Why don't people naturalize?

[LlamaInvasion 76]

I love my life here. I love this country. But if my marriage with my husband broke up, or if he could ever find as solid of a job in Norway as he could in America, I'd be on the first plane out faster than you can say, "Abandon LPR status."

[Zen Den 18]

before i applied for naturalization, i was thinking of waiting til my 10-yr gc expires because i wanted a break from the expenses already...and then i thought by the time my gc expires who knows how much the thing is gonna cost to get, not to mention how difficult..so here i am with the october filers!!

anyway, it's also possible that some gc holders find it more convenient to renew than naturalize, the benefits are the same except for voting rights w/c i don't know if really important to some =)

[missmissy 38]

If it is so bad why does everyone want to come here?

My Danish husband came here to be with me. He probably won't naturalize because he does not want to lose his Danish benefits. He loves living here but loves being Danish too.

[MochiKamo 93]

you find it funny... a damn shame

Not just funny, but hilarious.

[Robert&Karen 264]

My mother stayed Canadian in case there was a draft and any of her sons did not want to be drafted, then she could legally take us back to Canada. Oddly enough both us boys joined the Army voluntarily.

[MochiKamo 93]

If it is so bad why does everyone want to come here?

My wife has told me on numerous occasions that if it weren't for me, she'd be on the first flight back to Tokyo.

This topic reminds me of another thread from a few months ago. The question there was how did you decide whether to move to the US or the country of the beneficiary. And to be blunt, the discussion was mostly centered around UK,Canada, etc. I can imagine for some countries this question would be akin to asking would you keep a winning lottery ticket or throw it away.

For many here, the decision to move to the US was a difficult one and it has nothing to do with the fact that it's "so bad here." Naturalizing doesn't really add much benefit (I'll vote twice ) and closes a lot of doors in the future. For example, we may retire and move to Japan in the future.

[CDAgirlMI 51]

I am lucky that I am from a country that allows both citizenship...

So I will probably go for US citizenship as soon as possible. For a couple of reason.

I want to be able to vote in the country I reside in

2 The flexibility of being able to work in Us & Canada is a bonus

3 If for some reasons we have to move to Canada and then back in Us, I will not have to go through the GC process again.

If I could not have dual citizenship, I would most likely stick only to my Canadian citizenship...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in points 2&3, can't you be in the same position whether you were a citizen OR a PR?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in points 2&3, can't you be in the same position whether you were a citizen OR a PR?

No. Because there are residency requirements with being an LPR. If I wanted to work back home, either I would be restricted to 2 years if I got a reentry permit (and it would reset my Naturalization clock to zero) or I would lose my LPR status. If I wanted to return to Australia for a couple of years then I would lose LPR status and have to go through the GC process again. USC means I can live anywhere else in the world for 2 days, 2 years or 20 years and still return to the US without having to go through the LPR process again. Freedom is wonderful.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

And some people move here because they fell in love with an American - not because they want to become an American. For many it's a personal issue - not identifying yourself as an American, even though you live here more or less permanently. I can't see myself identifying as anything but Finnish, even if I chose to naturalize one day. America is an interesting place in that sense - if my husband and I moved to Finland, and he was there as a permanent resident, no one would assume that he was going to get citizenship and/or identify himself as Finnish. However, in America, permanent residents are often expected to eventually naturalize if they can, and subsequently "become American" as a result. I personally think this is the only country where it is not only common, but natural, to take on a new national identity, even at adult age, and I find this to be a very fascinating issue.

Yes, you are correct, and it's the case for two main reasons:

1) National identity

A Finn is a person with blond hair and blue eyes. Very Arian, if you know what I mean. You would not identify a turban-wearing fakir from Hindustan as a Finn.

An American has no such identity. An American can be from any race, background, religion, and so on. There is no typical American at all.

2) The New World

The United States of America is the one and only country on Earth that was founded very late in time based on immigration. When they were redecorating churches and castles in Europe, painted Mayan temples in South America, and scrubbed Buddhist statues in Asia -- all of which were thousands of years old by then already -- there was nothing but nothing here where we are right now. A few Indians, buffalo, and lots of nothing. This is indeed the only country of its kind and it cannot be compared to any country from the Old World.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

I don't want to become an USC because I'd loose my Austrian citizenship and we might decide to live in Austria sometime if my husband could find a job.

Loose = not firmly attached.

Lose = gone!

Some gang bangers wear pants that are so loose that one wonders when they will lose them.

Anyway,

Austria has a Beibehaltungsgenehmigungsprozess in place, based on § 28 of the Austrian Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985 (StbG) .

There's no need to give up his Austrian citizenship when naturalizing, if that's the only reason for not doing it.

http://www.bmeia.gv.at/botschaft/berlin/ratgeber/oesterreicher/staatsbuergerschaft-und-namensrecht/beibehaltung-der-staatsbuergerschaft.html

[newlyweds2010 208]

come crazy law..? this makes no sense.. This only happens if you're breaking the law. IF the crime is bad is enough you'll just sit in prison upwards to life.. versus being deported if you're a LPR and starting over with the loved husband.

AFTER doing the same jail time. Not being a USC is not a pass to commit a crime and get along with that by just being sent away...

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

According to the "Estimates of the Legal Permanent Resident Population in 2010" report released by DHS recently, in 2010 there were 12.6 million Legal Permanent Residents living in the U.S., out of which 8.1 were eligible for naturalization (and presumably decided not to naturalize).

What possible reasons can people have for not naturalizing when they can? Also, does it affect how fast the things are going for those of us waiting to get a Family-Based Visa and a green card?

Source: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_lpr_pe_2010.pdf

Last question first. NO. They have a different department that handles naturalization.

I cannot say why. I have heard some misinformation can explain it. One Canadian told me he did not want to lose his Canadian citizenship However for a Canaidan it makes little difference, they have about the same visa free travel as we do and unless you really just want to vote... In general, however, there is nothing to lose and usually a lot to gain. A US citizen CAN petition parents and adult children, a resident cannot.

Even if the home country does not allow dual citizenship, the US does not tell them you have become a US citizen

[newlyweds2010 208]

Last question first. NO. They have a different department that handles naturalization.

I cannot say why. I have heard some misinformation can explain it. One Canadian told me he did not want to lose his Canadian citizenship However for a Canaidan it makes little difference, they have about the same visa free travel as we do and unless you really just want to vote... In general, however, there is nothing to lose and usually a lot to gain. A US citizen CAN petition parents and adult children, a resident cannot.

Even if the home country does not allow dual citizenship, the US does not tell them you have become a US citizen

But you can get in serious trouble for that. I remember that Just Bob (or Brother Hezekiel, how he goes under now...) wrote about a fellow German of his who was sent to jail for attempting to enter Germany with his German passport after becoming American. As nobody here is allowed under the TOS to to make a comment implying violation of US laws, the same should work for other countries' laws. If another country does not allow dual citizenship, that's it, you lose it by becoming American. It's a choice one makes, and it's something to bear in mind.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

But you can get in serious trouble for that. I remember that Just Bob (or Brother Hezekiel, how he goes under now...) wrote about a fellow German of his who was sent to jail for attempting to enter Germany with his German passport after becoming American. As nobody here is allowed under the TOS to to make a comment implying violation of US laws, the same should work for other countries' laws. If another country does not allow dual citizenship, that's it, you lose it by becoming American. It's a choice one makes, and it's something to bear in mind.

I agree that full disclosure is always advised, but I don't think the TOS should apply to the laws of every country. The moderators can't be expected to know the laws of every country, and some countries have some laws that are beyond ludicrous.

[newlyweds2010 208]

I agree that full disclosure is always advised, but I don't think the TOS should apply to the laws of every country. The moderators can't be expected to know the laws of every country, and some countries have some laws that are beyond ludicrous.

I agree in part. Stating that "Even if the home country does not allow dual citizenship, the US does not tell them you have become a US citizen" implies that, even if you are from one of those countries, you can get away with it and keep and use both passports (clear violation of the foreign law). It's not a matter of knowing the specific law of the specific country, it's more of a general statement that we know for sure is against the law in certain countries. Also, as other members wrote in the past, some people who thought to be smart and keep both, got in serious trouble with the law.