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For returnees - Getting *back* to the US

930 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  BBCWatcher 
#1 ·
This is similar to my other thread, I thought it might be useful to have a sticky for those of us from the States who have been away for a long time, and are planning to return.

Before I left the States there was no FACTA, ObamaCare, and the like, so these are new challenges or hurdles or areas to come up to speed on, as well as any number of others I can't think of.

Some other helpful posters also mentioned Medicare (before you reach 65) and Social Security, and I imagine there are tax considerations such as the number of days you are out of the country, that returnees will need to plan for.

Others are credit card history and green cards for non-American spouses.

I probably have more questions than answers, and I'm guessing I am not alone, hoping for so experts out there.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Well, let's take these in order....

FATCA, you mean. All that means is that you fill out IRS Form 8938, if you meet the threshold for that form, and include it with your tax return, if you're required to file a tax return. But this isn't actually new, because since the 1970s the U.S. government has legally required the very same people (well, with at least 99% overlap anyway) to file FinCEN Form 114 (previously known as Form TD F 90-22.1 -- I like the new form name better).

So, since the 1970s U.S. persons have had to report their foreign financial accounts. Now they may also have to report foreign financial accounts if they are required to file a U.S. tax return. The instructions accompanying IRS Form 1040 always change to some extent, every year, so what else is new?

ObamaCare
Before Obamacare if you didn't have medical insurance in the United States (public or private) you had two problems, usually both together:

1. If you got sick, you were financially ruined;

2. If you got sick, you couldn't afford the care you needed, and you died prematurely and/or suffered.

Obamacare hasn't changed that. Before Obamacare you needed decent (or better) medical insurance, and after Obamacare you need decent (or better) medical insurance.

Obamacare simply makes it easier and more affordable to find and obtain medical insurance with a regulated minimum standard of insurance quality. If you still get that insurance through your employer, great. If you get that through public insurance (as a veteran, Medicare, Medicaid), great. (Medicaid was expanded in many states thanks to Obamacare.) If you have to get individual (or family) coverage, now you can go to HealthCare.gov and get it (including federal subsidies to help you pay for it depending on your income).

If you don't have medical insurance, even if you can afford to pay for it, you'll have to pay a tax penalty.

That's it -- not complicated, really. America still has the same basic medical system. It's just improved. The number of uninsured Americans has fallen quite a lot, and (at least so far) medical costs are under better control.

Hasn't changed much, although several years ago Medicare introduced better prescription drug coverage, and you have some choices in that area available.

Social Security
Hasn't changed for many years. The U.S. has been adding social security treaties, one by one, so if you've accumulated work credits in one or more foreign social security systems that have a treaty with the U.S. then it'll be that much easier to qualify for U.S. Social Security retirement benefits in the U.S., in that other country (or countries), or both.

Same sex married couples are now treated the same as opposite sex married couples in most states (soon to be all). For example, widows and widowers receive survivors' benefits regardless of the genders of their deceased spouses. Spousal benefits are paid to all spouses, same and opposite sex.

I imagine there are tax considerations such as the number of days you are out of the country, that returnees will need to plan for.
I'm not sure what you mean here, but I don't think anything has changed. When you come back to the United States your Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (if you've been taking it in your U.S. tax returns) ends, but that hasn't changed.

Others are credit card history and green cards for non-American spouses.
No changes here either, really, except that debit cards are more popular than ever in the United States. If you don't want to carry cash you still don't need a credit card. (Walmart has a terrific, low cost debit card called the American Express Bluebird card.)

INS is now called USCIS, and instead of filing petitions with your local U.S. consulate to bring your foreign spouse to the U.S. you now file those petitions (usually) by mail to USCIS. (In a few countries you can still file at a consulate.) Fees have gone up for those petitions, but that's not surprising.

Professional baseball is still played in the United States, and the ABC, CBS, and NBC television networks still broadcast. (There are a few more channels available.) Wired telephones are getting less common, and mobile phones are practically everywhere, even in churches, synagogues, and mosques. In about 37 states (soon to be all 50) men can marry men and women can marry women -- and hurray for that, it's about freakin' time. Crime is down practically everywhere, though it seems the police might be committing more of what's left. Marijuana is decriminalized or outright legal in several states, though that's not quite a done deal yet. America elected (and reelected) its first African-American President -- perhaps you've heard -- and may be poised to elect its first female President. Canada still hasn't won the Stanley Cup. America's melting pot is getting even more exciting and interesting. The food is better than ever, and America's waistlines are bigger than ever.

Welcome back.
 
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