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Its easy to apply for a replacement greencard.
The only hassle is that it takes longer to get through immigration when returning to the country if you've lost your greencard and have a replacement. They subject it to more scrutiny.
I think what he meant (which had already been addressed in this thread) was that you can "lose" your GC status but not your US citizenship. GC cards and passports in general can always be replaced if physically lost.
Had a Mexican part time week end neighbor (very good friend I miss) who lived in the US for many yrs with a Green Card and never applied for citizenship while his wife did. Within the past yr or so he was complaining to me of the high cost of renewal and I just said go ahead and get to be 100% Legal since you have already passed all the requirements...so he did and was sworn in.
Few months later gets sick...hip surgery in Calif and then they also found Cancer the same time and then he passes away.
Now buried here in his Birth country of Mexico about a 1Km from me.
There are many reasons for the GC as it is the prerequisite before being able to apply for the Citizenship and it's advantages that were earned or otherwise.....(been there and done both)
I've read you can get deported even if you get in an accident that is your fault and someone dies or get serious injuries? Or for drug abuse, or unauthorized employment, so pretty much anything.
A permanent resident can indeed get deported for certain reasons. As an example, look at the recent court case of that woman from the show The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Her husband is Italian and he's only a permanent resident. They were both charged with fraud and I think tax evasion too. There's talk that he might get deported for that. From Wikipedia: "Joe received a 41-month sentence, followed by potential deportation to Italy."
Also, I think I recall hearing somewhere that if you get arrested for drug-related reasons then yes you do get deported, and I think that you won't be allowed to come back into the country.
I've been a GC holder for 7 years now and at this point I'm content with that. My main reason to not apply for citizenship is because my country of origin does not allow dual-citizenship. I would need to renounce my country of origin citizenship to be a US citizen and I'm not ready yet to let go.
I love living and working in the US - I've been here for 14 years since I originally came here as a college student. But in a sense, my country of origin's citizenship is like a safety net. I have a GC due to my marriage to a US citizen, and if something were to happen to my husband, I would probably go back to my country to be with my parents and extended family. I feel like I have more support system back there.
If my country of origin legalize dual citizenship (there has been talk), then I will definitely apply for US citizenship.
There is a range of reasons. My wife is a gc holder and we debated for a while if it is worthwhile to become a U.S. citizen, we eventually decided it was, and we are now a few years away from applying. Reasons being: no more reapplying for visas, we can travel together easier around the world, the US passport is very powerful compared to her previous country, voting rights of course, no worries about being deported, US citizens get preferred treatment in many countries from government and individuals in a variety of ways, also our government treats our citizens abroad pretty darn good, have an emergency and our government will be there to help you, seen this firsthand. The negatives: taxed regardless of location in the world, which will effect us, if we change our minds on citizenship this would probably be the main factor, US citizens are treated negatively in some countries, but rare from my experience. So to me the only reason you wouldn't become a U.S. citizen is for tax reasons... Now, I'm not comparing to other countries, just green card to US citizen. There are a few countries it would probably be better to be a citizen of, but none that could handle the number of immigrants the US handles.
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