Benifits of citizenship

[Nat & Mark 4]

Im a citizen of the uk at the moment and going through the K1 now once I get over there what are the benifits of becoming an American Citizan or am i better keeping my british citizenship ?

[nwctzn 55]

Im a citizen of the uk at the moment and going through the K1 now once I get over there what are the benifits of becoming an American Citizan or am i better keeping my british citizenship ?

The UK allows dual citizenship and the US "recognizes" that dual citizenship exists. So you can be both a UK and US citizen when the time comes.

Of course you can stay as an LPR, but one major restriction I see with the LPR status is the travel restriction; i.e., if you want to live for an extended time outside the US (say for more than a year) in the UK then you would need to apply for a re-entry permit in order not to lose your LPR status here in the US.

[Nat & Mark 4]

I thought the US did not allow dual citizenship you had to be one or the other ?

[hmh33 117]

It will be around 4 years before you are eligible to become a US citizen, so don't worry about it too much for now. Briefly:

• You can (and by default do) retain your UK citizenship in addition to gaining US citizenship
  
• As a dual citizen you're free to move, live and work in the US, UK and EU for the rest of your life without worrying about maintaining residence requirements
  
• As a US citizen you can't be deported even if you commit a serious crime
  
• As a US citizen, you have to file US tax returns every year even if you live abroad. But because of foreign income exemptions and tax treaties, you usually don't have to actually PAY any extra tax.
  

[nwctzn 55]

I thought the US did not allow dual citizenship you had to be one or the other ?

The US recognizes dual citizenship as stated here at the US Department of State website:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html

So you can be both a UK and US citizen and if I were you I would go that path. Just my two cents.

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Edited December 3, 2012 by nwctzn

[Nat & Mark 4]

Thank you hmh that is making it a lot easier to understand, so i will still have free movement within the EU as well as been an American Citizen ?

[nwctzn 55]

Thank you hmh that is making it a lot easier to understand, so i will still have free movement within the EU as well as been an American Citizen ?

Yes, that's true.

You will be able to apply for US citizenship based on marriage to a US citizen. What is your "resident since" date printed on your greencard? Add 3 years minus 90 days; that will be date you can apply for US citizenship.

[Nat & Mark 4]

We are still waiting on our NOA2 but we are hoping ill be out here by March, it was a question we have been debating on for when im out there

[nwctzn 55]

We are still waiting on our NOA2 but we are hoping ill be out here by March, it was a question we have been debating on for when im out there

Oh, OK. Well, best of luck. As you said, once you become a US citizen and keep your UK citizenship, you'll be free to work either in the US or any EU country. Good to have options in this economy

[NW Mushroom 5]

I applied for US citizenship upon the 3 year anniversary of my Green Card, based on marriage to my USC wife.

The main two reasons?

1. I get to vote.

2. I can go back to the UK for as long as I like (years, decades) and never lose the right to return to the United States.

A bonus reason - as soon as I became a US citizen, my wife's affidavit of support ended:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=720b0a5659083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=720b0a5659083210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

In other words, my wife is no longer 'on the hook' if I ever become a public charge.

The only real 'downside' is the worldwide taxation that the US forces on its citizens (above the foreign income exclusion).

[celtic59 0]

I agree with the other advice you have been given. I am a UK citizen as well and am about to have my citizenship interview next week. I am doing it so my husband and I have the same citizenship for at least one of our countries, so we know we can always stay in that country. Plus I have the added bonus of the UK passport to allow me (and so him) into Europe should we ever get enough money to retire and live there.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Ditto to everyone else.

Some people argue that being able to vote and be on juries isn't a good enough "draw" for USC when you have that whole lifetime taxation thing BUT my opinion is I am not again doing my duty AND I want to be a normal person, no longer an alien... Fully able to do whatever my husband wants to do within the US, or my neighbours. No restrictions (well I can't be president but oh well ). No longer concerned about whether this benefit or that benefit will affect my status. No longer concerned that some foolish mistake can affect my status (people have posted about people accusing them of certain crimes etc).

The other reason is like everyone else said, being able to travel unrestricted. My father passed in September and I went home for 2 weeks. 2 years ago I went home for 2 months because that's when he first got sick. In the 2 week instance I had filed ROC but was still waiting for the approval/interview and as my card had long since expired (July) I had to show my NOA1 from ROC extending my status. What if something (**knock on wood**) happens again and I need to go back to Australia for an extended time? I don't want the thousands we've spent to be for naught (let alone being apart to process the visa stuff all over again).

The other reason, as someone else stated is that the I-864 is officially cancelled. While my husband never thinks about it (and couldn't tell you the name of it if you asked him) I know it's there and I would like that to be gone.

Also, Australia and the UK (both of my nationalities) allow dual as well so it doesn't affect either of them. We could live in the EU, Australia or the US without issue.

I'm also hoping to start the Aussie side once all my stuff is done. Unlike in the US, he can maintain his resident status in Australia while living here in the US so that'd be great for us. I need to look into it more, and it's not cheap, but i'd like to give it a shot

Edited December 8, 2012 by Vanessa&Tony

[marie09 5]

I have a few more smaller benefits in addition to what everyone has said above:

- The ability to work for federal government. As green card holders we can't apply for federal government jobs. When I first moved here I didn't think i'd want to get a government job, but with the economy being bad occasionally i've come across a few positions I would have liked to apply for, but can't. Government jobs offer great benefits typically with more time off and better health insurance and retirement savings. The lack of time off here, can be hard for us Brits! I've had 1 week off in the past year, whereas a relative of mine who has a government job has had 5 weeks off!

- Not having to file immigration paperwork every 10 years for the rest of your life. Immigration paperwork as we all know it is not the most fun thing to file and can be inconvenient when your green card expires and you're waiting for the new one and need to apply for a new drivers license and they won't accept the expired green card (not happened to me, but i've read stories on here). Also costs of renewing card and wait times may get longer in the future, particularly if illegal immigrant amnesty programs get introduced.

Good luck with your K1 and move here!

[N M 96]

• As a US citizen you can't be deported even if you commit a serious crime.

Not really true.

Depending on the nature of the crime, they'll happily revoke your U.S. citizenship first, and then deport you.

It's not particularly common - but does happen. Examples are: Lauchlin Currie (Canadian born spy); Bidemi Bello (Nigerian born sex trafficker); Rasmi Almallah (Jordanian born terrorist - linked to 9/11 attacks).

Edited December 8, 2012 by N M

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Not really true.

Depending on the nature of the crime, they'll happily revoke your U.S. citizenship first, and then deport you.

It's not particularly common - but does happen. Examples are: Lauchlin Currie (Canadian born spy); Bidemi Bello (Nigerian born sex trafficker); Rasmi Almallah (Jordanian born terrorist - linked to 9/11 attacks).

It depends on how long you've had citizenship and whether citizenship was obtained lawfully (i.e. without lying). Obviously the people you mention are all bad people who wanted citizenship to make their illegal activities easier, and most likely lied on paperwork to make sure the process went smoothly.

So I suppose it should be - they won't revoke your citizenship for committing a serious crime.. as long as you didn't lie at any stage of the process