Pro's and Con's of becoming a USA Citizen

[RodDetroit 118]

Depends, as a UK citizen your passport allows you to travel to 174 countries without applying for a visa, if you come from a developing country you mostly want to get a US passport. You will be able to vote with a US passport and it also helps to get a job in Canada through NAFTA .

you can compare both UK and US passports here

https://www.passportindex.org

Depends, as a UK citizen your passport allows you to travel to 174 countries without applying for a visa, if you come from a developing country you mostly want to get a US passport. You will be able to vote with a US passport and it also helps to get a job in Canada through NAFTA .

you can compare both UK and US passports here

https://www.passportindex.org

I meant 157 countries

[squareleg 69]

Pro - various stated before my post.

Con - might be difficult to travel to "nation that has been compromised by terrorism" or held hostage in "nation that has been compromised by terrorism" with American passport.

[catfrances 3]

You do not necessarily PAY US taxes on money earned abroad. You pay where you are living, but you do file a US return. It can easily say zero taxes due.

With two passports (my husband has UK and US) you can enter the UK on the British one to go through the short line and have no limit (by the Brits) to length of stay. You can also enter as an American visitor and only get admitted for 6 months.

Once you are an American citizen, you can move out of the US for any length of time you choose. There is no further immigration forms to do whenever you choose to return. You just get on a plane and travel to America. The UK also never takes you off their citizen roles no matter how long you are away. You would have to fill out forms and pay a fee to not be British.

What you can't do is ask for British diplomatic assistance while you are in the US and have American citizenship. Call the US government, not the Brits to assist you. But if you got kidnapped in France, the Brits could help there...if that makes sense.

Thank you, I appreciate the input!

Depends, as a UK citizen your passport allows you to travel to 174 countries without applying for a visa, if you come from a developing country you mostly want to get a US passport. You will be able to vote with a US passport and it also helps to get a job in Canada through NAFTA .

you can compare both UK and US passports here

https://www.passportindex.org

I meant 157 countries

Thank you!

Everything EM_Vandaveer said!

I would also add that being a USC will also allow you to vote but that seems to be more of a con than a pro right now.

Love your response

[catfrances 3]

Thank you for the extra information.

[catfrances 3]

I wanted to come back to this

I did not say you would never under any circumstance have to pay US taxes. I said "not necessarily" which I think is a true statement. With a $10k+ standard deduction and exemption, even if you had interest and dividends paying you $9,000 each year, the taxable income would still be zero. I would dare say the average Joe probably doesn't earn that much from investments each year. I agree that salary earned while living abroad is excludable (up to a point) while money earned from investments is not. But I also think you would have to be a fairly wealthy investor before taxes would put a dent in your pocketbook. Most aren't that wealthy so they will not necessarily pay taxes.

The point is--every time this discussion comes up, people say you have to PAY taxes to the US, even if you leave. That is misleading. People assume you will pay tax on the same income to two countries. Double taxation. You have to FILE a US tax return. Just because you file doesn't mean you pay. Once you become a millionaire, then your exclusions are more limited, but there aren't that many of us reading VJ.

Very good point! I know when you earn over a certain amount that is when taxes can be high, but you are correct for the average Joe it CAN be zero. Thank you.

Charmander it's a good point but for this topic, which is specifically about British citizenship, it will not be lost by taking US citizenship

Thank you

Thank you all, I really appreciate your time and knowledge! It seems that i will probably apply for my USC.

Thanks again!

[Kim YH 0]

For US citizens living abroad:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/General-Tax-Tips/Filing-Taxes-While-Overseas/INF19130.html

"One tax break for expatriates is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. If an American moves abroad, he or she can exclude foreign-earned income up to $100,800 as of 2015 from U.S. taxation. To qualify, that person must have lived outside the United States for 330 days in 12 consecutive months, said Wilson, a partner in the Denver law firm of Holland & Hart.

That means an expatriate making $75,000 overseas would pay no taxes, although he or she still must file IRS Form 1040 and claim the exclusion. If the expatriate makes $105,000, tax must be paid on the difference between his or her salary and $100,800, or $4,200. But if the expatriate visits the United States for more than 35 days in that period, the benefit is lost."

[catfrances 3]

For US citizens living abroad:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/General-Tax-Tips/Filing-Taxes-While-Overseas/INF19130.html

"One tax break for expatriates is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. If an American moves abroad, he or she can exclude foreign-earned income up to $100,800 as of 2015 from U.S. taxation. To qualify, that person must have lived outside the United States for 330 days in 12 consecutive months, said Wilson, a partner in the Denver law firm of Holland & Hart.

That means an expatriate making $75,000 overseas would pay no taxes, although he or she still must file IRS Form 1040 and claim the exclusion. If the expatriate makes $105,000, tax must be paid on the difference between his or her salary and $100,800, or $4,200. But if the expatriate visits the United States for more than 35 days in that period, the benefit is lost."

Thank you, I saw this information elsewhere too and it is correct!

[NikLR 13,227]

The foreign exclusion amount varies each year. Ive only seen it go up though. In 2012 it was like 97k.