Recommendations if a U.S. bank refuses to open/maintain an account for you

Increasing numbers of overseas Americans are encountering problems with U.S. banks unwilling to open or maintain an account for them simply because they have a foreign address.  Such accounts are needed to pay U.S. taxes, receive Social Security payments, make payments or have credit cards in the U.S., etc.

FAWCO's partner organization ACA has drawn up recommendations for U.S. citizens...

Ask your legislators to join the Americans Abroad Caucus!

In one memorable week, two Members of the House of Representatives joined the Americans Abroad Caucus in response to requests from one (yes, one) of their constituents.  In each case, the Congressmen were simply contacted by an overseas voter in their district and both agreed to join, adding their names to the list of legislators who, by joining the Caucus,

Americans Abroad Caucus - a sample letter to your legislators

The Americans Abroad Caucus is the first group officially created on Capitol Hill to provide for dialogue between Congress and the overseas American community. 

The Caucus grew rapidly at the beginning but has stagnated since. Since it was created, several of its members joined simply because a single constituent asked his/her Representative to do so.  

You can help grow the...

Some tips on communicating with your legislators

We are regularly encouraged to write to our Washington representatives, urging them to support legislation that directly affects us living abroad. When we do, it would be wise to keep a few things in mind.

Here are some tips on writing to your legislators, as well as a few websites for those particularly interested in US issues. 

Communicating with your...

Online Survey on Representation in Washington - February 2005

In 2005, FAWCO conducted a survey of its members around the globe to learn how they would like to be represented in Washington: many people complain of "taxation without representation" and dream of a Congressperson or even a group of them to represent the large overseas American population without necessarily thinking of the constitutional challenge that would represent.

This is...

Results of FAWCO "Representation" survey - May 2005

FAWCO Survey on Representation of Overseas Americans in Washington
January - April 2005

Contents

Introduction 

Survey    

Breakdown of results

Workshop results    

Carried out and reported by Lucy Stensland Laederich
FAWCO U.S. Liaison

Introduction

In our rapidly globalizing world, many tens of millions of people of many different nationalities have already left their home countries to live and work in foreign markets.