Future or current expats: imagine having to live on the streets of a Middle Eastern city. Many expats think that this could never happen to them. Without careful attention to details, local laws and customs, this CAN happen to anyone:

Nicholas Warner, a British man who has been living rough on the streets of Dubai, is travelling back to the UK.

With help from locals and an expat sponsor, he obtained the release of his passport from the authorities.

Mr Warner had been sleeping in parks and public places around the city for nearly 12 weeks.

He said his problems began when he got into a dispute with his bank, Emirates NBD, initially over whether his credit card repayments had been made.

The U.A.E. in particular has seen so many expats from all over the world flee their debt, it is not surprising that something like this could happen. It’s unlikely that Mr. Warner is the only person that has been put in this situation. As the article doesn’t delve into the details over the dispute, what’s clear is that as an individual expat Mr. Warner was powerless to garner the release of his passport for a long period of time.

Expats often feel there is little to love about how they are regarded – legally – by their native countries. While living abroad, many feel they are treated like second-class citizens in terms of things like taxes, voting, citizenship and other issues. Each nation is a little different, and this article from The Globe And Mail about the Downside of Expat Life for Canadian citizens highlights that reality:

Kenny Zhang, a researcher with the Vancouver-based Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, argues that government policies punish so-called transnational Canadians. For example, naturalized Canadian citizens living abroad can not pass on citizenship to children born outside the country. Also, a Canadian who lives abroad for more than five years is no longer permitted to vote in federal elections.

The article also highlights some high profile Canadian expats. The article notes the importance stated by surveyed expats with regard to maintaining their Canadian identity. The vast majority also indicate that they intend to return to Canada.

A British Expat will be the next Prime Minister of Australia, regardless of the outcome of the election:

Welsh-born Labour premier Julia Gillard, 48, will come head to head with 52-year-old Liberal leader Tony Abbott, who was born in London, when the election, expected to be called tomorrow is held in late August.

The article goes on to note that this will not be the first time that a British expat has held the position. However, it has been quite some time since the last expatriate won the post:

Since the office of Prime Minister was created in Australia in 1901 only four others were born in the United Kingdom – George Reid (1904) and Andrew Fisher (1908) were born in Scotland, Joseph Cook (1913) in England and William Hughes (1915) in Wales.

Is this a sign of the times? Will the globally mobile be more likely to win high office going forward? While Australia’s political attachment to the U.K. is of note here, it’s interesting that it has been so long since it last occurred, and here we have expats on the ticket for both the Labour and Liberal parties.

Of course, much to the chagrin of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger, this couldn’t happen in the U.S. Foreign-born citizens are disqualified for the office of U.S. President by Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution.

We’ve covered the impact of politics on expats extensively in our blog in the past, but how about expats impacting local politics? European expats, particularly Brits, are taking to the political arena to address issues at the heart of a great deal of turmoil in recent years:

British national Tony Cabban is already a councillor in the municipality Javea. He was one of the first expats to get involved in local politics and form an independent political group.

AIM was launched in January 2007 by Spanish national Manuel Barrera
Mr Cabban, now running with the independent party Nueva Javea, says the mushrooming of expat-dominated political parties is a result of a lot of issues coming to a head: “There’s a lot of dissatisfaction with the way towns are run.”

One of the biggest issues is corruption in urban planning.

There has been a great deal of coverage on the British homes that have been knocked down due to improper permits, so it’s encouraging to see expats working within the political process of Spain to address the issue.

How many people out there know where Luanda is? No?

It’s in Angola, and it’s the most expensive city to live in for expats. Here’s an excerpt:

The Angolan capital Luanda is the most expensive city for corporate expats, according to a study Tuesday which includes three African cities in the top 10 for the first time.

Tokyo is second and Moscow and Geneva are also among the most costly cities in the world. At the other end of the scale Pakistan’s second city Karachi is the cheapest, according to consultants Mercer.

It’s amazing to see how this list evolves over the years in a rapidly shifting global economy and political landscape.

The Cost of Living Survey on Mercer.com

Expats in Japan are trying to help close Futenma, the U.S. military base on Okinawa.

While expats did not want to speak officially about the controversy there, they have privately voiced their opinions. Here is what the author hears from the expat community:

Privately, everyone seems to have a view: I heard opinions ranging from calls for all bases to close, to criticism of the Okinawans for building a city around a military installation. Citing the “sensitivity” of the issue, several people declined to talk to me.

The actions of some of these expats demonstrates one of the differences between expats and tourists… individual expats can have an impact on what happens in there destination countries. After claiming the political career of a prime minister, it will be interesting to see how this situation is resolved. Also, interesting how the economic and employment impact isn’t getting as much play in the media as other aspects of the story.

Americans living abroad can expect to feel the scrutiny of the IRS more than they have in the past. As this article from PRweb via Yahoo News points out, the deadline for expats is June 15th.

This quote provides the reasoning for this additional focus on expats:

“There is a hole of about USD 400 billion in the current US budget,””said David McKeegan, founder of Greenback Tax Services. “The Obama administration thinks that offshore tax abuse costs the US Treasury as much as USD 100 billion each year, and the President has authorized an additional USD 128 million for the 2010 IRS budget. Part of this money will be spent on 800 new IRS agents to try to track down who is filing and paying their taxes from abroad and who is not.”

And, separately, this CNN.com article volcano in Iceland threatens the European economy, which is obviously already under strain. Expats in Europe should be paying attention to how this might affect them.

An increasing number of U.S. citizens and green card holders overseas are taking the extreme step of renouncing their American citizenship due to tax hikes, among other reasons.

An Ohio-born entrepreneur, now based in Switzerland, told Dow Jones he is considering turning in his U.S. passport. Mounting U.S. tax and reporting requirements are making potential business partners hesitate to do business with him, he said.

“I still do dearly love the U.S., and renouncing my citizenship is not something I take lightly. But more and more it is seeming like being part of a dysfunctional family,” said the businessman, who asked that his name not be used for fear of retribution.

Last month, the Treasury Department announced more rigorous requirements for Americans living abroad to report information on foreign bank accounts. The reporting requirement has been in place for years, but only in the most recent couple of years has the IRS gotten tough about enforcing penalties.

The information return must be filed by any U.S. citizen or resident whose balance in all foreign accounts combined exceeds $10,000 at any time during the year. Stiff penalties, up to 50% of the annual account balance, punish failure to file.

It will be interesting to see what kind of comments we get on this topic. While expats often voice concerns about the direction of the U.S., renouncing their citizenship is not something we read about often on ExpatExchange.com. Leaving the U.S. to live due to political objections is something we’ve read about on our forums in the Clinton, Bush and now Obama administrations. This seems to be something altogether different.

Being caught amid political upheaval has to rank among the greatest fears of expatriates. The uncertainty involved in being in a foreign country and the long history of violence associated with political turmoil is simply not a comforting mix.

This article from Sun.co.uk about British expats caught in Bankok political violence captures some of the terror that can be involved with such an ordeal:

Brit holidaymaker Sarah Colvin got caught in the cross-fire.

“People started running and screaming,” the 19-year-old said. We were being shot at. It shook us up a lot. We needed Valium to sleep. A lot of people we’ve spoken to are getting out of here.”

This reality is no fun, and other nations, such as Kyrgyzstan, have also been in the news lately due to violence in the streets due to political unrest. This highlights the need to do all research and get as much training and advice as possible before moving overseas. It was not that long ago that this taking place in Bankok would have been unthinkable.

It’s March 17th, and that means it’s St. Patrick’s Day! Irish expats and those of Irish descent the world over are celebrating one of the merriest holidays in the world:

The traditional feast day of Ireland patron’s saint has become one of the world’s most recognised national holidays and Irish ministers are jetting around the globe to promote trade, tourism and investment.

President Mary McAleese was to review the main parade in Dublin involving 3,000 performers and marching bands from India, the US, Bulgaria, Austria, France, Spain and Britain.

There will be parades in more than 100 other Irish cities and towns. Irish emigrants also use the holiday as an excuse to party in Australia and New Zealand and in countries in Asia, Europe and north and south America.

Irish pubs in cities around the globe will heave to traditional Gaelic craic, or fun.

If you are wondering about the history of St. Patrick’s Day, visit it’s description on Wikipedia to read about it?