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My family and I are in the works on coming to the US from Canada for my husbands job. My question is, do you HAVE to apply for US citizenship? If I did, would this give me dual citizenship or would I be giving up my beloved Canadian? Can you just stay with your Green Card?
You don't have ever have to apply for American citizenship. But being a non-citizen meaning you can't be outside of the USA for more than a year straight without risking losing your American permanent residency status (green-card).
Plus, you can never vote and they might kick you out if you get caught with illegal activities.
I have friends who will have Green Cards forever.
The US doesn't recognize or support dual citizenship. That's what I was told by the immigration office when I wanted to have dual citizenship German/US. If Canada supports dual citizenship, there might be a way around it.
During the US citizenship ceremony, you have to swear to give up all allegiances to other countries and only be American.
No, you do not need to be a citizen and if you love Canada more, you shouldn't. I have a friend who is Canadian and has lived in the US as a permanent resident since the 1950s. He likes it here, but he loves Canada more, so he cannot in good conscience take the oath of allegiance.
You won't have certain rights, like voting, may be deported (for cause), and you may find in the future that certain entitlement payments will only go to citizens. But if you are granted permanent resident status, you are welcome to stay here, well, permanently. And I do mean welcome.
Thanks everyone, as excited as I am about the move, I don't know if I am ready to "give up" my Canadian citizenship. Who knows, I may change my mind when the time comes I assume it would be the same for the rest of my family (kiddies)? Or if my kids want to work in the future, well I should say when haha, will they need more than their permanent residency?
Thanks everyone, as excited as I am about the move, I don't know if I am ready to "give up" my Canadian citizenship. Who knows, I may change my mind when the time comes I assume it would be the same for the rest of my family (kiddies)? Or if my kids want to work in the future, well I should say when haha, will they need more than their permanent residency?
Permanent residency gives one the right to work in the USA.
Plus, you can never vote and they might kick you out if you get caught with illegal activities.
I have friends who will have Green Cards forever.
The US doesn't recognize or support dual citizenship. That's what I was told by the immigration office when I wanted to have dual citizenship German/US. If Canada supports dual citizenship, there might be a way around it.
During the US citizenship ceremony, you have to swear to give up all allegiances to other countries and only be American.
Hmm, this is not true. The US DOES recognize dual citizenship, I know people who are dual citizens. One is US/Canada, one is US/Sweden. There are many other countries that don't allow people to have dual citizenship (such as China, which is my wife's country of citizenship), so when they come to the US they have to decide if they want to become a US citizen or retain citizenship in their home country, but the US does not force that decision.
For a limited amount of time Green Cards were issued without expiration date. There was some legislation to turn the 600k+ still in existance into the 10 year cards as well. I do not know where that stands right now.
Germany did not accept dual citizenship back in the days. Now you have to apply for it (Beibehaltungsantrag).
There are disadvantages to living and raising a family in the US and not having US citizenship. USCIS - After a Green Card is Granted
I am not a lawyer - the US does not recognize dual citizenship, Canada does not mind. You enter/leave the respective country with the respective passport.
The US approach to Green Card holders in form of surviving spouse tipped the scale for me.
The US doesn't recognize or support dual citizenship. That's what I was told by the immigration office when I wanted to have dual citizenship German/US. If Canada supports dual citizenship, there might be a way around it.
During the US citizenship ceremony, you have to swear to give up all allegiances to other countries and only be American.
The U.S. does allow dual citizenship -- it all depends on circumstances. I was born a U.S. citizen but have a British mother and will be getting British citizenship via her probably later this year (depends on how long the processing will take). For those in the OP's situation, the wording of the U.S. citizenship oath makes it SOUND like you can't be a dual citizen, but of course the U.S. citizenship oath is not binding on other governments -- as far as I know, Canada wouldn't rescind the OP's Canadian citizenship because she became a U.S. citizen. (So she could have two passports. I will be using by U.S. passport when I leave the U.S. but will likely use my British passport [once I have it!] in Europe.)
Note to the OP, there are some ramifications for your kids. From what I understand, if you were to become a U.S. citizen and got U.S. citizen for your kids at the same time, they might very well lose their Canadian citizenship (or have to choose between U.S. and Canada once they turn 18). You might check with a Canadian embassy/consulate.
Well, I don't know if Canada is seen any different as a country in Europe, maybe it is.
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