Ella Heyder is getting ready to break up, even though she’s been out for decades.
He is considering cutting ties with his country, the United States of America, and President Donald Trump.
“I am very concerned about what is happening in the US under the Trump regime. It is a fascist, imperialist regime,” Heyder said as he and others held up signs outside the US Embassy in Ottawa during a twice-weekly protest against the current US administration.
“It makes me ashamed. It makes me very sad,” he said.
For decades, Heyder has carried two passports. While growing up in Norfolk, Va., Canada has her own integrity, and sees a permanent separation as inevitable.
“I’ve been thinking about it for several years, and I was 100 percent motivated last time to have to pay thousands of dollars to an accountant to file my US taxes. But now I have another motivation,” he said.
The Trump factor.
“I’m very much in line with Canadian values and I can live without being an American citizen,” Heyder said.
He is not alone. Many dual citizens are considering doing the same, according to Alex Marino, US tax practice leader at Moody Tax Law in Calgary.
In recent years, Marino says he’s seen a 40-60 percent increase in applications from those wanting to donate what he calls “one of the most coveted passports in the world.”
“People are individuals [are] not only to ask [about giving] they took out their American citizenship, but they actually took over and quit,” Marino said.
I The US government reports such withdrawals quarterlysending the names of people who sacrificed their nationality.
Tax issues
It is not a straightforward process. The US and Eritrea are the only two countries in the world that tax based on citizenship rather than residency.
Regardless of whether a dual citizen has lived or worked in the States, they still need to file annual tax returns with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and in some cases pay US taxes on Canadian investments such as tax-free savings accounts or registered education savings plans. (The tax-exempt status of these programs is in Canada it is not recognized by the IRS.)
Marino said that for many, these strict tax laws are one of the reasons for the growing interest in renouncing American citizenship.
“Trump won the election in 2024. It was a turbulent situation between the US and Canada,” he said. “Sometimes that’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
High cost, long wait to quit nationality
US State Department recently announced that starting in mid-April, it will lower the fee renouncing US citizenship from $2,350 US to $450.
Along with costs, revocation requires a short interview where two citizens must prove they understand the consequences of their decision and take an “oath of denial.”
But the wait for one of those interviews at the American Embassy in Ottawa, or at the American embassy in Toronto or Vancouver, ranges from six months to more than a year.
There is a faster way, notes Marino.
“We’re helping and we’re going to send anywhere from 30 to 50 Canadians a month abroad for a quick interview that we’re going to give up,” he said. “If you like a ‘dump holiday,’ we can do it in two to three months.”
Marino’s company charges clients between $10,000 and $15,000 to help with the loss, and he says it’s wise to seek professional guidance.
“Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as slipping your passport under the door of the embassy,” he said. “If you don’t dispose of it the right way, there’s a tax on your net worth.”
‘I’m a proud Canadian’
“I chose Canada,” Jackie Lyons said in a video recorded outside the US Embassy in Ottawa on the day she renounced her US citizenship in January 2023.
“I haven’t looked back. I’m really glad I did it,” he told CBC in a recent interview.
Lyons, who grew up in Long Island, NY, came to Canada in 1989 looking for love.
“I married the first Canadian I ever met,” he said.
For her, the turning point was the Women’s March on Washington in 2017, shortly after Trump was first elected.
“I just felt like I was stepping back in time, in terms of what women were concerned about and what women should still be fighting for, and that was an awakening for me,” Lyons recalled.
“That was the beginning of the seed. I think I had to distance myself from citizenship.”
Since renouncing his American citizenship, Lyons has crossed the border with his Canadian passport claiming to be born in the US, without incident.
He says he has no regrets.
“I’m a proud Canadian, and I don’t remember ever feeling that way about the US,” she said.
To maintain the right to vote
Joel Westheimer, a professor of education at the University of Ottawa, grew up in New York City but has lived in Canada for 23 years.
His work often focuses on democratic ideas in education, and he is not a fan of Trump or his proposal to make Canada the “51st country.”
But being an American citizen has a different meaning for Westheimer, whose mother was born in Germany and survived the Holocaust. Ruth Westheimer later moved to the United States where she became a popular sex therapist and talk show host. He died in 2024.
“Hitler stripped the Jews of their citizenship, so I think about citizenship in that regard,” said Joel Westheimer. “Maybe he would be shocked if I gave up my nationality, even under these circumstances…. I think he would want me to maintain that attachment.”
Holding on to his American citizenship means Westheimer can continue to vote in the presidential election.
“I vote in every election I can,” he said.
Ella Heyder said that keeping that right to vote is what keeps her from renouncing her American citizenship.
“I won’t be allowed to vote, I won’t be allowed to call congressional representatives, which I do at least a few times a week now. So, I have to balance all of that.”
