dwally89

Hi all,

First time poster here. I'm currently a Green Card holder and will soon be eligible for US citizenship. I currently see the following pros and cons:

Pros

1. Not having to renew Green Card every 10 years
2. Being able to leave America for an extended period of time without having to worry about Green Card expiring

Cons

1. Identifying very strongly as English
2. I have heard that US citizens need to declare (and possibly pay) tax to America, regardless of where they live in the world. I have also heard that Green Card holders need to do this. Can anyone confirm if this is the case for either/both?

Are there any other major pros/cons I'm missing?

Thanks in advance

kateinbrooklyn

For me, not being able to be kicked out and the ability to vote were what clinched it for me.

BritInParis

Con 1 is a non-starter. Holding dual citizenship doesn’t make you any less British/English. Both LPRs and citizens are liable for tax declarations regardless of their country of residence. Obviously it is easier to abandon your LPR than it is your citizenship but you won’t actually pay any tax to the US unless you live in a low/zero tax country. On the pro side voting and being able to come and go as you please indefinitely is a big bonus as is the ability to pass on US citizenship to children born anywhere in the world. Personally I wouldn’t have any hesitation in naturalising if given the opportunity.

Octang Frye

Do you identify as a Democrat or a Republican? If the former, please remain as an LPR.

Thank you.

Respectfully yours,

America.

Cook_County

If you are not already, for US estate tax purposes a US citizen is a UK domiciliary. Taking on US citizenship may help shed a UK domicile for UK IHT purposes.

Steve_

I think you've tripped up there, a US citizen in the US is clearly resident in the US for US estate tax purposes. As far as UK domicile, becoming an LPR establishes US residency under HMRC rules although it is better to remove all doubt by becoming a citizen. Also depends on the asset, it doesn't matter where you live or what citizenship you have, real property is subject to IHT in the UK.

There is a weird US tax rule that an LPR does not benefit from the same estate tax exemptions as a US citizen (the rule intended to stop you from giving your estate to a mail order bride to avoid estate tax but also screws up people who were too lazy to naturalize), but for 99.9% of people this only matters if you live in a State (aka New Jersey) that has adopted the US estate tax rules into State law as the Federal estate tax limit is gigantic.

RICH

Being one of a relatively few people becoming eligible for us citizenship , I would, and did consider it a lucky privilege, and snap it up. I waited until green card was almost up for renewal, to get my moneysworth! 8 years or so. I am sure the price will only increase as time goes by.

Steve_

There's a whole Wiki entry on it but psychologically you're still going to be the same person. I have a friend who is an LPR who gets very agitated about things politically and even goes to voter registration drives to get students to register to vote. But he won't naturalize because he's British.

To which my response is, wait until you get convicted for something, like running someone over and get put into removal proceedings. If you live in country X become a citizen of country X. Otherwise you're always going to be a round peg in a square hole. You might like being a round peg in a square hole - until someone shows up with a hammer.

How anyone can look at the abuses going on with the immigrant population in the US at the moment and not naturalize if they're eligible is beyond my comprehension.

As far as taxes go, have a read of IRS publication 54: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf Yes it can be a pain, but it's more of a pain to be an LPR because by definition you are claiming to reside in the US, that's what "permanent resident" means, at least if you're a US citizen you can be a tax resident elsewhere.

BigK

Yes, as a Green card holder you should be declaring world wide income anyway (its the law!), and filing US taxes even if your income is overseas. Keep in mind that the taxes are equalized and you only pay the difference, if any. You are not double taxed. So Con #2 is not really a Con moving forward. Con #1 is stupid. You can continue to be as English as you like wherever you are. Go get your USC, you'll be happier for it

rpjs

We even have a Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Americans

RICH

Re english stongly. You would become enhanced eglish, as opposed to diluted english.😁

Twinkle0927

BritInParis

A lifetime ban from the UK is pretty difficult to achieve unless you earn the ire of the Home Secretary for political reasons. I’d be interested to know the circumstances if you are willing to share.

If you apply to retain your German citizenship before you naturalise then you can hold both.

carcajou

Some very good replies here. As a Green Card holder, you have no guaranteed right to enter or remain in the US. Only US Citizens have that.

I am a bit concerned about your comment that you have "heard" Green Card holders have to pay tax. They do, and you are a Green Card holder. Have you not been paying tax?

Rete

As his post said in regards to taxes, he was asking if he had to pay taxes if he left the US to reside elsewhere even if he were a LPR.

Quote I have heard that US citizens need to declare (and possibly pay) tax to America, regardless of where they live in the world. I have also heard that Green Card holders need to do this. Unquote