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Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:14:33 -0800 (PST)
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Hi Jutta,
I am also a Swiss-American dual citizen. I spent a few years in the US and here's what I did before I left.
Swiss Embassy: As Laurent already mentioned, if you registered yourself at the Swiss Embassy, you should let them know that you are leaving.
DMV: I gave the DMV my new Swiss address. I don't know if you are legally required to so but if you have a drivers licence or a DMV-issued ID card, they want (have to?) keep a record of where you live. It has one noticeable effect: The social security administration gets its addresses from the DMV and uses them to send out their yearly statements. In my case, this works - I receive my statement promptly every year.
Taxes: Laurent already mentioned that you will likely be required to file an US tax return each year, but that it depends on your situation whether you will have to pay anything. The IRS has a convenient form somewhere on its website for notifiying the US tax authorities of your move. They will then send your tax materials to your Swiss address. I used that form and it also allowed me to indicate whether I wanted to remain a resident of California, where I was living at the time. I checked no. This has the following consequences:
- Being no longer a resident, I have to pay only federal tax but no state tax.
- The disadvantage is that if I ever return to California, I will have to wait for a year until I am a resident again (which means, for example, higher tuition fees during the first year if I wanted to attend an educational institution there).
Voting: Elections are handled by counties, and I don't know if each county has a slightly different way of dealing with movers. But for this, too, I found a convenient form on the Internet to give my Swiss address to the responsible authorities. In my case, this is the Elections Office of San Francisco. I sent them the form, and they send me my ballots to Switzerland. So far, they have always arrived several weeks before the election date. Since I am no longer a California resident, I can vote only in federal elections.
Bank account: It depends on the bank whether they deal with customers with foreign addresses. I kept one of my US bank accounts (Bank of America), including my check card and credit card that are attached to it. I gave them my Swiss address and they send me all mail to Switzerland, at no additional cost. I had to give up another account with a different bank because they don't allow foreign addresses. In any case, you should also open a Swiss account as soon as you arrive.
I don't know about containers. I had only a few boxes of personal belongings and I sent them by regular surface mail. This is a good option if you really don't have much stuff. And I made sure I flew with an airline where I could take my skis as checked baggage in addition to the regular baggage, without being charged an arm and a leg.
I hope some of this helps!
Cheers,
Leonore
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Received on Tue Nov 20 2007 - 08:05:19 PST
