dual citizenship ???

[smurfette1971 0]

hello

any thoughts on being a dual citizen

canada and usa

please give me any input to this matter as i am completely lost

[neiks 19]

What exactly do you want to know? How one becomes a "dual" citizen? Pros and cons of it?

[Tick Tock 3]

When you go through a Removal of Conditions (citizenship) swear-in for the US, you do not lose your ties to Canada as a Canadian Citizen (if you are one). Therefore, you hold a dual-citizenship. There's no paperwork involved to "get" dual citizenship - you only lose Canadian citizenship if you file paperwork specifically for that purpose - papers dealing with the Canadian government, not US.

[smurfette1971 0]

When you go through a Removal of Conditions (citizenship) swear-in for the US, you do not lose your ties to Canada as a Canadian Citizen (if you are one). Therefore, you hold a dual-citizenship. There's no paperwork involved to "get" dual citizenship - you only lose Canadian citizenship if you file paperwork specifically for that purpose - papers dealing with the Canadian government, not US.

how do i go about doing that

being dual citizen

canada and usa

i want to be a dual citizen

What exactly do you want to know? How one becomes a "dual" citizen? Pros and cons of it?

yes how to become

if there is a wait i have to have

pros and cons

i am a canadian citizen and want to be dual citizen canada and usa

[Inky 1,110]

You file for naturalization with the N-400 when you are able to and meet the requirements, pay the fees go take the speaking, writen and civics test and if you pass all that you will then get an oath cerimony where you get your naturalization certificate. After that you make a copy of it and go to the post office and apply for a US passport. Thats it. All you do is keep your US passport and your Canadian passport up-to-date and valid.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

For the How to's - I'd suggest reading the VJ guides for the steps and forms for Naturalization - Inky's pretty much covered the basics.

I don't know if there are perks to being dual persay - but there are perks to being a citizen in the country you live in.

Pro's - for me personally I won't have to carry my GC around anymore or worry about losing it. I won't have to pay any more $$$ to immigration Being an immigrant has made me feel like a bit of a 2nd class citizen, I'd like to get rid of that stigma as much as I can. Since I'll likely be living here the rest of my life I'd like to be able to vote and feel like part of the club

You give yourself a choice of 2 countries to call home if you ever want to move in the future.

I suppose if you're dying to you could drop your Canadian citizenship - but there's no need to.

Cons - non that I can really think of at the moment. I think you'll need to figure out what works best for you and your family situation

Cheers - good luck on the decision

[Flames9_RN 358]

If you you fool around with the search feature, you should find many posts regarding the + and -'s.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

The biggest negative - for the rest of your life wherever you live you will need to file an Income Tax return with the IRS - you may not necessarily have to pay tax to them but you have to report to them.

Positives - there are lots of them especially as a spouse of a US citizen. You get to vote, you get the right to live in either country at choice without having your residency permission revoked, and one of the biggest - if anything happens to your US spouse you are no longer required to pay tax on the full value of your joint property (eg house, cars, any investments, pensions, etc.) - it is deferred until the time you die and your estate settles up. If you are a Permanent Resident spouse of a US citizen, however, there is no deferment - the tax is due on the total property, not just your spouses' half - immediately after death - you basically don't have right of deferment for the estate. This can mean the difference between having to sell your home and everything else in order to pay the taxes or to have time to make decisions about where to go in your life. (IRS expect PRs married to US citizens to leave the country when the US citizen dies and don't want them to leave without giving the IRS their fair share - so they take it up front rather than later).

[shawna7 4]

The biggest negative - for the rest of your life wherever you live you will need to file an Income Tax return with the IRS - you may not necessarily have to pay tax to them but you have to report to them.

Positives - there are lots of them especially as a spouse of a US citizen. You get to vote, you get the right to live in either country at choice without having your residency permission revoked, and one of the biggest - if anything happens to your US spouse you are no longer required to pay tax on the full value of your joint property (eg house, cars, any investments, pensions, etc.) - it is deferred until the time you die and your estate settles up. If you are a Permanent Resident spouse of a US citizen, however, there is no deferment - the tax is due on the total property, not just your spouses' half - immediately after death - you basically don't have right of deferment for the estate. This can mean the difference between having to sell your home and everything else in order to pay the taxes or to have time to make decisions about where to go in your life. (IRS expect PRs married to US citizens to leave the country when the US citizen dies and don't want them to leave without giving the IRS their fair share - so they take it up front rather than later).

wow..I didn't know this..thank you for posting this Kathryn!

[neiks 19]

That's a great point Kathryn. People definately need to be aware of that and consider it. I know that the tax implemention is going to be a big factor in deciding if I will apply for US citizenship.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Interesting- I didn't know about the tax implications. Voting rights is the biggest thing for me. Also, I don't know if this is something that matters to you, but as a USC you also have the ability to sponsor family members and bring them to the US, like your parents. I doubt I'll ever convince my parents to move to the US, but it's a nice thought!

[Inky 1,110]

What about the option to give up US citizenship in Montreal at the Montreal embassy? If you were to return to canada to live there and desided you did not want US citizenship ( ever again ) and you went in and signed the papers and gave over your US passport etc. Would you still be required to pay US taxes?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Inky,

thank you for bringing it up.

There are few reasons when giving up US citizenship makes sense. One of them would be if you've been elected King or Queen of Tonga, your former home country. Another one would be that the buddies in the Muslim terror organization you joined give you strange looks about being a US citizen. The by far most cited reason to give up US citizenship would be to avoid having to pay taxes when living out your final days on your remote island near Fiji.

However, and this is the good one, Uncle Sam says: if someone renounces their US citizenship in order to avoid a tax burden, then they accept the renouncement, but the tax burden still exists. Cool, huh?

[Inky 1,110]

Was not asking as tax evasion. Was asking if a Canadian wished to return home to Canada and give up US citizenship because they did not want to ever return to the USA. If you would still have to file taxes in the US for any money you make while working in Canada.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

You answered your own question!

Why would they have to give up their US citizenship, just because they never want to return to the US? Why can't they live for the rest of their lives in Canada as Canadian and US citizens?

For tax reasons, of course!

Quote:

Also, persons who wish to renounce U.S. citizenship should also be aware that the fact that a person has renounced U.S. citizenship may have no effect whatsoever on his or her U.S. tax or military service obligations (contact the Internal Revenue Service or U.S. Selective Service for more information).

http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_776.html