frambuesas

frambuesas

Yeah, I kind of feel that way too - both for getting it all done and worrying about the money, but I guess I have time to save up. Thank you for sharing.

frambuesas

Thanks, Rene. I think I would feel the same about #1 and #3. With a British passport I enjoy a great deal of freedom in travelling abroad, so that is less of a concern. But to be able to come and go as I need to, and to have a say in the politics of the country I make my home (and my children's) would be very important to me.

GoldCoastMag

Reason I did, because I never wanted to deal with USCIS again!!!

Reason I didnt want to, I see myself as Australian, but then with a USC oh and stepkids who knows what the future may bring.

ian-mstm

In addition to the other reasons already mentioned, I also became a USC as a courtesy to my wife. It was the quickest way to relieve her of her financial obligation under the I-864.

Ian

frambuesas

Good point, Ian. That makes a lot of sense! I think I would want to do that too.

frambuesas

The first one alone is honestly almost enough to make the decision for me!

RICH

USCIS is just practice for dealing with IRS, DMV et al.

London1947

Hi there,

Yes, you do worry waaaaay to much lol. Being a green card holder you are aboligated to everything as a US citizen would be, except being able to vote, that may or not be importent to you but you can't voice your complaint if not a US citizen. I have lived and worked in the US for 30 years and took out citizenship 25 years ago. And was able to keep both US and UK passports. I retired and i have a house here in Virginia and a property in in the UK. So in a nutshell being able to have dual citizenship does have it's advantages.

Egon

I made the choice to naturalize after giving it a lot of thought and reading comments on here.

Ultimately, I knew my wife (a US citizen), son (dual US and UK citizen) and I would likely go to live in the UK at some point and having spent a lot of time, money and energy getting my greencard it would be a bit annoying to have to get an ESTA every time we came back to visit her family or go to the trouble of having her sponsor me again should we wish to return to the US.

As fate would have it, we actually sped up our plans to move to the UK when we saw the new stricter rules for spousal visas, and I've never been happier with a decision than I currently am about choosing US citizenship

frambuesas

Having already had dealings with both, I can believe it.

frambuesas

Well, at least I own up to it! I've always been a bit too focused on the future; living in the here and now is something I've been working on. I'm getting better. But with this, I just wanted to know people's experiences - even if I wanted to make a decision now, it wouldn't make any difference.

We talked about possibly retiring to the US at some point, and the property aspect is obviously important too. So they are really good points. As for the voting/having a say, I absolutely agree - so important. Especially if we have kids! Thanks for taking the time to reply.

frambuesas

So glad that it all worked out for you. I'm not looking forward to those changes in the UK visa laws, as if we ever go back, they will definitely be in our way to begin with! Bah. But at least with citizenship, you have a lot more freedom to travel back, as you say.

MarylandNed

Ask yourself what possible reasons could you have for not becoming a USC.

For the vast majority of people, the tax return issue is really a minor nuisance compared to the benefits of becoming a USC.

I became a USC partly because I wanted my kids to become USC's by derivation. Now they don't have to spend money on naturalization like I did. As they get older, their US citizenship is something they are starting to really appreciate and thank me for. My eldest is at college in Canada and her cross-border trips are made much easier by the fact that she has a US passport (she also has a Canadian passport as she was born there).

I am also happy that, as a USC, I can freely leave and enter the US and can't be deported should I ever get into trouble (through no fault of my own or otherwise). If I ever have to move back to the UK for any reason, I have the reassurance of knowing that I can return to the US at any time.

The only real disadvantage I can see is that there are certain places in the world where it might not be a good idea to be caught carrying a US passport. However, in such places, even carrying a UK passport might not be that much better! I read an article recently that stated that increasiong numbers of USC's are looking into the possibility of obtaining another (non-US) passport simply because they don't always feel comfortable travelling with a US passport in certain countries. Of course, these people would still need to use a US passport to leave/enter the US anyway.

hobbes79

I did it due to:

1. Stability. Nice to know I can come back wherever the future may take me.
2. Bad things happen to good people. Say you're in a car with a friend and, unknown to you, that car has drugs in it... if you get pulled over and they think you have something to do with it you could be deported. Extreme, but you never know.
3. Security clearance. While it may still require paperwork, I've seen many jobs that require US citizenship and/or security clearance. Far from a done deal, but with USC, you can at least apply.