Accidental American

An accidental American is someone whom US law deems to be an American citizen, but who has only a tenuous connection with that country. For example, American nationality law provides (with limited exceptions) that anyone born on US territory is a US citizen (jus soli), including those who leave as infants or young children, even if neither parent is a US citizen (as in the case of Boris Johnson until he renounced his US citizenship in 2016). US law also ascribes American citizenship to some children born abroad to a US citizen parent (jus sanguinis), even if those children never enter the United States. Since the early 2000s, the term "accidental American" has been adopted by several activist groups to protest tax treaties and Inter-Governmental Agreements which treat such people as American citizens who are therefore potentially subject to tax and financial reporting (e.g. FATCA and FBAR) requirements – requirements which few other countries impose on their nonresident citizens. Accidental Americans may be unaware of these requirements, or their US citizen status, until they encounter problems accessing bank services in their home countries, for example, or are barred from entering the US on a non-US passport. Furthermore, the US State Department now charges USD 2350 to renounce citizenship (or otherwise obtain a Certificate of Loss of Nationality), while tax reporting requirements associated with legal expatriation may pose additional financial burdens.