US Citizen abroad, telecommuting and home in US

3POSTS

6 years ago

In the past this was never a problem.聽 But recently I discovered it might be an issue if your primary home is in some states:

- I am a US citizen.
- My job is a telecommute job in the US, the company is in one state and the work is done connected to their headquarters, remotely.
- My permanent home is in another state.聽 In the past this was no issue.
- But due to family matters I find myself spending abroad.聽 I still work at my job for the company in the US, remotely.聽 I might be here for some months or even years.聽 I do come back home once or twice a year but only for a short period each time.

Problems:

- I just got called for jury duty, and I can't find how to get an exception for being out of the country.聽 I was able to reach a human but he says I have to either show up to the jury duty summons, move to a different state or move my residency to the country where I am now... even if it changes soon.

- Further, the person I talked to said that it doesn't matter if my permanent home is in his state and all of my records, accounts, etc are in that state.聽 He says that if I do not physically spend at least 180 days out of the year present in the state I cannot be a resident and MUST move away.聽 But as I'm abroad... I am not going to be that long in *any* state.

The biggest issue is that if I give up residence in all of the states, I won't have a legal identifying document (other than my passport)聽 and a driver's license is required to remain employed.

Makes no sense.聽 It seems that this state remained stuck in the 20th century and does not understand the level of mobility possible by 21st century workers.

I knew of this 6-month physical presence requirement for foreigners with a green card to be considered a resident, but is it real for US Citizens?聽 Or was the agent confused or maybe just making himself feel important by trying to ruin someone's day?

If real in some states, what states do not care if you are physically present for X days, and what states will accept being out of country as a valid reason to be excused from jury duty?
(I found out at least one county in Illinois that accepts it, but I know nobody there and it would be a weird place to move my permanent residence to)

Thanks in advance for any knowledge and advice in this matter.聽 I am pulling my hair out.

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TominStuttgart Germany Expert

2807POSTS

6 years ago

Welcome to the real world. Your citizenship is not in question just your residency. But of course there are rules concerning residency. One cannot really expect to live elsewhere and remain a resident somewhere. This does become a problem with drivers鈥� licenses since they are done by State. But many States let one renew their license as long as they have not gotten a license in another State. And if you live longer in Peru like your profile says then why not get a driver鈥檚 license there? Once I got residency in Germany for example I was required to get a German license within a year. Until that time I could drive with my American license. To be honest it sounds like you want your cake and to eat it too. You want to live elsewhere and have the benefits of residency without the duties.

BrunoGenovese Member

3POSTS

6 years ago

TominStuttgart wrote:
Welcome to the real world. Your citizenship is not in question just your residency. But of course there are rules concerning residency. One cannot really expect to live elsewhere and remain a resident somewhere. This does become a problem with drivers鈥� licenses since they are done by State. But many States let one renew their license as long as they have not gotten a license in another State. And if you live longer in Peru like your profile says then why not get a driver鈥檚 license there? Once I got residency in Germany for example I was required to get a German license within a year. Until that time I could drive with my American license. To be honest it sounds like you want your cake and to eat it too. You want to live elsewhere and have the benefits of residency without the duties.

It is not as clean cut as emigrating.

First, it is not permanent.聽 It might be months or a couple years more (family member that will likely pass soon).聽 I do plan to go back physically.聽聽

Second, I am still working in the US.聽 Via telecommute, but my job is there.

Finally, my permanent home and all of my accounts are still in the US.聽 I have no intention to move any of it to Peru.聽聽

So, my body might be in Peru, but all of my activities are still in the US.

If I can't fix it in the state where my permanent home is... I can always relocate it to a state where they are more friendly to long-term travelers.聽 I just need to find out what states are those.聽 For example, I already found that Illinois allows jury duty exemptions for people traveling abroad and I'm certain it is not the only one.

BrunoGenovese Member

3POSTS

6 years ago

I was able to get an official answer through the Florida Department of State.聽

Turns out that the clerk I talked to was a jerk and a liar that gets his kicks causing trouble for the people that contact him.聽 I will be reporting him.

The real story is almost the opposite of what he told me.聽

(1) Florida does not have a minimum "days in the year spent in state" requirement to be considered a resident.聽 On the contrary, they have a number of things (like your primary home being there, spending even 1 month in state, etc) that get you considered as a resident for various things (taxes, drivers license, etc) whether you like it or not.

(2) Florida statutes explicitly state聽 " (6)鈥傾 person may be excused from jury service upon a showing of hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public necessity.聽聽" and there is little doubt that having to buy an international ticket and fly thousands of miles to get there is both hardship and extreme inconvenience according to them.

Moral of the story... don't believe the first person at a public office... they aren't all honest or even decent people.

1 member reacted to this post

TominStuttgart Germany Expert

2807POSTS

6 years ago

BrunoGenovese wrote:
TominStuttgart wrote:
Welcome to the real world. Your citizenship is not in question just your residency. But of course there are rules concerning residency. One cannot really expect to live elsewhere and remain a resident somewhere. This does become a problem with drivers鈥� licenses since they are done by State. But many States let one renew their license as long as they have not gotten a license in another State. And if you live longer in Peru like your profile says then why not get a driver鈥檚 license there? Once I got residency in Germany for example I was required to get a German license within a year. Until that time I could drive with my American license. To be honest it sounds like you want your cake and to eat it too. You want to live elsewhere and have the benefits of residency without the duties.

It is not as clean cut as emigrating.

First, it is not permanent.聽 It might be months or a couple years more (family member that will likely pass soon).聽 I do plan to go back physically.聽聽

Second, I am still working in the US.聽 Via telecommute, but my job is there.

Finally, my permanent home and all of my accounts are still in the US.聽 I have no intention to move any of it to Peru.聽聽

So, my body might be in Peru, but all of my activities are still in the US.

If I can't fix it in the state where my permanent home is... I can always relocate it to a state where they are more friendly to long-term travelers.聽 I just need to find out what states are those.聽 For example, I already found that Illinois allows jury duty exemptions for people traveling abroad and I'm certain it is not the only one.

Sorry but most of what you wrote is actually irrelevant. There are requirements to maintain residence. If one goes away there are always consequences, even if it is not permanent there can be time limits for certain things.

And while your employer might be in the USA, you are out of the country and performing your service there. So no, from a tax and work permit stand point you are NOT 鈥渨orking in the USA鈥�.聽 There are a lot of things written about digital nomads in the internet and most of it is BS. If one is physically in a country and working, then they usually need a work permit; that things written or done are transferred digitally are irrelevant.聽 Physical presence changes a lot of things whether one wants to accept it or not. I don鈥檛 know the specific laws of Peru but if you were here in Germany you would still need a work permit and have to file taxes locally as well as in the States.

As far as jury duty goes, most States have an exemption if one if out of the country since they can鈥檛 really expect you to fly back just to serve. But unless you have moved permanently you have the risk you will get called for jury duty again and have to show you aren鈥檛 in the country each time.

I personally got called for jury duty once in Ohio although I have not had a residence in the US since聽 years. But as a US citizen, I still have the right to vote; and this is done in the last State where one lived. On this basis I got called up a good 20 years later. Took some calls and emails but it was then established that I live overseas and I was exempted.聽 And while they confirmed that my only connection to Ohio is for voting, they warned me the same thing could happen again.