Pros & Cons of Citizenship?

[motu 5]

I believe the poster was more interested in Estate planning issues - and most people here are not financial experts. You may need to talk to a friendly financial expert either at work or in your social circle (that way it's free) or else pay a financial expert for his advice - make sure he knows the issues involving foreign citizenship before hiring him - if you already have a financial adviser - he should be able to get the answers for you. Good Luck

[skoopie 0]

There is a big advantage often over-looked for becoming a USC. I don't know the complete details exactly but as i vaguely understand it...

If you're a USC, you can pass on your estate to your USC spouse (or accept your spouse's estate) without the spouse paying the estate tax. If you or your spouse is not a USC, you have to pay estate taxes on anything over $2 million. Many think they'll never need to worry about ever getting to $2 million, but this number includes life insurance policies listing you as a beneficiary, house value based on appraisal, 401(k), cars, etc. etc. etc. See this link for more details - http://www.elderlaw.com/estate.html

That said, US has signed an estate tax treaty with Canada (and some other countries) that allows transfer of estate from a USC (for e.g. your husband) to you (a canadian citizen) without paying the estate tax. If you're a dual citizen, that might exempt you from this treaty. You may want to consult with a CPA on the issue..

I believe the poster was more interested in Estate planning issues - and most people here are not financial experts. You may need to talk to a friendly financial expert either at work or in your social circle (that way it's free) or else pay a financial expert for his advice - make sure he knows the issues involving foreign citizenship before hiring him - if you already have a financial adviser - he should be able to get the answers for you. Good Luck

[philipem 0]

I'm originally from Canada, moved to the US to get married in 2003. I am no longer married to the US citizen, the marriage ended in divorce in 2006. I recently remarried to a US citizen. I believe I'm eligible for citizenship this April which will be five years after my Adjustment of Status interview where I received my first green card.

My question is this ... are there any pros & cons to having dual citizenship? I believe there are some estate tax implications to the surviving spouse not being a US citizen but I don't know exactly what they are. My husband and I are getting to an age where we need to think about these things. Any other consequences to not applying for citizenship?

Sharon in Massachusetts

The anti-immigrant furor seems to have calmed down but even with PR it's not inconvceivable that the US would decide to exclude you from Social Security, for example. I have dual US-Irish citizenship and having that second passport and a much larger scope of living and working is just peace of mind for me. The other responses were quite good -- the rules can change at any time is the worst. And suppose one day you got careless and had more than one glass of wine then got into a traffic accident where someone was hurt? Instead of a just nasty trip to court and a lot of expenses and maybe some jail time, you'd get all that AND booted out of the country permanently.

And I have found Irish citizens (and probably Canadians) get a much nicer welcome in some countries. But a US passport will get you visa free entry almost anywhere.

Edited February 12, 2009 by philipem

[philipem 0]

I'm originally from Canada, moved to the US to get married in 2003. I am no longer married to the US citizen, the marriage ended in divorce in 2006. I recently remarried to a US citizen. I believe I'm eligible for citizenship this April which will be five years after my Adjustment of Status interview where I received my first green card.

My question is this ... are there any pros & cons to having dual citizenship? I believe there are some estate tax implications to the surviving spouse not being a US citizen but I don't know exactly what they are. My husband and I are getting to an age where we need to think about these things. Any other consequences to not applying for citizenship?

Sharon in Massachusetts

The anti-immigrant furor seems to have calmed down but even with PR it's not inconvceivable that the US would decide to exclude you from Social Security, for example. I have dual US-Irish citizenship and having that second passport and a much larger scope of living and working is just peace of mind for me. The other responses were quite good -- the rules can change at any time is the worst. And suppose one day you got careless and had more than one glass of wine then got into a traffic accident where someone was hurt? Instead of a just nasty trip to court and a lot of expenses and maybe some jail time, you'd get all that AND booted out of the country permanently.

And I have found Irish citizens (and probably Canadians) get a much nicer welcome in some countries. But a US passport will get you visa free entry almost anywhere.

As to the cost of passports of course if you are only going to go to Canada I think you can just show your Canadian birth certificate for entry? My sister in law is regaining her Canadian citizenship in April due to the change in law, she doesn't need a Canadian passport. And Canada has a wallet sized certificate of citizenship taht is cheaper than a passport. I beieve;

[Marilyn. 340]

I'm originally from Canada, moved to the US to get married in 2003. I am no longer married to the US citizen, the marriage ended in divorce in 2006. I recently remarried to a US citizen. I believe I'm eligible for citizenship this April which will be five years after my Adjustment of Status interview where I received my first green card.

My question is this ... are there any pros & cons to having dual citizenship? I believe there are some estate tax implications to the surviving spouse not being a US citizen but I don't know exactly what they are. My husband and I are getting to an age where we need to think about these things. Any other consequences to not applying for citizenship?

Sharon in Massachusetts

The anti-immigrant furor seems to have calmed down but even with PR it's not inconvceivable that the US would decide to exclude you from Social Security, for example. I have dual US-Irish citizenship and having that second passport and a much larger scope of living and working is just peace of mind for me. The other responses were quite good -- the rules can change at any time is the worst. And suppose one day you got careless and had more than one glass of wine then got into a traffic accident where someone was hurt? Instead of a just nasty trip to court and a lot of expenses and maybe some jail time, you'd get all that AND booted out of the country permanently.

And I have found Irish citizens (and probably Canadians) get a much nicer welcome in some countries. But a US passport will get you visa free entry almost anywhere.

As to the cost of passports of course if you are only going to go to Canada I think you can just show your Canadian birth certificate for entry? My sister in law is regaining her Canadian citizenship in April due to the change in law, she doesn't need a Canadian passport. And Canada has a wallet sized certificate of citizenship taht is cheaper than a passport. I beieve;

this isn't true anymore.. to fly in and out of Canada you need a passport and I think starting in June or July you will need a passport for land borders too....

[mattr 0]

As someone posted before, there are tax treaties between the two countries. Whether you are a dual citizen or not is does not change a thing. You had to abide to tax laws in both countries since you moved to the US. In my case, there is a tax treaty between France and the US, and I pay taxes on income in the US only, whether this income is French or American, but I pay taxes in France for a rental I own, and have to claim a tax relief in the US for this. It can be very complicated, so I would suggest you contact the Canadian embassy here in the US and ask to speak with the financial person who might be able to send you some information about tax & estate. There could also be some information on their website. I would make sure you get help from an accredited CPA that knows the treaty between Canada and the US. The embassy or your consulate should be able to give you a contact for such a CPA.

Mattr.

[Italian_in_NYC 259]

And I have found Irish citizens (and probably Canadians) get a much nicer welcome in some countries. But a US passport will get you visa free entry almost anywhere.

My wife and I traveled the world, pretty much.

There has not been one country where I (italian citizen) needed a visa and my wife didn't.

On the contrary, when we went to Brazil, she had to obtain a visa at the brazilian consulate and I didn't.

EU passports offer the same benefits as US passports when traveling abroad. Sometimes even better.