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

[catfrances 3]

Hi All,

I am British with a 10 year green card, I am curious to know of other people's experience in becoming a USA citizen when British.

Are there pro's AND con's?

I know about being able to vote and that you get a USA passport, but do you get to keep your UK passport?

Do you use your UK passport for travel to the UK and USA one when returning back to the USA?

Can you go back to the UK for a few years to work and then if you wanted to quit work, return back to the USA and work back here?

Is applying the only thing that would make you dual citizen?

Can you leave both countries freely for any period of time? As of now on a 10 year green card you can not do that.

Any advice would be much appreciated,

Thank you!!!!!!

[EM_Vandaveer 2,366]

The only con is having to pay US taxes on worldwide income regardless where you live once you are a USC.

Once you are a USC you can come and go as you wish.

[Unlockable 7,306]

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.

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

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.

[aaron2020 11,651]

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. Not true. Investment income is taxable since it's not earned income. No matter where in the world you are, investment income would be taxable.

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. The US differs. US citizens are required to enter on US passports.

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. This is true for anyone holding multiple citizenship. Each country treats you as it's own without regards to other citizenship. The US will treat you only as a USC. The UK will treat you only as a UK citizen. In their territories, other citizenship does not matter. A dual US/UK citizen would be able to get help from both countries if there was a problem in a third country like France.

[akihon 129]

People constantly talk about how you have to pay US taxes on any income you have, regardless of where you live, but they never talk about how your US taxes adjust for local taxes where you are as well.

But yeah, paying US taxes wherever you go is a con a lot of people try to avoid, but LPRs are also subject to US taxes on worldwide income as well.

[NikLR 13,220]

People constantly talk about how you have to pay US taxes on any income you have, regardless of where you live, but they never talk about how your US taxes adjust for local taxes where you are as well.

But yeah, paying US taxes wherever you go is a con a lot of people try to avoid, but LPRs are also subject to US taxes on worldwide income as well.

No you do NOT necessarily have to pay US taxes. You have to file a tax return. Some income you earn may be subject to taxation, but you do not automatically pay US taxes on all income earned internationally.

The difference between a USC earning income abroad and an LPR is that the LPR is supposed to be living and working in the USA, not abroad. The USC doesn't have that restriction.

You don't have to get citizenship but obviously there are some perks to it, especially for those from countries who have a hard time getting visas to visit places.

[Tom_Jim 40]

As an LPR, you're still subject to deportation, and, depending on the severity, certain convictions make naturalization difficult or impossible.

[akihon 129]

No you do NOT necessarily have to pay US taxes. You have to file a tax return. Some income you earn may be subject to taxation, but you do not automatically pay US taxes on all income earned internationally.

The difference between a USC earning income abroad and an LPR is that the LPR is supposed to be living and working in the USA, not abroad. The USC doesn't have that restriction.

You don't have to get citizenship but obviously there are some perks to it, especially for those from countries who have a hard time getting visas to visit places.

That's what I meant by the "adjusting for local taxes" too. You may just end up not paying anything, but in order to find out, you still have to file a return. Thanks for the clarification though.

Edited July 14, 2016 by akihon

[charmander 692]

I also believe there are more pros than cons but I think there are more cons than just taxes. What about the other side of the story? What does becoming a US citizen cause you in your home country especially if you need to renounce your original citizenship for naturalization here? The applicant needs to look at if he/she loses his/her inheritance rights when they become foreign citizens. Some countries offer free healthcare/college education for their citizens. Applicants need to decide if it is worth losing those rights in their home countries as well. For 99% of us it doesn't matter but if the applicant foresees a career in politics or some other government position that doesn't tolerate dual citizenship in his/her home country, becoming a US citizen would clearly hurt that path. Finally, we can also debate whether the jury duty could be considered as a con or not. I come from a country where there is no jury system. It would be a very interesting experience for me when I got summoned for my first jury duty.

[yuna628 9,527]

There is no renouncing of citizenship for the UK as far as that is concerned. You will never lose your UK citizenship and you may even vote from abroad, provided you register to do so. However once you are gone from the UK for 15 years, you may no longer vote. You may leave the US on your US passport, enter the UK on your UK passport, and return to the US on your US passport.

[NikLR 13,220]

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

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

I wanted to come back to this

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.

Not true. Investment income is taxable since it's not earned income. No matter where in the world you are, investment income would be taxable.

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.

[DJ+Ten 0]

For Filipinos who may be asking the same question...

As I recall, when a Filipino gets USC they can apply to the Philippines for dual citizenship (without affecting their USC), and regain whatever privileges are afforded to Filipino citizens. I'm not sure but I think this includes voting and ownership of property/firearms.

DJ

Edited July 15, 2016 by DJ+Ten

[Tony and Daisy 22]

For Filipinos who may be asking the same question...

As I recall, when a Filipino gets USC they can apply to the Philippines for dual citizenship (without affecting their USC), and regain whatever privileges are afforded to Filipino citizens. I'm not sure but I think this includes voting and ownership of property/firearms.

DJ

You are correct regarding all rights as a Filipino including voting and property ownership rights being restored. It's a simple form and a $50.00 payment to the nearest consulate, wait 6-8 weeks (I think) and you are good to go to obtain a new Philippine passport.