Can you lose citizenship status, by living out of the country?

[ivona 0]

Hi,

I recently received my naturalized citizen status. As part of my prep for the process I vaguely remember reading somewhere that you can lose your naturalized citizen status, if you stay/live out of the USA for a certain amount of time.

I cannot find anything regarding that now, and I'm just trying to make sure we don't stay out of the country too long when visiting family abroad.

Thanks

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi,

I recently received my naturalized citizen status. As part of my prep for the process I vaguely remember reading somewhere that you can lose your naturalized citizen status, if you stay/live out of the USA for a certain amount of time.

I cannot find anything regarding that now, and I'm just trying to make sure we don't stay out of the country too long when visiting family abroad.

Thanks

A citizen can live outside the US for as long as you like, years, decades, 50, 60, 80 years and when you come back they will say "welcome home". You can renew your passports at US consulates overseas if you need to.

You are confusing it with permanent residency.

[ivona 0]

A citizen can live outside the US for as long as you like, years, decades, 50, 60, 80 years and when you come back they will say "welcome home". You can renew your passports at US consulates overseas if you need to.

You are confusing it with permanent residency.

Thanks! I might be, at this point I am no longer sure where I have read what. It's a long process from visa to citizenship

I just thought perhaps there was a difference between US born citizen and naturalized citizen.

[nwctzn 55]

Hi,

I recently received my naturalized citizen status. As part of my prep for the process I vaguely remember reading somewhere that you can lose your naturalized citizen status, if you stay/live out of the USA for a certain amount of time.

I cannot find anything regarding that now, and I'm just trying to make sure we don't stay out of the country too long when visiting family abroad.

Thanks

There was a rule in the past that naturalized citizens have to stay for a certain amount in the US after their naturalization. That rule is not effective anymore.

So you are free to live anywhere in the World. Just make sure that you file your taxes with the IRS since as a US citizen, you need to file taxes for your World income.

[freetv 7]

There was a rule in the past that naturalized citizens have to stay for a certain amount in the US after their naturalization. That rule is not effective anymore.

So you are free to live anywhere in the World. Just make sure that you file your taxes with the IRS since as a US citizen, you need to file taxes for your World income.

Not to steal the thread... but when did they have that rule?

(I think up to $93k a year is tax free if you are overseas, but you still have to file)

[ManuFred 10]

Not to steal the thread... but when did they have that rule?

(I think up to $93k a year is tax free if you are overseas, but you still have to file)

93k is tax free. Where did you get that from? Never heard of such a thing. To my knowledge, any income is to be reported to the IRS and only if you have paid taxes on this money abroad you might have the option of filing for a foreign income exclusion or foreign tax credit. If no taxes were paid anywhere else you would have to pay taxes in the US.

Edited April 25, 2012 by ManuFred

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

93k is tax free. Where did you get that from? Never heard of such a thing. To my knowledge, any income is to be reported to the IRS and only if you have paid taxes on this money abroad you might have the option of filing for a foreign income exclusion or foreign tax credit. If no taxes were paid anywhere else you would have to pay taxes in the US.

US citizens are required to file income tax returns if they have income anywhere in the world. That is true. You can exclude up to the first $93,000 of income PLUS some forms of income are tax free...overseas bonuses and living expenses for example. To try to answer income tax questions here would be silly. Each individual has a different situation.

The question was "is there a limit to how long a citizen can live overseas?" The answer is NO

Tax issues are best handled by tax professionals.

And even if you did not file income tax you would not lose your citizenship and would not be kept from returning (the IRS would be be happy to see you had returned)

Edited April 26, 2012 by Gary and Alla