I'm Liam, and I want to stop being an American. I've lived in the Netherlands for a bit over seven years now, and for just over two years now I've been eligible to apply for Dutch citizenship. However, due to the costs and my very limited income that's not something I can feasibly do any time soon.

Now, why have I waited so long to ask for assistance with this funding? Simply put, stubbornness. I was determined to save up to be able to pay for the whole process myself, but I've come to the conclusion that this is a bit of a futile effort so here I am.

Why does it matter though? Well first off, having my documents all in one country would mean I can finally change my legal name. I'm a trans man, and have been living as a man for years now, but while I'm an American citizen my documents need to match. And, well, updating my American documents isn't a possibility at this time.

As things stand now, my Dutch identification has my fairly masculine face and a very feminine name. In addition, all of my official digital records still list "female" and my birth name, and you can imagine how frustrating it is to be called that all the time when it is simply not accurate.

In addition, while I hope to move to England to be with my partner when the opportunity arises, I absolutely love this country and intend to return in the long term. Being a Dutch citizen will make that eventual process just a bit easier.

It would also just be really nice not to have to worry about paying taxes to the US if I can ever get my income up above the poverty line.

Now, I'm not planning on just asking for money without doing any of the work myself. I'm also trying to save up, but any little bit would be a huge help especially since I'm basically living hand-to-mouth right now. Any help would be deeply appreciated and would just make the whole process possible, not to mention significantly less stressful.

As a breakdown of the costs:

The cost for the initial application is €1091 (which is now the initial goal).

The cost for renouncing my American citizenship (required by Dutch law) is $2350.

After I file the initial request, the immigration office will have up to a year to decide my case, at which time I'll be required to do the second half of the process. Hopefully that'll be plenty of time to get the second part of the funds together.

What if I get more than asked for? I can't imagine that happening, but if somehow that occurred I would first put extra funds into getting my documents changed to reflect my actual name and gender, then put a bit aside for a small emergency fund and finally put any further funds into a trustworthy charity. I believe in paying it forward when I can, so if I can help another person out then that's fantastic!

If you have read this far I appreciate that you've taken the time to do so, thank you so much.