I was born in the United States and given up for adoption. Am I an American?

Michael Littaur

2 min
Published on: 10-10-2017 Last modified on: 29-08-2024

I was born in the United States and given up for adoption. Am I an American? Yes, you are. When you were born in the United States or the child of American citizens you automatically got American citizenship. Even when you were given up for adoption and moved from the United States to live abroad with your adoptive parents you keep your own American citizenship. This is your birthright of the United States of America. The child who due to adoption lives outside of the United States may acquire dual citizenship. This is the own American citizenship on the one side and the nationality of the adoptive parents on the other side.

Am I an American?

When due to your birth in the United States you can confirm the question ‘Am I an American?’ the following information is important for you:

All American citizens have the obligation to file taxes in the United States. Basically, you have to file an IRS Form 1040 for the previous year if your income was above a certain threshold. We advise you to have this screened by a tax adviser specialized in filing for US citizens abroad.

All American citizens, wherever they live or work in the world, have to report all foreign accounts yearly if the highest aggregate value of all of the foreign accounts on any day in the year is over $10.000, – This is the ‘Foreign Bank Account Report’ (FBAR) obligation.

You are required to disclose bank accounts, securities, foreign life insurance or other foreign financial instruments. This is stated by the FATCA law and is ratified by treaties between the United States and many countries.

We strongly advise you to fulfill your American tax obligations. Once you are aware of your obligation, it is compulsory to do so. You could face stiff penalties if you don’t comply.

Questions about adoption and the American tax obligations?

Two dual nationals living abroad founded Americans Overseas. In the costly and exhausting process of finding the right experts, they realized they had not only accumulated a mountain of knowledge but also built up a solid network of tax and legal experts. This could be of great benefit to others in similar situations.

Americans Overseas informs and connects US persons worldwide to a select network of specialized US tax consultants to help them with the IRS tax return, avoid double taxation and become compliant.

Want to know more about the American tax obligations following adoption? You can always call us for a consultation (free of charge) or to talk to a US tax specialist.

Contact us for more information

 

Written by Michael Littaur

Co-founder

Michael Littaur, co-founder of Americans Overseas, discovered his U.S. tax liability only after selling his business. Together with Daan Durlacher, he founded Americans Overseas in 2014 to inform and support others with U.S. tax issues.

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