cjb

Ok, I am in the middle of the whole K-1 fiance visa process but thats not important..........we pretty much know whats required, in fact, we got our approval notice from Nebraska the other day (almost 2 months to the day after filing our petition) and all that remains is the whole medical/interview stuff in London.........I am confindent all will go well..........but something that cropped up in an argument with a friend the other day made me think.

An American friend of mine took great offense that I didnt want to become a US citizen, that I am more than happy to remain a legal permanent resident in the States, still essentially being a British Citizen.......(its something I want to hold onto, Im leaving my family, friend and home to be with the woman I love, I wan to hold onto something)
We eventually agreed to disagree, but some of the points my friedn raised got me thinking..........mainly, about what I am missing out on by NOT becoming a US Citizen a few years down the line...........so essentially, can someone expelin to me if I will be missing out on anything major by doing this........just in terms of tax, social security benefits and all that stuff...........is there any particular reason I SHOULD want to become a Citizen, or am I not missing out on anything that is important to day to day life?

Thanks in advance, sorry for the huge rant, but Im just curious

Cheers

Chris

Rete

Being that you can retain your English citizenship, I don't see why becoming a USC would be a problem. If you are a US citizen, you can vote, attend jury duty, etc. In other words you will have a say in the government under which you have chosen to live and make your life. It will mean if you want to travel and leave the US for more than a year at a time, you don't have to worry about losing your residency status in the US.

My husband, a Canadian citizen, is looking forward to the day he becomes a US Citizen. He wants to be able to vote and have a say in the direction of the government running the country he now calls home.

Rete

cjb

Doesnt the whole nature of becoming a US citizen mean I will lose my British Citizenship? (Notice I say British, not English, Im from Scotland)
I dont want to do that.......its something Id rather hold onto......and I dont see any problem remaining a Legal permanent resident for the rest of my days..........but my point is exactly that, I dont see a problem.........but thats because Im not really too knowledgeable about this part of the puzzle.

ok....so I wont be able to vote.........as for jury duty Ive done that more than enough times over here to know that missing out on that wont be a big loss, as for leaving the country for more than a year and loseing my residency, the chances of that happening are very very slim, Im moving to the States to start a family, settle down...........

Im just talking of day to day stuff.........Im going to live, work, pay taxes all that stuff.........but what exactly will I be missing out on by not becoming a Citizen?

cjb

Or thats another point, will I pay taxes? I dont know about this shit, any help or even a link to something that couple help explain would be much appreciated

Rete

Yes you will continue to pay taxes from the very first time you earn one penny in the US. There are issues regarding estate taxes if your spouse dies, as a PR you are in a higher tax bracket than a US Citizen. There is also the issue of means tested benefits given to PR's and one of the reasons why your finance is on the hook for you for ten years or forty working quarters once you are a PR.

You do not lose your British citizenship if you take US citizenship. That is not even an issue and does not play into the equation.

The choice is solely your own as to what you wish to do. There are plus and minuses on both sides of the column and only you can make the determination of what you wish to do.

There are many links throughout the net on the issues you are deciding upon. Look for a link for Rich Wales ... he has an excellent site on US citizenship.

Rete

Rete

Also if you are under the age of 25 you have to register for our selective service. That is mandatory.

As for marriages, we all enter them with high hopes that they will last forever. This rarely seems to occur. You are moving to a new country and leaving your life behind. Best to be aware of all that you are getting yourself into in all senses of the word when it comes to immigration, your rights and privileges, the processes and the ramifications of certain actions.

R

Hippyhoppym

Well, in terms of day to day life I don't think you are missing out on anything.
However, you can remain a British citizen if you do choose to also become a US
citizen, so you really wouldn't be losing anything by becoming a US citizen. Also,
here's some benefits to becoming a citizen - only certain jobs are available to US
citizens, you wouldn't have the pain of renewing your greencard every ten years, you
would be able to vote here, you could apply to bring various family members to the
US, and Americans are very patriotic thus being a citizen is perceived as a big
thing here.

Whatever you decide to do good luck!

Mel

Paulgani

"cjb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > something) We eventually agreed to disagree, but some of the points my friedn
    > raised got me thinking..........mainly, about what I am missing out on by NOT
    > becoming a US Citizen a few years down the line...........so essentially, can
    > someone expelin to me if I will be

Here's a list I made a few years back; not all will apply to you:

Good reasons to become a U.S. citizen

1 - You can vote. 2 - Certain government jobs require it. 3 - You can sponsor
additional relatives for immigration to the U.S. 4 - You can't be deported if
convicted of certain criminal offenses. 5 - You can spend as much time out of the
U.S. as you want without worrying about abandoning your Permanent Residence status. 6
- You can receive more than $100,000 per year in gifts from your U.S. Citizen spouse
without being subject to the gift tax. 7 - You can inherit your U.S. Citizen spouse's
estate without being subject to the estate tax (which start at 18% of the value of
the estate for the first $10,000 in assets, and go up to 60%) 8 - You will relieve
the support obligation of the person who sponsored your I-864 Affidavit of Support. 9
- A U.S. passport permits easier, visa-free travel to many developed countries in the
world, compared to passports from developing nations. 10 - You can become eligible
for certain public assistance programs.

Note, the estate stuff may have changed since then...

Paulgani

cjb

Thanks for the advice people.
I didnt really know too much about the Citizenship stuff, and the fact that I remain a British Citizen too is pretty cool....I dont understand it, but its cool

I know all the stuff about the K-1 visa and everything and the provisional resident status and then the change to legal permanent resident and all that.........I assume you can apply for citizenship after you have been through all that?

And Rete, thanks for the advice, I know what you are saying about marriage and the high hopes that people have and all of that, I wouldnt be even thinking about going through all of this if I wasnt positive that this was going to work........this is in no way something I am jumping into, we have taken our time, got to know each other, spent time with each other and we understand that we want to take some time to prepare for the big move, which is why Im trying to find out as much as I can right now.......since thats just the petition approval came through last week, we know its going to be a while until I actually get the interview and the visa in my hands, and even after that, we are going to wait 3 or 4 months before I actually move out, give us time to prepare and save money and hiopefully get her over here for a visit to meet my family, since we already know her family loves me to bits

Thanks again people...........and anymore advice that anyone can add will still be very much appreciated

Chris

Ameriscot

I'm a British citizen, eligible to file for naturalisation in September. I am not going to do this though, as we don't anticipate living in the US for more than another year or two. I don't want to be subject to US taxes when I am not resident here. It's purely a financial thing for us. It's something to evaluate when making the decision to naturalise, although the negative effects of the US tax policy will not impact very many people. I does impact my family, though.

Betastar

On 8 Jun 2002 17:20:10 GMT, cjb <[email protected]> wrote:
    >...........so essentially, can someone expelin to me if I will be missing out on
    >anything major by doing this........just in terms of tax, social security benefits
    >and all that stuff...........is there any particular reason I SHOULD want to become
    >a Citizen, or am I not missing out on anything that is important to day to day life?

Day to day life, probably nothing that important. Life-altering problems, possibly
some important stuff. Should you be found guilty of a crime of moral turpitude (and
it can happen, no matter how well you try to live your life....) you can be deported.

The UK allows dual citizenship - take 'em both.

Michael

Interesting. I'm also from the UK and am currently filing AOS based on my marriage to
my American wife. I hadn't planned to become a US citizen for pretty much the same
reasons but if I can take dual citizenship I guess that makes sense. Does anybody
know any good resources for information on becoming a dual UK/US citizen?

Mike

"Betastar" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On 8 Jun 2002 17:20:10 GMT, cjb <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >...........so essentially, can someone expelin to me if I will be missing out on
    > >anything major by doing this........just in terms of tax, social security benefits
    > >and all that stuff...........is there any particular reason I SHOULD want to
    > >become a Citizen, or am I not missing out on anything that is important to day to
    > >day life?
    >
    >
    > Day to day life, probably nothing that important. Life-altering problems, possibly
    > some important stuff. Should you be found guilty of a crime of moral turpitude (and
    > it can happen, no matter how well you try to live your life....) you can be
    > deported.
    >
    > The UK allows dual citizenship - take 'em both.

tara

Rich Wales site on dual citizenship is current as of December 2001:
http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

Alvena Ferreira

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

Michael wrote:
    >
    > Interesting. I'm also from the UK and am currently filing AOS based on my marriage
    > to my American wife. I hadn't planned to become a US citizen for pretty much the
    > same reasons but if I can take dual citizenship I guess that makes sense. Does
    > anybody know any good resources for information on becoming a dual UK/US citizen?
    >
    > Mike
    >
    > "Betastar" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > On 8 Jun 2002 17:20:10 GMT, cjb <[email protected]> wrote:
    > > >...........so essentially, can someone expelin to me if I will be missing out on
    > > >anything major by doing this........just in terms of tax, social security
    > > >benefits and all that stuff...........is there any particular reason I SHOULD
    > > >want to become a Citizen, or am I not missing out on anything that is important
    > > >to day to day life?
    > >
    > >
    > > Day to day life, probably nothing that important. Life-altering problems,
    > > possibly some important stuff. Should you be found guilty of a crime of moral
    > > turpitude (and it can happen, no matter how well you try to live your life....)
    > > you can be deported.
    > >
    > > The UK allows dual citizenship - take 'em both.

Stephen Gallagh

    > Interesting. I'm also from the UK and am currently filing AOS based on my marriage
    > to my American wife. I hadn't planned to become a US citizen for pretty much the
    > same reasons but if I can take dual citizenship I guess that makes sense. Does
    > anybody know any good resources for information on becoming a dual UK/US citizen?

take a look at the following site which discusses the US position on dual
citizenship.

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/

Stephen Gallagher