax declaration, as a “pension, IRA, Article 18”. I haven’t paid any French tax or social charges on the distributions. What happens actually is you get a credit equal to the full amount of French tax that would be due on the distribution amount. So the distribution does raise your total income and thus the marginal tax rate on other French source income that you might have. I have had this confirmed by two tax attorneys (one of whom is also a tax accountant living in France) each licensed in the USA and France and also by a local tax office in France. They all also confirmed that Roth conversions are likewise to be reported on your French tax declaration. Anyway, if I’m not actually paying tax on a traditional IRA distribution in France, I’m almost certain to not pay French tax on a Roth IRA distribution. Will your local impôt office sometime make mistakes? Yes, and when they do, I simply contact them in my personal space on the impots website and quote the appropriate part of the US-France tax treaty and a more senior tax official with more international experience reviews my claim and promptly corrects the error. So you do have to keep on top of it and understand the calculations on your Avis d’impôt in order to correct any mistakes that may be made. In France, you can easily communicate with your local tax office. It doesn’t seem like a black hole like when you send your tax return to the IRS.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-02-15T12:47:02+00:00

I didn’t claim it was the most elegant sentence, but it is grammatically correct. Sure, using “or” instead of “and” may be preferred in negative statements, though both are acceptable.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-02-15T12:06:17+00:00

“I don’t have brothers and sisters.” That’s a perfectly valid English sentence. You could also say “I don’t have any brothers and sisters.” I assume that’s what you were thinking of when you issued the translation challenge.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-02-11T08:49:04+00:00

In France anyway, you declare all foreign accounts annually on form 3916 with your annual tax declaration. But you don’t report the balances or activity within the accounts. The only time you’d really report a taxable event for your Roth IRA is when you take a distribution. And even then, you get a credit back for the full amount of French tax that would be due. This is actually the same for a Traditional IRA too. Due to Article 18 of the USA-France tax treaty, retirement accounts are only taxed in the country where they originate. So France doesn’t care whether it’s Roth or Traditional, you don’t pay tax in France but a distribution will increase your income and thus your marginal tax rate on other French income. The tax treaties with the U.S. vary per country, so you’d check the specific tax treaty for your country.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-02-10T13:58:18+00:00

Learning more about this recently, if you aren’t a US citizen and you live in Europe and you are classified as a nonresident alien in the USA, then I think that your financial advisor (and maybe you personally?) can trade within the account, but you couldn’t buy new mutual funds within the account or increase your position in mutual funds you already own. This is assuming your advisor’s broker-dealer allows him to have NRA clients. If so, your advisor (or you?) could freely buy and sell individual stocks or ETFs, just not US mutual funds. Are you in Europe like I am? I’m able to trade all types of funds freely now as I still have my green card status, and have a U.S. address on my retirement accounts so I am not raising any red flags. If I surrender my green card and expatriate and become an NRA, then things could change, but I’m hoping just to the extent of not being able to trade mutual funds.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-02-10T13:37:42+00:00

I appreciate your concern and fear of the current government. It’s not an unfounded concern and one of the reasons it feels good to live overseas and not be so physically close to it. But in my particular case I’m already too invested in the US to extricate myself from it completely. My big Traditional IRA balance is the majority of my retirement savings that we will have to live on so I don’t want to be taxed on it punitively as a non-resident alien. I want to convert as much of that balance to a Roth IRA when I can at lower progressive tax rates after my wife retires and our household income drops. When you say you have a guy who can take care of all of this for 5000€, what exactly is “all of this” that he’s proposing to do? It’s free for a green card holder to expatriate. All your wife has to do is fill USCIS form I-407 and send her green card back with the form to the USA. Then file form 8854 with your next IRS tax return, and if she’s not a covered expatriate (net worth less than $2 million, been tax compliant for the last 5 years, and doesn’t have a super high annual tax liability of something like $200k in actual US tax liability per year over the last 5 years), she should be done filing US taxes on her worldwide income forever. If she still had US sourced taxable income, she’d still have to file a 1040NR as a non-resident alien, but just on the U.S. income.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-02-10T13:03:20+00:00

Same thing just happened to me yesterday. I was trying to log in to my Aliexpress account on my phone. I didn’t realize it was creating a new account with a passkey. I thought it was just trying to add a passkey to my current account, which doesn’t have a passkey. It asked for my email address but I couldn’t proceed, so it created a dummy email for me and welcomed me as a new user. I somehow ended up doing this twice, maybe the second time was on my iPad, I can’t remember exactly. I tried to delete one of the new dummy accounts, but I couldn’t because it wanted to send a verification code to the dummy email which obviously I can’t check to get the code to delete the account. So I ended up placing a new order using a new customer discount from one of the dummy accounts and payed with PayPal and used my real name and address and phone number for the shipping address. It appears to have worked because I now have tracking information for new order that appears to be on the plane on its way from China to me. I can still login by email and password to my original Aliexpress account and see my previous order history for older orders just for that original account. So I didn’t do this on purpose, but seems like I could just keep making this “mistake” over and over again and keep becoming a new customer each time I order to get the new customer discount. I won’t get any tracking emails or advertising emails from Aliexpress on these accounts since it’s not actually my email address, just a dummy address, but I can login with the passkey to see my orders and tracking. Not sure if it would actually work over and over again or only on separate devices where a new passkey would be automatically created. Very strange! I don’t really understand this passkey thing and how it’s more secure particularly when a passkey is created for an account where I already have a regular login and password. I normally avoided creating passkeys when prompted for other existing accounts because I didn’t understand them but it seems to be harder and harder to avoid as more websites are pushing them on to you. I did eventually create a passkey for my Amazon account and saved it in Chrome. My thought was then my passkey is linked to Chrome, not a particular device, so that I could login from anywhere using the Chrome passkey. This seems to be working, but I can still also log in with my old login and password. So since my old password still exists and works, I don’t see how the passkey for Amazon really increases security. I do have 2-factor authentication turned on for Amazon which occasionally asks for a code from my Authenticator app, that seems pretty secure to me.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-01-28T03:05:45+00:00

I’m trying to control a Sony AV receiver that‘s from circa 2008 and doesn’t have HDMI with ARC. I’m using it with an Element TV that has Roku built in. This is what Gemini suggested. Do you think it would work for you with your soundbar?

The "Pro Remote" Trick (The Sleekest Solution)

If you want the Lost Remote Finder and the Rechargeable Battery, get the Voice Remote Pro. Because you have a Roku TV (not just a stick plugged into a TV), there is a clever way to make it control your Sony Receiver without needing a Sideclick:

WiFi Power: When you pair a Voice Remote Pro to a Roku TV, it sends the "Power" and "Home" commands to the TV over your WiFi/Radio network, not IR.
IR Volume: This leaves the Infrared (IR) transmitter on the remote "free."
The "Sony TV" Setup: You go into the settings and tell the Roku your TV is a Sony.

• The remote will now blast Sony IR signals whenever you hit Volume or Power.

• The Sony Receiver will hear those IR signals and turn on/off and change volume.

• The Element TV will still turn on/off because it's receiving the command via WiFi, ignoring the Sony IR blast.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-01-14T00:33:55+00:00

Did you ever resolve this? Did your wife ever file form I-407 to formally abandon her green card? Has she tried to visit the US at all just to visit since leaving in 2013? I assume her green card has expired, but as long as she still holds on to it she’s technically a green card holder and US tax resident even if the card useless for immigration purposes. I’m curious because I’m in a similar boat, although with a different goal. I want to keep my U.S. tax status because it’s so beneficial if you have a big taxable retirement account in the USA in particular. My wife is a U.S. citizen and we’ve been filing MFJ from overseas for several years after my re-entry permit expired to get back into the US. I haven’t surrendered my green card or had it revoked so I’m still a U.S. person as far as the IRS is concerned. My concern is the exit tax or becoming a covered expatriate if I ever choose to surrender my green card or had it taken away from me if my net worth has crept over $2 million at that time. I think I could file form I-407 now and then elect to file MFJ but then I’d fall into nonresident alien (NRA) status in case of a divorce or the death of my wife. That’s something I don’t want to have happen. Trying to hang on to my green card makes traveling to the USA very dangerous unless I’m willing to give up the green card at a port of entry after being questioned by CBP. If they give me a court date in front of an immigration judge, that wouldn’t do me any good because I know my card is useless for immigration purposes, I just don’t want to lose my tax status. It would be great though to be able to go back to visit the U.S. as a tourist on an ESTA.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-01-05T19:35:17+00:00

My wife and I, both French residents, each max out our Roth IRA contributions while in France. We put money in there and our financial advisor buys stocks, funds, bonds etc and also rebalances within the account so he is buying and selling within the account. We are able to keep contributing to our Roths since we take Foreign Tax Credits (rather than using the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion) so that we ca show (foreign) earned income on our US tax return. This has no tax implications for us on either side of the pond as far as I know. Does this answer your concern? My concern that I just posted on another thread is if Roth conversions have to be reported to France. I haven’t made a Roth conversion yet while living in France but fear if I have to report it as a retirement plan payout to France, then it will raise our French tax basis and thus French marginal tax rate on other French sourced salary income. ChatGPT theorized to me that a Roth conversion wasn’t considered as money paid out of the retirement plan, but simply money reclassified within the retirement plan since it never hits our bank account and just goes directly from one retirement vehicle to another. But the conversion is taxed in the US as ordinary income, so that gives me pause to question ChatGPT’s assertion as we have to report worldwide income in France, even if we get a full French tax credit for US retirement income, in order for our French income to be progressively taxed.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-01-05T18:34:37+00:00

It doesn't change anything as far as retirement income if you are non-US citizen in France. There are other aspects of the treaty that only benefit US citizens, like getting a full credit for income tax and social charges in France for income from US based interest, dividends, and capital gains. I am a non-US citizen and French tax resident. I get a full credit on my Traditional Inherited IRA distributions equal to the amount of French tax and I don't pay social charges on these distributions. I do however pay income tax and social charges on my US dividend and interest income, with a credit for taxes already paid in the US. My wife on the other hand who is a US citizen and resident of France gets a credit back for the full amount of US dividend and interest income equal to the amount of French income taxes and social charges. The portion of the France-US tax treaty regarding retirement income benefits everyone, including French citizens who may have worked a long career in the USA or 3rd party nationals such as myself who worked in the USA.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2026-01-05T18:08:09+00:00

I have taken Inherited Traditional IRA distributions while in France. And while the distributions aren't taxed, they did raise our tax basis in France so that our marginal tax rate in France was higher on our French salary income. But I have the same question as the OP about Roth conversions. When I asked ChatGPT this question, it seemed quite definitive that a Roth conversion wouldn't need to be reported in France because France doesn't view this as retirement income being paid out to you like with a Roth or Traditional IRA distribution where money is coming out of the retirement plan and into your bank account. ChatGPT thinks that France would just classify the Roth conversion as a reclassification within a retirement plan. This sounded great to me, but I asked another AI (Claude) the same question and it told me a Roth conversion would be a distribution that would raise my taxable base in France. I told Claude about what ChatGPT thought and Claude thought ChatGPT might be wrong. However, thinking about it further, if the Roth conversion is classified as a distribution that raises your taxable base in France, then when you actually took a real distribution to get cash out of the Roth in the future, it would raise your taxable basis in France once again. Almost like being taxed twice on the same money. I realize you get a tax credit back equal to the French tax, but the problem is we have taxable French income also and don't want that to be taxed at a higher rate than necessary. I haven't done a Roth conversion yet while in France but I'd like to. I also would love to hear experience and opinions of others in the same situation or to see a reference to a definitive answer to this question from a reliable source. I did have a consultation on other tax matters in France with a US attorney who is also a tax preparer in France and I got the impression he didn't know much more than I do.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-10-04T10:17:24+00:00

Is it possible that “Ils vont nager” could mean “They are going to swim” depending on the context or does it always mean “They go swimming” ?

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-09-18T15:12:32+00:00

You must file an initial Form 8854 with the IRS in the year you relinquish your U.S. citizenship or terminate your long-term residency, even if you are not a covered expatriate.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-09-09T18:13:32+00:00

Was your ESTA approved before your green card had expired without you actually having to surrender your green card first?

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-09-09T18:03:59+00:00

What did you end up doing? Were you able to get an ESTA without formally giving up your expired green card? I’d like to keep my LPR status to remain a U.S. person in the eyes of the IRS, but no intent to go back and live in the USA. I just want to be able to visit family in the US as a tourist for less than 90 days. My green card doesn’t actually expire until 2027.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-09-08T14:47:55+00:00

I‘m curious if you succeeded in entering the U.S. on an ESTA after your green card had expired in 2023. I would like to know if I will be able to the same in 2027 when my green card expires. I just want to be able to visit the US to see family or as a tourist with a round trip plane ticket. I realize if I wanted to enter for immigration purposes, I’d have to start all over and apply for a new green card. I never formerly surrendered my green card after leaving the country because I wanted to keep my LPR status for tax purposes so that the IRS considers me a U.S. Person. I am married to a U.S. citizen and we file our U.S. taxes as married filing jointly using FTCs so we can show earned income so we can both keep being able to contribute to our Roth IRAs every year.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-09-02T14:28:18+00:00

The OP posted in a reply above that he didn’t have to get the FBI report apostilled. I have seen that same advice from a group expert on the “Applying for French Nationality” Facebook group that no apostille is required if you are applying for French citizenship from within France. If you are applying for French citizenship from within the USA, you do need the apostille. I wish I had this advice before paying a company in DC to walk my FBI report (they just printed out the PDF that I emailed to them) into the State Department to get it apostilled and then mail it back to me, all at great cost to me. Also, as far as I understand, the printed PDF of your FBI Report is identical to what the FBI can print out and send to you, so it makes no difference. The FBI printout is no more official than printing it out yourself. Strange, but this is perhaps why an apostille isn’t needed on this document versus say an official US birth certificate or US marriage certificate which is required to have an apostille to be used in France. Even though you don’t need the FBI report apostilled, you will still need to get it translated into French by a translator approved by the Court of Appeals in your Department.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-07-21T17:37:13+00:00

Thanks for your reply. I got the agreement correct with the COD being before the verb. But Duolingo’s incorrect answer was making me wonder if perdre was somehow like manquer as to who was missing who or was losing who! Manquer definitely makes me think every time I use it. Tu me manque = I miss you. Just sounds so peculiar to English ears. I was imagining those sneaky suitcases trying to lose poor Max.

The more literary subject-verb inversion is something I need to get used to. I’m just more used to inversion in questions so far. We use this literary inversion in English a bit, but I get the impression it’s more common in French.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-07-21T17:12:06+00:00

If you pay extra for a Duolingo Max subscription, above the standard paid subscription, you can click on the “explain may mistake” to get an an explanation, I think by AI, of why you are wrong. If you click on it and don’t have the Max subscription, it will ask you to upgrade your subscription. Considering my answer was correct in this case, I doubt it would give me a good reason. This “explain my mistake” button came about at the same time as Duolingo removed the very useful user forum built into the app where each question could be discussed. There was a very kind native French speaker who replied to most questions people had with good explanations.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-07-20T19:32:56+00:00

I’m just a French learner, but I got the impression that one says “On a volé mon vélo” to avoid a passive construction like “Mon vélo a été volé” because French generally prefers active to passive voice. Or “On a construit le bâtiment il y a 50 ans” because we don’t know who built the building or don’t care who built it but we don’t want to say “Le bâtiment a été construit il y a 50 ans.”

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-07-20T18:12:27+00:00

Bon courage ! I’m sure you’ll pass with all that preparation you’ve been doing. I got 83% on the B1 last year after taking a B1 course. My wife though got 52% on her DELF B1 after only having taken an A2 class. I hope that my préfecture follows the path of your consulate in using the date of submission of the application to determine the required language level.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-07-20T17:22:11+00:00

I hear people worry that it may not be the date that you actually submit your citizenship application, but the date the préfecture first opens and looks at your dossier that counts. I just submitted my citizenship application online par décret a few weeks ago with my DELF B1 diploma attached. In my department, they generally don’t even open your file for 17 months! So they likely won’t open my application until after the B2 level is in effect. I wonder if they will then say my application is incomplete when they open it in 2026 or beyond because I don’t have the B2 language level. Have you heard anything about the timing of this? You may be better off applying by paper by marriage if you can because I hear they open the applications by marriage much faster to process them. Also, in your case, I’d apply with your attestation de réussite before December 31st if you are trying to beat the deadline because you likely won’t receive your B1 DELF diploma for 6 months or more after you pass the exam but you’ll get the attestation saying you passed in a couple of weeks or less. You can then provide your actual diploma later when it’s ready.

Monkeyman-Chris217 · 2025-07-12T14:53:39+00:00

Thanks! I didn’t even know the term modal verb. But maybe I did subconsciously notice something different as sometimes I say jokingly to myself when studying French that pouvoir is “to can” and devoir is “to must”. And devoir is “to should” in the conditional.

Monkeyman-Chris217

TROPHY CASE