Emigration from the United States
Emigration from the United States is the process where citizens from the United States move to live in countries other than the US, creating an American Diaspora (Overseas Americans). The process is the reverse of the immigration to the United States. The United States does not keep track of emigration and counts of Americans abroad are thus only available based on statistics kept by the destination countries.
Total population
85,000[20]
50,000–54,000[27]
48,000
45,000[29]
41,742 (2022)[30]
37,000[31]
33,509[32]
30,000+[33]
30,000[34]
26,000
25,000[35]
25,000[36]
24,457[37]
19,000[39]
17,552 (2017)[40]
15,000[41]
13,262[42]
12,000[43]
12,000
10,175[44]
10,000
9,794[45]
8,100
8,000[46]
8,000[47]
7,200
6,345[48]
4,000[49]
3,400
3,000 - 5,000[50]
2,800
Reasons for emigrating[edit]
There are many reasons why Americans emigrate from the United States. Economic reasons include job or business opportunities, or a higher standard of living in another country. Others emigrate due to marriage or partnership to a foreigner, for religious or humanitarian purposes, or to seek adventure or experience a different culture.[65] Many decide to retire abroad seeking a lower cost of living, especially more affordable health care.[66][67] Immigrants to the United States may decide to rejoin family members in their countries of origin. Other reasons include political dissatisfaction, safety concerns and cultural issues such as racism.[68] Some Americans may also emigrate to evade legal liabilities; a common past case was evasion of mandatory military service.
In addition to Americans who choose to emigrate as adults, many children are born in the United States to foreign temporary workers or international students and naturally move with their parents when they return to their countries of origin. Due to their acquisition of U.S. citizenship by birth but no significant connection to the country, they are sometimes called "accidental Americans".[69]
Destinations with facilitated access[edit]
One reason the U.S. diaspora is unusually small relative to its home population is that it is generally much more difficult for Americans to emigrate to a foreign country than, for example, citizens of countries in the Schengen Zone; similar to most other large countries, Americans looking for economic opportunity are generally limited to transmigration within the U.S.
In addition to U.S. territories, U.S. citizens have the right to reside in the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau due to a Compact of Free Association between the United States and each of these countries. They may also freely move to Svalbard due to its open migration policy, as long as they are able to obtain housing and means of support there.[70][71] All of these jurisdictions, however, are tiny, with fewer than a half million people combined.
Americans with parents or ancestors from certain countries, such as Germany, Ireland and Italy, may be able to claim nationality via jus sanguinis and therefore move there freely. Germany and Austria also have an easier path to citizenship for descendants of victims of Nazi crimes, even if jus sanguinis does not apply in the specific case.[72][73] Similarly, American Jews may move to Israel under its Law of Return.
The USMCA (and previously NAFTA) allows U.S. citizens to work in Canada and Mexico in business or in certain professions, with few restrictions.[74] However, to obtain permanent residence they must still satisfy the regular immigration requirements in these countries.
Net effect[edit]
The United States is a net immigration country, meaning more people arrive in the U.S. than leave it. There is a scarcity of official records in this domain.[75] Given the high dynamics of the emigration-prone groups, emigration from the United States remains indiscernible from temporary country leave. There are a few countries in the Caribbean which had very high migration rates to the United States in the 1980s and 1990s but recorded higher population totals in recent years, indicating significant return migration from the U.S., such as Trinidad and Tobago between its 2000 and 2011 censuses.
Issues[edit]
One of the biggest issues with the American diaspora is double taxation. Unlike almost all countries in the world, the United States taxes its citizens even if they do not live in the country. The foreign earned income exclusion mitigates double taxation on income from work, but the Internal Revenue Code treats ordinary foreign savings plans held by residents of foreign countries as if they were offshore tax avoidance instruments and requires extensive asset reporting, resulting in significant costs for Americans at all income levels to comply with filing requirements even when they owe no tax.[78][79][80] Even Canada's Registered Disability Savings Plan falls under such reporting requirements.[81] The most prominent piece of legislation which has attracted the ire of Americans abroad is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Disadvantages stemming from FATCA, such as hindering career advancement overseas, may decrease the number of Americans in the diaspora in future years. The problem is so severe that some Americans have addressed it by renouncing or relinquishing their U.S. citizenship.[82] Since 2013, the number of people giving up US citizenship has risen to a new record each year, with an unprecedented 5,411 in 2016, up 26% from the 4,279 renunciations in 2015.[83][84][85]