Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson gives up his American citizenship

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Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has given up his American citizenship

The Conservative politician announced that he planned to hand back his US passport while he was London mayor and began the process more than a year ago.

US government documents listing people who have given up their citizenship rights confirmed he no longer had the status.

During a trade mission to America in 2015, Mr Johnson described his dual nationality as "an accident of birth" that he planned to change, but said the process was "a laborious business".

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Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was born on 19 June 1964 in New York

US laws mean that American citizens are liable to pay some taxes even if they are not resident in the country.

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was born on 19 June 1964 at a hospital on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in pictures
Thu, July 21, 2016

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson attends his first EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to discuss the issues in Turkey, Syria, and the Middle East.

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British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson addresses the press after a meeting with the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault at Quai d'Orsay on July 28, 2016 in Paris, France

Mr Johnson was forced to settle an "outrageous" capital gains tax bill following the sale of a house in London ahead of his US mayoral tour.

The previous year he had insisted he would not settle up, saying: "Why should I? I haven't lived in the United States for, you know, well, since I was five years old."

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