Canada/USA Dual Citizenship

[CitizenUS 0]

Hello I am a US citizen and my Canadian husband just became a permanent 10 year resident of the US. We are planning on gaining US citizenship for him.

Our plan is to travel full time in an RV. We want to travel to Canada in the summer for 6 months and my husband will work. Then in the winter we want to travel to the southern US where my husband and I will both work.

We realize we would have to file taxes in both countries. We also know we would have to have RV insurance that would be good in both countries.

Is something like this feasible? Or is it more trouble than it's worth? I would appreciate hearing from anyone who is doing this.

[bigdog 376]

Sounds like fun ask your insurance agent. Good Luck on Citizenship,

[Inky 1,110]

my aunt and uncle do this, its a lot of work but they travel back and forth and live in an RV.

You just have to call around and ask insurance places and get the best coverage that you can. You also cant always rely on entering with the intent of staying that long all the time. Sometimes their trips were cut short because the USC was not allowed by the CBP to stay longer than a couple months etc. It always depends on the border guard.

[CitizenUS 0]

my aunt and uncle do this, its a lot of work but they travel back and forth and live in an RV.

You just have to call around and ask insurance places and get the best coverage that you can. You also cant always rely on entering with the intent of staying that long all the time. Sometimes their trips were cut short because the USC was not allowed by the CBP to stay longer than a couple months etc. It always depends on the border guard.

Boy do I wish I could talk to your aunt and uncle!!! Thanks for the answers so far!!

[hikergirl 277]

A shorter time in Canada might be okay too, I've rarely seen 6 months in a row without snow.

Sounds like a wonderful idea though and I hope you get it all figured out so that it works for you.

[CitizenUS 0]

A shorter time in Canada might be okay too, I've rarely seen 6 months in a row without snow.

Sounds like a wonderful idea though and I hope you get it all figured out so that it works for you.

My husband just got his unrestricted permanent residency card good for 10 years!!

In the welcome brochure, it says you must contact USCIS if you will be out of the country for more than one year.

This tells me he does not have to become a US citizen in order to leave and work in Canada for 5-6 months!!!!

This is good news since this process was extremely expensive and if we do not have to fork over more money for citizenship, then even better!!

[warlord 73]

My husband just got his unrestricted permanent residency card good for 10 years!!

In the welcome brochure, it says you must contact USCIS if you will be out of the country for more than one year.

This tells me he does not have to become a US citizen in order to leave and work in Canada for 5-6 months!!!!

This is good news since this process was extremely expensive and if we do not have to fork over more money for citizenship, then even better!!

If you are a citizen you can do this easily. If you are a permanent resident it gets a whole lot trickier. The one year thing is mandatory for those people leaving for a year for whatever reason to preserve their Green Cards. That is mentioned because after a year, it's usually agreed upon that the person abandoned the GC after a year. Before a year, it's up to the IO's discretion at the border if someone has abandoned their GC. People have lost their residency status for just being out of the county 3 months before. It all depends on their ties to the US, what the nature of their absence is and duration and a lot of other factors.

Being found working for 6 months in one country then working 6 months in the US could possibly cause red flags and then you could be found in a big old mess while being held up at the border and possibly being denied entry among other things.

For your situation, it's best to become a citizen then, you can leave for years and never have to worry. Also remember that if he ever wanted to become a US citizen after doing this for sometime, he would probably have to wait a good number of years residing in only the US without any long trips back to back since his residency will get set back for long multiple extended stays too. Just another thing to look at...

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Off topic type of comment has been removed - please don't derail this thread, ok?

As mentioned by Warlord, it is a lot easier to do without experiencing unexpected repercussions after he has his US citizenship. Once he is a US citizen he is no longer under USCIS jurisdiction. Until then he needs to have a permanent address that he can access and use for the next stage of the process. As long as he is a permanent resident he is supposed to file a change of address with USCIS whenever he moves so they know where he is and can get in touch with him, if necessary. That will be very hard to do if you are moving around every 6 months or so and living in an RV. Working and living outside of the US without a permanent address in the US may create all sorts of problems crossing the border as well as cause them to question his actual 'residency'. Wait until he becomes a citizen before you put this plan into place.

Edited September 10, 2011 by Kathryn41

[CitizenUS 0]

Off topic type of comment has been removed - please don't derail this thread, ok?

As mentioned by Warlord, it is a lot easier to do without experiencing unexpected repercussions after he has his US citizenship. Once he is a US citizen he is no longer under USCIS jurisdiction. Until then he needs to have a permanent address that he can access and use for the next stage of the process. As long as he is a permanent resident he is supposed to file a change of address with USCIS whenever he moves so they know where he is and can get in touch with him, if necessary. That will be very hard to do if you are moving around every 6 months or so and living in an RV. Working and living outside of the US without a permanent address in the US may create all sorts of problems crossing the border as well as cause them to question his actual 'residency'. Wait until he becomes a citizen before you put this plan into place.

Thank you for the wisdom, Warlord and Kathryn41. Our plan is to use a mailing service out of North Dakota and USCIS would be notified of that address. If we stayed in the US and traveled around working, I would think USCIS would be fine with that?

What do you think about that?

Please let me know.