Leaving United States: the questions people actually ask

Yes. Under an agreed review engagement, our team reviews your departure file and supporting package, provides a written advisory opinion and recommends revisions. That is our opinion — not an IRS determination, a private letter ruling or a State Department decision. ExitUSA is independent and not affiliated with the IRS, the Department of State or USCIS.

Yes, for covered expatriates. If you renounce citizenship or give up a green card held in 8 of the last 15 years, and your net worth is $2 million or more, your average annual net income tax over the prior five years exceeds $206,000 (2025) or $211,000 (2026), or you cannot certify five years of compliance, IRC §877A treats your property as sold the day before expatriation. Gains above $890,000 (2025) or $910,000 (2026) are taxed. If you meet none of the three tests, you still file Form 8854, but there is no mark-to-market tax. IRS expatriation tax ↗

No. The IRS does not issue a residency opinion or a departure certificate. The document that ends a citizen's status is the State Department's Certificate of Loss of Nationality; for a green-card holder it is the filed Form I-407. Form 8854 then reports the expatriation to the IRS. For non-citizens without a green card, nothing is issued — you self-assess against the substantial presence test and, if needed, file Form 8840 or a residency-termination statement with your return. IRS residency ending dates ↗

Yes — every year, on worldwide income, wherever you live. What changes is the toolkit: Form 2555 can exclude up to $130,000 (2025) or $132,900 (2026) of foreign earned income if your tax home is abroad and you pass the bona fide residence test or the 330-day physical presence test; Form 1116 credits foreign income tax on what is not excluded (but not on income you excluded); the FBAR is due whenever your foreign accounts exceed $10,000 in aggregate; and Form 8938 applies above $200,000 (single) or $400,000 (joint) at year end for those living abroad. You get an automatic extension to 15 June, with interest from 15 April. IRS: citizens and residents abroad ↗

No. You remain a US tax resident until you abandon the card in writing to USCIS (Form I-407) or it is terminated administratively or by a court — an expired card or years abroad do not end it. If you held the card in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years you are a long-term resident and the full expatriation regime applies when you file I-407, including the covered-expatriate tests and Form 8854. One trap: claiming to be a treaty resident of another country without waiving treaty benefits counts as an expatriation date for a long-term resident. Form 8854 instructions ↗

For a covered expatriate, your entire IRA, 529, HSA or similar balance is treated as distributed the day before expatriation, without the early-distribution tax; a 401(k) or pension is either withheld at 30% as paid (if you give the payor Form W-8CE) or taxed on its present value up front; everything else is marked to market. For everyone else, nothing is deemed sold, but from the day you are a nonresident, US-source income from accounts and property you keep is reported on Form 1040-NR, and many US brokerages restrict accounts with foreign addresses — ask before you leave. State income tax on retained property is a separate question. Form 8854 instructions ↗

Social Security, usually yes. US citizens can continue to receive benefits in most countries; payments cannot be sent to Cuba or North Korea, and generally not to several other listed countries. Non-citizens lose payments after six full calendar months abroad unless an exception applies, and the SSA sends questionnaires you must return. Totalization agreements with 31 countries let you combine credits and avoid paying into two systems. Medicare generally does not cover health services outside the United States. SSA: payments outside the US ↗

As a visitor, usually — but renunciation is final and irrevocable, and a former citizen who the Department of Homeland Security determines renounced to avoid US tax can be refused a visa and admission under INA §212(a)(10)(E). A former green-card holder needs a new immigrant visa to live in the US again. A nonresident who returns and again meets the substantial presence test simply becomes a resident again from that year. Once you have expatriated, gifts and bequests you make to US persons can trigger the 40% §2801 tax for the rest of your life if you were a covered expatriate. State Department: relinquishing nationality ↗