Do we have to have a dual Citizenship

[sleepy in Seattle 3]

I am not interested in having a dual Citizenship, do we have to have it or can we remain here with just a green card and what is involved with that.

Edited February 6, 2012 by sleepy in Seattle

[Little_My 464]

No, you do not have to get citizenship if you don't want to. Many people remain permanent residents for their entire lives in the US.

However, there are certain things only citizens can do, such as voting in elections or serving as a juror. Also, when you have a greencard, there are limits to how much time you can spend abroad without losing the GC - citizens can live wherever they want for how ever long they want, without it affecting their citizenship.

[Inky 1,111]

You have to renew your green card every 10 years - fill the forms out, pay the fees and get your new 10 year card.

[bigdog 377]

My question is why not? Its not that tough to get citizenship, but I know a lot of Canadians who after years finally got us citizenship.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

No need to get dual. A few drawbacks (some jobs you can't get, can't vote, limited time out of the USA). When I went to my citizenship interview, there was a Kuwaiti who'd been in the country 52 years and only now went for citizenship, because his parents back home were elderly and he might want to petition them or stay in Kuwait for longer than a greencard allows.

[NickD 203]

A country dependent question, don't believe you have to maintain dual citizenship with Canada, although the DOS prefers the dual naturalization term that means exactly the same thing. They force this issue by putting your place of birth on your US passport, but with your place of birth on your US passport, some countries will not let you enter with your US passport and insist you maintain that passport from your home country. And the only way you can do that is to maintain your citizenship in that country.

The word inconvenient comes to mind, have to go to the consulate of your home country in person to get that passport, and with my wife's only three spread across the entire USA, plus they want a small fortune so you can occasionally visit your relatives. US passport is great for visiting other countries, but also understand a Euro passport also has great advantages.

You didn't mention petitioning a relative,someone else did, then the NVC, yet another governmental agency jumps in with limits. With the Obama administration, far more interested in the middle east and Africa. I could not petition for my wife's unmarried son as he was barely over 21 and has precedence over parents. But in Latin America and was set way behind the limits of the NVC. Seven years went by and nothing, have not even contacted him yet. Wife had to petition for him.

We did talk about her petitioning for her mom, but health insurance here for her would be outrageous. In her home country, she gets a full non-deductible health insurance plan for $1,500 per year. Wife is splitting that with her brother and sister, so its only 500 bucks per year for us. Her property taxes are only 90 bucks per year for a nice home, we are paying about a hundred times as much, so has me wondering why we are even staying here. Getting robbed blind by our government and health insurance companies. What in the hell are we working our butts of for?

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

You don't have to. The only other thing that no one mentioned is that certain crimes can cause you to lose your status as a resident. I'm not sure what the crimes are or how severe they need to be for them to affect your status...but as long as you're not in the habit of doing anything illegal you would be fine.

[nwctzn 55]

I am not interested in having a dual Citizenship, do we have to have it or can we remain here with just a green card and what is involved with that.

It's your personal choice. You can either stay a greencard holder forever or become a US citizen.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

We have (arguably) 195 countries on this planet, and among them all, Canada is the easiest going when it comes to multiple citizenship. They not only allow it, recognize it, encourage it (!), but don't even require its citizens to leave and to enter Canada with a Canadian passport. Hence, Canadian citizens who are also U.S. citizen, never need to get a Canadian passport again.

It's a constellation so perfect, it's almost unreal. But, nope, you don't have to become a U.S. citizen ever. Many people remain residents forever, although 99.99999999% of those who do can't keep their original citizenship when naturalizing or have a criminal history which would prevent them from naturalizing. But it's okay to be among the 0.00000001%. Why not?