Moving BACK to Canada?

[madj22 7]

Hello all,

 

Years ago I started my immigration journey to the states and a year and a halfish ago I became a US citizen (now ha e dual canadian/us) via a marriage green card! My husband is a US citizen. 

 

As we are looking to start a family, we are considering moving to Nova Scotia where my family is, as housing is affordable and we want to be near my family as we have kids. 

 

This website seems to be US based only, but does anyone have any knowledge on the following questions or point me towards someone/a website who does? I've looked into lawyers and even the cheapest ones are so unaffordable. Money is really tight right now for us. 

 

1. If I move back to Canada, will I lose my US citizenship? 

 

2. Most importantly, the process to essentially start all over again in a different country with immigration is so daunting. This website was enormously helpful and there doesn't seem to be anything like this for people moving to Canada. Does anyone know what the immigration process would be like for my husband? I'm curious how he would work (as he is the main breadwinner) and what the steps to apply for marriage based Canadian citizenship would be like for him. 

 

3. He works for himself, also curious how that would be impacted by moving countries/immigrating. Starting his business again on the other coast.

 

4. How does this work with his US citizenship- does the US gov really care that much or could he have both? 

 

I am sorry if this is totally the wrong place for this. I'm just so lost and anxious and this site was such a saving grace for me before. Helpful answers would be so appreciated, from one human to another. Thanks! 

Edited January 26 by madj22

[Lil bear 4,189]

3 minutes ago, madj22 said:

Hello all,

 

Years ago I started my immigration journey to the states and a year and a halfish ago I became a US citizen (now ha e dual canadian/us) via a marriage green card! My husband is a US citizen. 

 

As we are looking to start a family, we are considering moving to Nova Scotia where my family is, as housing is affordable and we want to be near my family as we have kids. 

 

This website seems to be US based only, but does anyone have any knowledge on the following questions or point me towards someone/a website who does? I've looked into lawyers and even the cheapest ones are so unaffordable. Money is really tight right now for us. 

 

1. If I move back to Canada, will I lose my US citizenship? 

 

2. Most importantly, the process to essentially start all over again in a different country with immigration is so daunting. This website was enormously helpful and there doesn't seem to be anything like this for people moving to Canada. Does anyone know what the immigration process would be like for my husband? I'm curious how he would work (as he is the main breadwinner) and what the steps to apply for marriage based Canadian citizenship would be like for him. 

 

3. He works for himself, also curious how that would be impacted by moving countries/immigrating. Starting his business again on the other coast.

 

4. How does this work with his US citizenship- does the US gov really care that much or could he have both? 

 

I am sorry if this is totally the wrong place for this. I'm just so lost and anxious and this site was such a saving grace for me before. Helpful answers would be so appreciated, from one human to another. Thanks! 

You both keep your USC status. You  also both keep the amazing  responsibility of filing with the IRS every year, declaring your income no matter where you live 🤣

[madj22 7]

Thank you for answering some of my questions. Should I be filing in Canada now? I left when I was 21, so never really had an income there and clearly havent since. I've never understood that and honestly forgot about it entirely. 

[Lil bear 4,189]

2 minutes ago, madj22 said:

Thank you for answering some of my questions. Should I be filing in Canada now? I left when I was 21, so never really had an income there and clearly havent since. I've never understood that and honestly forgot about it entirely. 

US is unique in taxing its citizens and LPRs on worldwide income not just on income earned in the US.  Canada only taxes Canadian income. 

[madj22 7]

That's super helpful, thank you!

[OldUser 6,635]

34 minutes ago, madj22 said:

1. If I move back to Canada, will I lose my US citizenship? 

You'll be a US citizen until you die. Even if you never visit the US again. You can stay outside of the US for 20 years or however long you want, come back after and work / life etc as if you never left.

 

37 minutes ago, madj22 said:

2. Most importantly, the process to essentially start all over again in a different country with immigration is so daunting. This website was enormously helpful and there doesn't seem to be anything like this for people moving to Canada. Does anyone know what the immigration process would be like for my husband? I'm curious how he would work (as he is the main breadwinner) and what the steps to apply for marriage based Canadian citizenship would be like for him. 

 

 

Cannot answer that

 

38 minutes ago, madj22 said:

3. He works for himself, also curious how that would be impacted by moving countries/immigrating. Starting his business again on the other coast.

He'll have to learn a lot I guess. Countries have different laws, taxation etc. You'll both have to file US taxes no matter where you live. However, there's a generous foreign income exclusion. I think about 130K USD a year per person.

 

40 minutes ago, madj22 said:

4. How does this work with his US citizenship- does the US gov really care that much or could he have both?

Since US and Canada are OK with multiple citizenships, you will be fine. By the way, you can have 3, 5, 10 citizenships. As long as naturalizing in a new country does not require formally renouncing other citizenships (which US and Canada don't), you'll be fine. Giving up allegiance is not the same as renouncing citizenship

[Dashinka 24,488]

You are correct, VJ is more focused on immigrating to the US, but there are a couple of forums here that you may want to use to discuss your plan and specific question regarding a move back to Canada.

 

Good Luck!

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/163-emigrating-outside-the-us/

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/93-canada/

Edited January 26 by Dashinka

[carmel34 3,622]

Here are two good resources.  The first is a forum similar to Visa Journey but for immigrating to Canada.  The second is the official Canadian government immigration site.  Good luck!

 

https://secure.immigration.ca/forum/forums.html

 

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html

[madj22 7]

Everyone! Thank you so much! Appreciate y'all ❤️ I'll go check out these forums! 

[Ontarkie 14,218]

~~MOved to Immigrating outside the US, from US Citizenship General Discussion.~~

[Peot 161]

This is great information for me as well! My wife and I are planning on moving to Canada after our long process to get me immigrated to the United States as our next 5-year plan. Through the course of having her visit me and my family in Canada, she grew to love the country and its culture, food, health care, etc... 

 

I'm in the process right now of getting US citizenship even though the plan is to eventually move. Mostly to make travel and income (job qualification being citizenship) easier.

 

I do know a thing or two about paying US income tax while in Canada though and it's a bit of a headache you will need to contend with each year.

 

1. The comment about Canada only taxing Canadian income is not true. They, like the US, tax worldwide income, and unless you file properly you can be subjected to double taxation. Canada has tax treaties with the US and offers tax credits for foreign income to get around this. I just wanted to clear that up in case there was a chance that you might still get residual income from US-based sources.

 

2. You can't rely on things like tax software or even most tax online services available in Canada as they region-lock it. In other words, it will only present you with options of Province, not State, and dollar amounts in CAD, etc. You do have some options available, but what I'm getting at is that it's not as easy as going down to your local green tax service to get it done, you may need to file the documents yourself or reach out to a specialist in foreign tax filing. It's not difficult to do it yourself by the way, but I realize it can be daunting for some.