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Only a court can take away your green card so it's always worth a shot. What have you been doing to maintain your residency? Address? Bank account? Drivers license? Taxes? Your little yearly trips aren't doing anything to maintain status and you're on borrowed time before someone at the...

Can only speak from my experience. Applied October 2013. Found out we had been selected in May 2014. Interviewed April 2015. Moved to the US in early 2016. So it was 2.5 years from start to finish. Some have a faster route: others slower. It really depends on, if you're selected, your...

Oh wow, I didn't know that!

I don't know much about work visas, but the US taxes LPRs and Citizens on worldwide income. So yes, as soon as you become an LPR, you have to complete US tax returns and you have to declare ALL assets on those returns. Thanks to the treaty between the US and AU, you won't be double-taxed.

Just be cautious with how you declare superannuation using Turbo Tax (or any of the other DIY software options). Most Australian funds do not meet the definition of a pension fund in the US and have to be declared as a separate investment vehicle. The only year I filed dual returns was my...

I've used Gordon & Keeter since I moved to the US (based out of Charlotte). Recommended to me by another expat, they've been amazing.

8 months from start to finish. I'm in Charlotte which, at the time, had same day oath ceremonies due to COVID (Charlotte is a great USCIS Field Office - even with COVID, they made the oath ceremony one of those amazing moments of my life).

I re-entered after 8 months of being away after the initial activation. In that time, I maintained a US address, and had an American bank account (Bank of America is immigrant friendly). No issues at POE (LAX) when we re-entered. Other than 'Welcome home' which made me ugly cry (pray for that...

No. Once you're a citizen, you can move freely. Up until then, you're at the behest of USCIS. You must file US tax returns regardless of where you are, as an LPR. I delayed my N-400 to ensure I had no issues with any residency requirements (I had a break of ~8 months from the time of...

We won on our second try. Not alot of applicants from OC compared to other regions. Always worth a shot.

I'm not @Sm1smom, but I can help with the first three questions. Fourth one, I won't tackle as it's been years since I went through the process. 1. Do not use ESTA. You have six months from the time of the medical to enter the US. Enter before the date on printed on the visa in your...

Good luck OCers! I'm not as active on the site as I used to be, but I still check in from time to time. :) Best decision I made was to move to the US. It's been a wild and wonderful ride. Good to see you @Britsimon!

Just my experience: I took a job that paid well below what I was getting in Australia. Within a few months, I was promoted, and was back at the level I was at in Australia. Now I earn triple what I was earning in Australia. I knew that I could prove myself and I was happy to take a temporary...

Definitely select Code 33. as that includes ALL offences regardless of time past.

Been a while! Definitely get a tax professional. If nothing else, if you're an Australian, our superannuation funds do not meet the definition of a pension fund in the US and are considered investments like any other, which are subsequently treated differently to pension funds from a taxation...

Congrats to all those selected! It's a crazy journey but worth it in the end. :-)

You can open a bank account without a SSN. I know because I did it through Bank of America.

We got lucky in LAX too. Was processed in around 10-15 minutes. BUT, we had a connecting Qantas flight so we had airport staff escorting us the whole time.

$800 sounds reasonable given my first tax return in the US cost me over $1000! It's less now though. Tax returns aren't always straightforward for Aussies, particularly if you are holding onto assets in Australia, have sold an asset (the US will charge capital gains on anything over $250k for...

We will be naturalizing later this year. We will be keeping our Australian citizenship and passports: the US Government 'recognizes and permits Americans to have other nationalities'. https://au.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/citizenship-services/dual-nationality/