Former American citizen Roger “Bitcoin Jesus” Ver has found out the hard way the consequences of renouncing his citizenship: he’s been refused a visa to enter the United States to speak at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami.

If you’ve not followed the tale of the self-proclaimed cryptocurrency messiah previously, Roger Ver is an ex-citizen, ex-convict, millionaire investor, early Bitcoin investor and self-described libertarian.

When he’s not investing in Bitcoin-related firms, Ver offers a service called “Passports for Bitcoin,” which, as the name suggests, allows users to buy citizenship, in this case of the Caribbean nation of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, for Bitcoin. The pitch is a simple one: follow in Ver’s steps, take up citizenship in a different country, then renounce your American citizenship…and potentially pay a whole lot less in taxes as a consequence.

It’s technically legal to do, but as you can imagine the U.S. Government isn’t too fond of those doing it, let alone someone who encourages others to do so.

Which is how we get to today, with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service knocking back not one, but three applications Ver has made.

The spurious reasoning given for the knock back:

One of the most common elements within the various nonimmigrant visa requirements is for the applicant to demonstrate that they have a residence in a foreign country which they have no intention of abandoning … You have not demonstrated that you have the ties that will compel you to return to your home country after your travel to the United States.”

The short version: they’re seriously claiming Ver presents the risk of overstaying his visa and remaining in the United States illegally, as he has no ties outside the United States.

On Reddit Ver responded by saying “I’ve lived outside the USA for about 9 years now. I have family and friends in Japan now too. I’m sure I will never ever live in the USA again” before adding “I still do live in Japan. My second home is in St Kitts. The U.S. embassy refused to even allow me to slide my proof of ties to Japan under their window for them to review!”

Interestingly despite the sales pitch for renouncing U.S. Citizenship, Ver tweeted that he’s still paying tax to the IRS, and an ample amount at that.

While forcing me to pay taxes @USEmbassyBbdos tyrants won’t allow me to attend #CES2015, #TNABC or anything in the US pic.twitter.com/8dl6qpPjUM

— Roger Ver (@rogerkver) January 6, 2015

Ver is a divisive figure; some cheer his staunch Libertarianism and support for Bitcoin, others see him as tax cheat and mutineer for renouncing his citizenship, but not being able to legally enter his country of birth, where he still pays taxes, from a country the United States has friendly relations with, is nothing more than vindictive pettiness.

Still, the takeaway lesson: if you’re an American citizen thinking about renouncing your citizenship for greener pastures, and you want to return visit home in the future, there’s no guarantee Uncle Sam will let you.

 Image credit: Roger Ver