American Seismologist Detained in China for 600 Days Faces Espionage Trial
Youlin Chen, an American seismologist detained in China for more than 600 days without trial, faces espionage charges that carry sentences up to life in prison, his wife and two hostage advocacy organizations disclosed this week. Chinese state security officers...
The Internal Revenue Service published 1,462 names on its latest quarterly list of US citizenship renunciations, covering the first quarter of 2026. That’s a 13.8% increase over the same quarter of 2025, and the second-highest quarterly total in the past...
EU residence permits for Americans rose in 2024 even as the bloc handed out fewer of them to almost everyone else. American citizens received 80,424 first residence permits across the 27 EU countries, up 1.9% from 78,911 in 2023 and...
FATCA enforcement was built to expose Americans hiding money in offshore accounts. A Treasury watchdog report released Apr. 8, 2026 says the IRS still isn’t turning its data on the highest-balance nonfilers into cases. The reporting burden the law created,...
Overseas voters have become a target in the run-up to the 2026 midterms, but the legal fight and the real barrier point in different directions. The Republican National Committee has filed or backed lawsuits in Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona,...
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Residence-Based Taxation Bill Stalls on a Missing Revenue Score
Residence-based taxation is the reform millions of Americans abroad have waited on for a decade, and 2026 was supposed to be the year it finally moved. It hasn’t, yet. The Residence-Based Taxation for Americans Abroad Act, first introduced by Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., in December 2024 as H.R. 10468, expired when the 118th Congress ended. LaHood and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., have spent the past year rewriting it. The updated bill still hasn’t been reintroduced. The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income no matter where they live, a system shared only with Eritrea. An American in Lisbon or Lagos files a full US return every year, reports foreign accounts through the FBAR, and navigates FATCA rules that have pushed foreign banks to close accounts held by US citizens. The bill would let qualifying Americans abroad elect nonresident status and pay federal tax only on US-source income. Foreign-source income
US Citizens in Iceland Reached 1,113, Up From 583 in 2016
US citizens in Iceland reached 1,049 in 2025, up 80% from 583 in 2016, while American long-term permits tripled to 247. What the small-base numbers show.
711,778 Received Social Security Abroad, SSA Report Says
Social Security abroad has become an $8.39 billion annual line in the federal record of Americans living beyond the United States. The Social Security Administration counted 711,778 Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance beneficiaries in foreign countries in December 2024, including 463,480 retired workers. OASDI is the formal program behind Social Security retirement, survivor and disability benefits. The agency reported $682.8 million in monthly payments to foreign countries that month. Retired
Dominica Citizenship by Investment Draws Restrictions From the EU and US
Dominica citizenship by investment starts at a $200,000 donation, but the program offers no US E-2 access and no public count of American buyers.
Argentina Naturalization Rules Require 2 Unbroken Years
Argentina naturalization rules changed in 2025, and the toughest new condition only shows itself when an applicant leaves the country. One trip abroad can reset the clock to zero. President Javier Milei’s government rewrote the path to an Argentine passport by decree. Most of the changes make it harder. What the residency clock now requires The core change rewrote how Argentina counts the years toward citizenship. Decree 366/2025, published in
