The Laws Weren't Built for You

The past few weeks, I've been fighting USA residence standards until I want to give up.

Most of the laws around the world are built for people who park themselves in one location for years at a time. They're governed by wherever you are "domiciled" - not where you spend your physical time. Especially if you're on tourist visas.

Because of that and fraud prevention, everything comes with its own version of Know Your Customer.

The Laws Weren't Built For You

• Want to open a business credit card? Need proof of physical address.
• Want to freelance online? Verify your location. Why are you logging in from abroad?
• Need a prenup or a divorce? Who's going to govern it? The place where you are "living"? Or where you happen to be physically at divorce time? I literally had a Texas family law office turn me away the other day because I am not a resident.
• California residents who haven't established ties to a new state even though you haven't lived there for years and lost your residence abroad? You will likely still pay state taxes.
• Want to open an LLC in another state besides your 'domicile'? Have to get a registered agent.
• Need to set up a forwarding address to a virtual mailbox? Tough, commercial mail receiving addresses are flagged by USPS flags so your forwarding request won't process.

And here's another thing I've realized:

Being an American without a true anchor and being abroad long term (assuming on tourist visas), all the online advice is for either:

• remote nomadic employees who are on W2, using a vpn, just hoping their employer doesn't find out they're working from abroad
• employees who are legitimately employed abroad and their employer handles most everything
• wealthy people who have their own family office or can afford an army of dedicated advisors and legal services

Why "Just Use a Friend's Address" Isn't Good Enough

And sure, the default advice is: "don't you just have a friend or family member who can handle your mail that you can use for your residence?"

Let me give you my outlook on that question.

1. Should that even be a question? Google says that in 2026, there are 5.5 million Americans are living overseas. I now realize that relative to the population of the United States, 5.5 million is a tiny number - and I can imagine it being worth it to not just change laws over. Especially if there's no economic benefit for the government. That said, 5.5 million is objectively not a tiny number.

A person like myself wants to do everything legally, legitimately, and on the up and up. I don't want to hide, I don't think I'm smarter than governments, and I want to do it the right way. To me, having to use a friend or family member is a grey area workaround. There have to be better legal ways to do this.

2. I love my friends. I love my family. But I don't want to rely on them for anything that is dependent on their location, schedule, or priorities. I can't leave a Google review for my family and friends - as much as I'd like to sometimes. I like to pay businesses for services. A good stable business generally doesn't go on vacation. It doesn't get sick. It doesn't move to another city or apartment. Yes, I realize I'm writing this from my third apartment in as many years.

I pay for services; the business figures out how to provide them. Always available (during business hours). I can't say the same about friends and family. Got mail? Wait until Dale gets back from a business trip. Vehicle needs a maintenance drive? Cousin is working overtime this week and can't get to it. Need something shipped from your friend's garage? It's in the back covered by his other possessions and not at the top of his priorities this week. And our friendly nature prevents me from bribing or otherwise incentivizing them somehow to provide me what I need more quickly. Speaking from experience here - multiple experiences, if I'm being honest.

But where's the advice for the:

• niche of self-employed or 1099 people contracting or working with their own USA LLC, but physically abroad
• business owners who are American citizens, but have a foreign-registered entity and are trying to figure it out on their own

Ask AI for advice and it'll hallucinate 30% of what it tells you or give you advice that applies to a domestic Rivers. It will give you plausible advice that sounds correct, but misses a few points. And it too will often end with either 'you should call this government office' or 'you should contact an attorney'.

Ok, I have zero issue paying professionals for advice. In fact, the attorneys and tax pros are almost always the ones who actually have experience and will give correct advice - whereas if you call Susie at the county assessor's office, she can only work with the info she's got and may not be aware of a provision that applies to your particular situation. But being on a totally separate timezone, I'd rather not have to call an attorney's office in the USA every time I want to ask a relatively simple question.

Why This Site Exists

If you want to find generic advice online, it's all spread among disparate Facebook groups, subreddits, and generalist international expat websites, plus a few business websites advertising their services. Good luck drilling down into what you need for your situation.

I really just haven't found one site that is effectively to AMERICAN expat life what biggest pocket is to real estate. Hence the creation of this site.

So if you're an American abroad trying to figure this out without a family office or army of dedicated advisors - you found the right place. Follow along. I'm documenting everything I'm learning and experiences for anyone else navigating this without a family office or ready-to-go team of advisors.