Advantages of citizenship

**Raj009** · 17th February 2004, 10:00 PM

Guys,

What are the advantages of Canadian citizenship?? Any pluses other than TN??

**mayankdave** · 18th February 2004, 01:11 PM

* Isn't that enough?

* You can travel most of the commonwealth countries without visa. You can stay, live, work and do business in most of those countries including US, Aus, NZ.

**bhand11683** · 18th February 2004, 03:45 PM

A Canadian needs a VISA in US to do anything and everything except visiting .

This is a very common fallacy that being canadian you can work in US or do business without anything to do .

YOu have to take a business visa, Investor , E1, E2 , TN etc to work in USA . A canadian has to all that anybody else has to do to live and work in USA .

**Raj009** · 18th February 2004, 10:02 PM

Thanks a bunch guys.

**mayankdave** · 19th February 2004, 11:34 AM

Bhand:

That means Canadian Citizen can work/do business or stay indefinitely on TN. Is that true?

Mayank

**bhand11683** · 19th February 2004, 04:18 PM

TN is only for 1 year and has to be renewed every Year at the POE (port of entry) . It is not unlimited . TN visas are denied a lot .

Look at the immigration newsgroup of www.serbinski.com

To work you need TN, E1,E2 visas which are also valid for year each and have to be renewed .

You cannot work in US without a visa and just being canadian does not get you a SSN .

You are as good as anybody as being Illegal if you overstay your visa in US (canadian or not ) .

**mayankdave** · 19th February 2004, 04:24 PM

Wow..

Thanks Bhand. I thought TN/E1/E2 would be just formality and would be needed 1 time or so..& would be valid for like 5-10 years.

Thanks for your info.

Mayank

**heresmine** · 26th February 2004, 01:43 PM

A few points of clarification...Canadians do NOT need visas for anything...they do however need proper STATUS. A TN is not a visa, it is a status. While it may seem like semantics, it is an important distinction. As to the benefits of Canadian citizenship...I assume you are only looking for benefits in terms of working in the US. Its unfortunate that so many people use Canada as a stepping stone to the US. You would be eligible for TN status, assuming that your prospective position was a NAFTA eligible position. There is a definitive list of eligible positions. Computer programmer for example, is not eligible. TN status is valid for up to one year and can be extended for up to one year at a time. There is no upward limit proscribed by law. TN status is a temporary, non-immigrant status and, unlike H1-B, does not allow dual intent (you can't show any intent to become a permanent resident). Therefor, the more you extend, the greater scrutiny that you have immigrant intent and the greater the chance that you will be denied.

**rikhavshah** · 3rd June 2006, 10:18 PM

hi,

i am rikhav...Right now i am an international student studying PGD in Wirless networking in canada which is scheduled to fiinish in Aug 06. Then i have plan to go to Us with H1 visa and company which is appliying my H1 will apply for my Green card withing first 6 months itself. I am bit confuse what to do. Thing it will take 7-8 years to become us citizen. I already have enough points to file for my PR in canada and within 4-5 years i can become be a citizen of canada. so i need suggestion. Money, carrier and oppurtunity wise definately Us is better. But what about other things, like health, support, insurance and other stuff. Health support i guess is free in canada which is supported by govt. But taxes are really really high and not to forget insurance which may be health or for your car it is too expensive,.. that is the only thing i am knowing right now.....

I am waiting for your comments and guidence so that i can make a decision here........

RIKHAV SHAH

**Carmen123** · 4th June 2006, 12:39 PM

What is important to consider is that whichever you choose even if you might be able to get both PR status, legally you can't have both as you can't live in 2 countries at the same time so at the time to apply for citizenship you would have lost one permanent resident status.
In other words you have to choose one, become a citizen, and the go for the other.

Good luck

Carmen

**bigboy00** · 5th June 2006, 02:25 PM

Rikhav,

Why do you want to consider so called "free" health care in Canada? You already know that US is far better as far as the cost of living, making money, car insurance, etc are concerned. When you get a job in the US, your employer gives you health insurance for a nominal premiums per month....Considering this, you decide what to choose..:-)

**bharatpremi** · 16th December 2006, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by rikhavshah

hi,

i am rikhav...Right now i am an international student studying PGD in Wirless networking in canada which is scheduled to fiinish in Aug 06. Then i have plan to go to Us with H1 visa and company which is appliying my H1 will apply for my Green card withing first 6 months itself. I am bit confuse what to do. Thing it will take 7-8 years to become us citizen. I already have enough points to file for my PR in canada and within 4-5 years i can become be a citizen of canada. so i need suggestion. Money, carrier and oppurtunity wise definately Us is better. But what about other things, like health, support, insurance and other stuff. Health support i guess is free in canada which is supported by govt. But taxes are really really high and not to forget insurance which may be health or for your car it is too expensive,.. that is the only thing i am knowing right now.....

I am waiting for your comments and guidence so that i can make a decision here........

RIKHAV SHAH

Rikhav,

Are you kidding yourself? Can you explain me the term "Free healthcare"..?
You will be working your as. off to pay 40 % tax nad money for healthcare goes from that. Nothing is free in this world my friend..

**Triple Citizen** · 18th December 2006, 02:58 PM

Not 100% true. For two classifications, Canadians needs a "visa" before they can be accorded the relevant status at the POE. K and E visas.

Originally Posted by heresmine

A few points of clarification...Canadians do NOT need visas for anything...they do however need proper STATUS.

**Triple Citizen** · 18th December 2006, 03:10 PM

Visa free travel to more or less all the countries that a US passport offers visa free travel to, minus the animosity

Originally Posted by Raj009

Guys,

What are the advantages of Canadian citizenship?? Any pluses other than TN??

**cuneytu1** · 6th March 2010, 02:20 PM

i studied and lived in the us on visas for 10 years of my life... now a canadian pr... will gladly choose canadian citizenship over the us, assuming all equal... i dont really like to compare countries since all countries have advantages and disadvantages... and in today's conjuncture, i really dont think that the us offers more advantages than many of the countries out there... for travel, canadian passport will surely give you more freedom than us passport today

america has growingly become antipathetic to other nations while canada has gone the other way... money... is a means to an end... and not an end in itself which you understand well enough after you obtain it... and you will choose the country where you like the life style after you obtain enough money... and definition of 'enough money' changes grossly in every setting... for example in bhurma, you will not need any money to live

)) and for canada, you will see that the need for money varies grossly among regions... actually same for the us... in the end it comes down to life style as i said... and in one of the poorest regions in canada, where i am, which is Montreal, i have found one of the happiest times of my life for 2 years now and will probably try my best to continue this way... good luck to all and most to those who think that USA is defacto better... here is a soul who would argue against that fervently...

for young souls seeking adventure, go and find out, and you will remember this post in less than a few years

))

**Triple Citizen** · 6th March 2010, 02:27 PM

Canadian passport allows visa free travel to 154 countries.
US passport allows visa free travel to 155 countries.

Originally Posted by cuneytu1

for travel, canadian passport will surely give you more freedom than us passport today

**cafeconleche** · 6th March 2010, 04:21 PM

Yes, but you can, and it is safer to, go to more countries as a Canadian than as an American.

**Triple Citizen** · 7th March 2010, 03:19 PM

That I agree with. Last year I traveled to Japan on business. Having the luxury of choice, I decided to enter Japan as a Canadian citizen rather than a US citizen. Didn't want to use a passport from a nation that dropped the A-bomb on my hosts

Originally Posted by cafeconleche

Yes, but you can, and it is safer to, go to more countries as a Canadian than as an American.

**cafeconleche** · 8th March 2010, 02:09 PM

Haha. Don't forget Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, etc.

**Triple Citizen** · 8th March 2010, 02:54 PM

Travel to Cuba is a US issue. It is a restriction from the DOJ. US citizens can travel to Cuba but they cannot spend money in Cuba. In other words, if a US citizen's trip to Cuba is totally sponsored by a non-US person/organisation, then DOJ cannot theoretically come after the US citizen.

Originally Posted by cafeconleche

Haha. Don't forget Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, etc.