# Choosing a US State before expatriating



## Mark1 (Jun 12, 2010)

We are moving to Mexico, leaving our US State of residence. Ordinarily, I understand that a US citizen's US State would be the State where s/he resided before expatriating. S/he would carry a driver's license, register cars, vote, be taxed by, ... that State.
I doubt that our current state of residence (NJ) is a good place to maintain a State of residence for such purposes. E.g., when we periodically return for short shopping trips to the US we ought to maintain our car's registration current. It would seem to make sense to register the car in TX/AZ/NM/CA to attend to any formalities (e.g., receive the annual bill for the registration tax; renew drivers licenses, etc.)
When we vote in national elections we ought to be sure that our eligibility to vote in that state/congressional-district/precinct is in proper order; if not, we might be accused of voting improperly. (We would obtain an absentee ballot from a particular precinct.)
* How do we do choose an appropriate State?*
I'm hoping that TX/AZ welcomes expatriating Americans with relatively flexible residency laws. If not one of these 2 States, perhaps some other State has flexible laws; e.g., Alaska or Hawaii might be inconvenient physically, but nevertheless suitable for the needed purposes. 
Another possibility is to choose based on my State of birth (MN) or our other prior state-of-residence (IL) or to claim a State where our children live (MD, PA).
Everybody on this forum must have dealt with this issue; albeit many may have used their State of last residence by default. Hopefully, someone has looked into this question and learned some do's and don'ts.
Thanks
Mark


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2012)

US citizens living outside of the US can still vote in US national elections without maintaining US residency. See this:

https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/vote/home.htm

If you intend to live in MX, then get a residency visa, get a MX drivers license and buy/register your vehicle in MX. IF you take periodic trips back to the US, just get US insurance at the border for your MX registered vehicle. An alternative is to register your US vehicle in South Dakota. Use the search function on this forum.

Most/many US citizens living in MX maintain a US address just to receive and forward mail. This address has no bearing on anything, it's just for mail.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Mark1 said:


> ... When we vote in national elections we ought to be sure that our eligibility to vote in that state/congressional-district/precinct is in proper order; if not, we might be accused of voting improperly. (We would obtain an absentee ballot from a particular precinct.) ...


From: Federal Voting Assistance Program - Frequently Asked Questions
'For voting purposes, your last state of residence is where you would vote. 
If I do not maintain a legal residence in the U.S., what is my "legal State of residence"?

Your "legal State of residence" for voting purposes is the State or territory where you last resided immediately prior to your departure from the United States. This applies to overseas citizens even though you may not have property or other ties in your last State of residence and your intent to return to that State may be uncertain.'

For car registration, I think there is more flexibility, but I will leave that to someone with a car.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

If you are receiving Social Security and you tell them that your address is out of the country, they will send you a yearly form which must be filled out, signed, and mailed back in order for you to continue to receive benefits. If the address is in the US, you will not have to do this. You children's address is perfect for this.

I have had some problems with wiring money from my bank in the US to my bank in Mexico. This could be a Bank of America problem, but it could apply to other banks. It seems that BofA will not permit me to wire money to my bank in Mexico if I have a Mexican address associated with the account. With an US address, I have no problem. 

If you believe that you will receive important mail, it is best to have it delivered to an US address as the delivery will be faster and will actually get there. Your children's address is perfect for this. They can notify you if important mail arrives for you and possibly scan the mail and let you make a decision on the disposition.

I ditto the earlier remarks on voting and car registration.


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

My vote is also for using your children's address. Gradually you're likely to need it less and less.

I haven't lived in the US for 30 years and can still vote in my last state of residence. My US driver's license is in a different state where I've had it since I learned how to drive (tied to brother's address), but I expect at every renewal to have to give it up if they ask pointed questions. I also use my brother's address for credit card billing and US bank account but actually handle everything online (the companies know I live in Mexico). I pay Federal taxes but no state taxes. IRS has my Mexico address, and I've taken care to establish for all official purposes that I'm a resident of Mexico. Social Security has my Mexico address and deposits payments into my Mexico bank account. My car is registered in Mexico, and I have a Mexico DL. Currently my Mexico immigration status is FM2/Inmigrante, and I'll apply for permanent residence this year.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Having someone receive my mail is the most important so I use my sister in Washington State. Washington also has no state tax. I would probably go with South Dakota if I planned on driving up ... but as it is expired plates aren't a problem in Mexico


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## Mark1 (Jun 12, 2010)

Thanks everyone for your help.
Yes, I know that I vote from my last state of residence. But, THAT is a problem. I have lived in NJ for 20 years; so, NJ is looking like it is my last state of residence. Is NJ a good state to have as your last state of residence? If not, then, how do I establish a last state of residence in a state other than NJ? 

I should try to cut all ties with the state of NJ. If I maintain any address in NJ, own any real estate or personal property (car registered) in NJ, maintain any membership in any organization in NJ (e.g., church) or vote in NJ I'm building a case for NJ to make a tax claim on my income or death.

The suggestion of South Dakota is the sort of advice I'm looking for. I take it that its easy to register a car in SD and maintain that registration there. If so, perhaps I should see what it takes to establish SD as my "last state of residence" for other purposes as well: driver's license; and anything else I can think of.

I understand that I can register my car in Mexico, pay the import tax, bear Mexican license plates. Why is that an advantage over the privilege of maintaining a foreign plated car in Mexico without paying Mexican import tax? I can have either FM2 or FM3 status with an American car for the rest of my life. Under FM2 I understand I can't work and have the car privilege; but that seems to be OK for me. The only 2 things I can think of that are disadvantageous are:
- 1 my US plates advertise I'm a foreigner;
- 2 the only Mexican who can drive my car is my wife.
I don't think that advertising that I'm a foreigner is much of a disability; it might on balance be an advantage. I look American anyway, no hiding that under a Mexican license plate. Not being able to have a friend/relative drive around the block while I run an errand is a problem, but it's pretty small.
If I'm missing out on something big by paying import tax to get Mexican plates please tell me what that is.

I need a "mail-drop" address, as various people have remarked on. A mail-drop address adds a little - but very little - to support an argument that TX/AZ/... is my last state of residence. So, if I could arrange to get such an address in Laredo TX I could pick stuff up that I have shipped to that address, collect magazines, catalogues, low priority stuff. That argues for a TX last-state-of-residence; SD is a long way to drive to pick-up shipments/.../catalogues. Anybody know if TX welcomes last-state-of-residence folks?

Thanks for any more input,
Mark


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Mark1 said:


> I understand that I can register my car in Mexico, pay the import tax, bear Mexican license plates. Why is that an advantage over the privilege of maintaining a foreign plated car in Mexico without paying Mexican import tax?


You realize, of course, that only certain cars manufactured in North America can be imported and that only a Mexican citizen can import them. Plus the cost could be up to 3,000 usd.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I think you might be confusing "last state of residence" for voting purposes with everything else. It only matters for voting. Otherwise, you choose how you want to handle things.

You can have SD as the state of registration for you car and TX as the state where you maintain your mailing address. However it works best for you. There are various mail-drop services as well as services that scan mail and email it to you.

I have maintained Illinois for my mailing address (a friend's address - he does the scan/email thing for me for important docs) and my car registration and voting as well. It's not the greatest choice because IL has a state income tax and a bi-annual car inspections but it was simple and, for the time being, it works since I return once or twice a year.


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## DNP (May 3, 2011)

I think last state of residence means where did you live before you moved somewhere else.

Sounds like that was NJ, not South Dakota.



Mark1 said:


> Thanks everyone for your help.
> Yes, I know that I vote from my last state of residence. But, THAT is a problem. I have lived in NJ for 20 years; so, NJ is looking like it is my last state of residence. Is NJ a good state to have as your last state of residence? If not, then, how do I establish a last state of residence in a state other than NJ?
> 
> I should try to cut all ties with the state of NJ. If I maintain any address in NJ, own any real estate or personal property (car registered) in NJ, maintain any membership in any organization in NJ (e.g., church) or vote in NJ I'm building a case for NJ to make a tax claim on my income or death.
> ...


WashDC/SMA


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2012)

Mark1 said:


> Thanks everyone for your help.
> Yes, I know that I vote from my last state of residence. But, THAT is a problem. I have lived in NJ for 20 years; so, NJ is looking like it is my last state of residence. Is NJ a good state to have as your last state of residence? If not, then, how do I establish a last state of residence in a state other than NJ?
> 
> I should try to cut all ties with the state of NJ. If I maintain any address in NJ, own any real estate or personal property (car registered) in NJ, maintain any membership in any organization in NJ (e.g., church) or vote in NJ I'm building a case for NJ to make a tax claim on my income or death.
> ...


If your net worth is substantial, invest in a couple of hours of an estate planning or tax attorney's time to avoid problems down the line. Their advice may be better than anything from an internet forum. With all of the money problems different state governments are having, there is no telling what kinds of tax grabs they will resort to in the future.

My understanding is that Mexico has no estate or inheritance taxes, but the MX government does pick up something on property transfers to survivors. If your permanent home is Mexico, it should cut out the US estate taxes if you have cut all ties there, don't maintain a home there, etc. If there is a substantial amount of potential taxes, you or your survivors could run up some big legal fees fighting an unfair tax bill if the state tried to claim you still belong to them.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Remember to keep your US and Mexican interests completely separated. Have a US will for the US stuff and a Mexican will for the Mexican stuff. 
A US lady married to a Canadian thought they did well by having an American Lawyer, living in Mexico, draw up wills. When the husband died, they found that the wills were invalid in Mexico, the USA and Canada. She now has to go through long and expensive probate, or whatever they call it in Canada, while she's here in Mexico. It may take years.


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## jasavak (Nov 22, 2011)

I understand your question . I would chose either Texas or Nevada . My dad keeps Nevada plates on his car although he almost never lives there . His reasons are different because he wants to avoid California taxes . In Texas you can register any car regardless of value for about $70. We also have no state income tax to file or pay . Hawaii , CA , NJ , NY , MA , CT are some of the worse places to pay your fees and taxes .


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