Ineligibeility for a SSN after Taking Oath of Renunciation – TINs, ITINs, EINs, etc.
USCs and LPRs residing outside the U.S. have been increasingly renouncing their citizenship and abandoning their lawful permanently residency status, respectively. In some cases, individuals who have lived virtually all (or all) of their lives in a country other than the U.S. are a
lmost making a “knee jerk” decision to renounce.
The statistics as to the absolute number and relative increases are astonishing. See, Wow, the number of 2,999 U.S. citizens who renounced in the year 2013 shattered the prior record set in 2011 of 1,782 renunciations. Why so many renunciations?
There is a practical problem for an individual who has renounced his or her U.S. citizenship prior to obtaining a Social Security Number (“SSN”). The individual will NOT be able to obtain a SSN once they have taken the oath of renunciation. See, *Why the Oath of Renunciation is Not the Opposite of the Oath of Allegiance
Of course, as prior posts have explained, an individual must have a “taxpayer identifying number” which must be a SSN for a U.S. citizen. However, the Social Security Administration will not allow an individual who has taken the oath of renunciation to apply for a SSN. See, The Catch 22 of Opening a Bank Account in Your Own Country – for USCs and LPRs
Also, see, Why do I have to get a Social Security Number to file a U.S. income tax return (USCs)?
The only way an individual can avoid becoming a “covered expatriate” is by filing U.S. federal income tax returns and being able to satisfy the certification requirement of Section 877(a)(2)(C). Accordingly, if a SSN is not available, the former citizen will need to file for an ITIN, as explained in previous posts.