Now celebrating 30 years of service to Americans residing abroad,  ACA has held unwavering positions on several issues directly affecting citizens residing abroad:  Children's citizenship, Medicare, Social Security, Taxation, Voting, and Congressional representation.

ACA’s Positions on issues

¨      Citizenship: All Americans should enjoy the same right to transmit US citizenship to all of their children, including all children born to or adopted by a US citizen abroad.

            Executive summary

            Due principally to issues relating to the different means by which children acquire citizenship, and because of restrictive provisions of present US law, it is entirely possible for a child born to a US citizen parent to be legally stateless.

¨      Medicare: Americans abroad who are eligible for Medicare benefits in the US should be able to receive these or equivalent benefits while abroad.

            Executive summary

            Medicare benefits are still not available to citizens living outside the United States.  This is not only unfair, but needlessly costly to taxpayers, since it encourages citizens to travel back to the US for expensive treatments, which would cost far less in their countries of residence.  TheTriCare program available to military personnel overseas could be extended to cover all Americans overseas.  

¨      Social Security: Americans abroad should not be penalized simply because they spent part of their careers abroad, or because they retire abroad and/or have a foreign-born spouse or adopted children.  ACA supports H.R. 82 and S. 206, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2007, which would eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).

            Executive summary

            WEP eliminates up to 50% of Social Security benefits for individuals receiving foreign pensions. Self-employed Americans working abroad must pay FICA taxes in addition to the social security taxes they pay in their country of residence.  No voluntary program exists for non-self-employed Americans to contribute to the Social Security system.  Foreign spouses and adopted children of Americans are often denied survivor benefits.

¨      Taxation: Exclusion of foreign income under Section 911 of the US tax code and other measures aimed at eliminating double or unfair taxation should be expanded in order to restore American competitiveness.  ACA supports S.1140 and H.R. 4752, the Working Americans Competitiveness Act, and recommends repeal of the 2006 tax increase measures included in TIPRA.

            Executive Summary

            US citizens working overseas are subject to a tax liability in their country of residence AND in the US, putting American citizens and businesses overseas at a competitive disadvantage. This tax burden discourages American companies from employing Americans overseas.  The Working Americans Competitiveness would eliminate the cap on the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion under Section 911. The TIPRA measures to repeal include the stacking measure and the limitation on housing exclusion, which has drastically increased taxation of Americans residing overseas.

¨      Voting:  ACA supports H.R. 4173, the Overseas Vote Act and H.R. 4237, Overseas Voting Practical Amendments Act of 2007 which would greatly simply procedures for absentee registration and voting for Americans abroad under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and would effectively enfranchise many Americans overseas.

            Executive Summary

            These two bills are complementary amendments to UOCAVA and would simplify and clarify terminology used in voting materials, ban the rejections of votes based on “non-essential” requirements such as paper size, permit submission of ballots by means other than post, extend voting eligibility to 2nd generation overseas Americans who have established a US domicile, prohibit the refusal to accept a ballot for lack of notarization on the envelope, eliminate the application for a state absentee ballot as a condition for casting a federal write-in ballot and provide for $5 million in funding for non-partisan voter outreach programs.

Representation: ACA believes that the only effective long-term solution for Americans to have their voice heard is direct representation in Congress through Delegates elected by the overseas community.        

        Executive Summary

      The Americans Abroad Caucus, founded in 2007 in the House of Representatives, is a positive first step for Americans Abroad to have a contact point in Washington.  Nevertheless, as Americans overseas represent a population that would be ranked 25th among the 50 states, this community should have right to its own representation, particularly given the special issues they face, the growing complexities of the global markets and the role that Americans overseas play in the competitiveness of the United States.

 ACA, 5 rue Liotard, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, +41 22 3400233,  info.aca(at)gmail.com