Does my wife HAVE TO become a US Citizen?

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bostondude2

New Member
I am a U.S. Citizen. my wife is a Korean Citizen. She doesn't want to have a green card and she doesn't want to become a U.S. Citizen. Can she maintain her Korean Citizenship while she is married to a US citizen while living in the U.S.? or does she have to eventually get a green card at least?
 
bostondude2 said:
She's on H1B right now...
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She cannot keep renewing her H1B visa indefinitely. Unless she applies for a green card, she can only renew her H1B visa for a total of 6 years.

If she does get a green card, she can stay in the permanent resident status indefinitely and will not have any obligation to become a U.S. citizen.
 
bostondude2 said:
I am a U.S. Citizen. my wife is a Korean Citizen. She doesn't want to have a green card and she doesn't want to become a U.S. Citizen. Can she maintain her Korean Citizenship while she is married to a US citizen while living in the U.S.?
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Is she afraid of losing her Korean citizenship if she gets a green card? If so, that is a misguided fear. A green card is not equivalent to US citizenship; it's more like the equivalent of a lifelong work visa.

No country revokes citizenship because somebody acquires a green card in the US, except maybe a few oppressive regimes. South Korea definitely isn't one of those oppressive regimes, and if she obtains a green card it will not affect her ability to keep her Korean citizenship. But if the "Korea" you're talking about is North Korea, that's a different story. However, given that she has an H1B visa, it's unlikely you're referring to North Korea.

If she becomes a US citizen, that's a different matter and it could cause trouble for her South Korean citizenship due to their restrictions on dual citizenship. But she can obtain a green card and keep her status as a permanent resident of the US for life* without ever becoming a US citizen.

or does she have to eventually get a green card at least?
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She can stay in the US without a green card as long as she has some kind of legal status. The problem is that every kind of legal noncitizen status except the green card eventually expires, and renewal isn't always possible, so without a green card it's very difficult to maintain legal status for a really long time.


*as long as she doesn't do anything to cause the US government to revoke the green card, such as committing crimes or spending too much time outside the US.
 
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Thank you all again for your replies...

She doesn't want to become a green card holder because she (we) may eventually go abroad to work and she doesn't want to pay US taxes...

so for her, it's best to stay on some type of visa while we are in the US instead of trying to get a green card...

i believe her 6 yrs on H1B expires soon...what other visas can she qualify for to keep her in the US for now but also gives her to flexibility to not get a green card?

Thanks!
 
bostondude2 said:
Thank you all again for your replies...

She doesn't want to become a green card holder because she (we) may eventually go abroad to work and she doesn't want to pay US taxes...
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She can officially surrender the green card at a US consulate with form I-407 when she leaves the US permanently. After officially surrendering the green card, she'll stop being liable for US taxes, unless she has held the green card for at least 8 calendar years and her net worth or income are so high that she becomes subject to the expatriation tax (at least $2 million net worth, or enough income to pay $145K annually in taxes which would mean income of about $500K or higher). See http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=97245,00.html

i believe her 6 yrs on H1B expires soon...what other visas can she qualify for to keep her in the US for now but also gives her to flexibility to not get a green card?
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H1B and most other work visas would be unavailable unless she spends a year outside the US after the end of her H1B. A student visa wouldn't require her to spend a year outside the US, but is unlikely to be granted because she's married to a US citizen.
 
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bostondude2 said:
Thank you all again for your replies...

She doesn't want to become a green card holder because she (we) may eventually go abroad to work and she doesn't want to pay US taxes...

so for her, it's best to stay on some type of visa while we are in the US instead of trying to get a green card...

i believe her 6 yrs on H1B expires soon...what other visas can she qualify for to keep her in the US for now but also gives her to flexibility to not get a green card?

Thanks!
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Realistically, her only viable option is to get a green card. Most other temporary visas do not allow for long-term and extended renewal and, moreover, presume non-immigrant intent and are not likely to be granted to a spouse of a U.S. citizen.
The one exception I know about is the O-1 visa, for aliens of extraordinary ability. That visa can be issued for 3 years first and then renewed in 1-year increments an unlimited (in theory) number of times. However, the requirements for getting an O-1 visa approved even once are extremely tough, and getting it renewed every year in perpetuity would be extremely difficult and basically unrealistic.

There is really no rational reason for your wife not to get a green card. As Jackolantern notes, unless she is going to become a millionaire soon, she can simply renounce her green card status later by filing I-407, and she would not be liable to pay U.S. income taxes after that.
As an H1B holder, after the 1-st year on H1B she is considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes anyway while she remains in the U.S.

Moreover, unlike with a green card, on an H1B visa she is allowed to work only for the employer who sponsored her H1B petition. If something goes wrong and she loses that job, she has very little time (I think something like 10 days) to pack up and leave the U.S. Basically, there are lots of disadvantages associated with remaining on an H1B visa and lots of advantages with getting a green card. The one issue she is worried about related to having a green card (namely U.S. income tax liability) is not really a serious problem, as explained in Jackolantern's post.
 
bostondude2 said:
i believe her 6 yrs on H1B expires soon...what other visas can she qualify for to keep her in the US for now but also gives her to flexibility to not get a green card?
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You can file for green card in the lowest category you can (employment based, not husband sponsoring wife).

I am not current on the GC speeds, but it might be years before she gets the GC. I think there is a provision that you can extend your H1 every year until some stage is crossed. This will give her 2, 3 or 5 years on H1.

However, it depends on how soon can you get the GC in progress because if she has only a few months remaining in H1, it might be difficult to find a sponsor with the right level of EB3.
PLEASE do check the latest laws and timelines regarding continuing H1 while seeking GC ... I know my information from 2-3 years back. But I know people who were in their 7th, 8th or 9th year H1s.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
I can't see any reason why the H1 is better than spousal sponsorship. What happens if she gets laid off or wants to switch jobs?
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The OP has already explained his perspective. Yes, there are lot of counseling we can do outside of immigration aspects, but the fact is that US comes on hard on GC holders in terms of taxation. If there is a genuine concern on that aspect, let's explore how he can keep his wife on H1.

Spousal sponsorship will lead to a quick green card. Employer based (lowly category) will take years. Again, my information is 2 years old ... but apart from the employer closing shop, if he can file such a GC, she can keep her H1 for quite some time. While there are many solutions to the OP's question, this is one literal solution to the question asked.
 
bostondude2 said:
I am a U.S. Citizen. my wife is a Korean Citizen. She doesn't want to have a green card and she doesn't want to become a U.S. Citizen. Can she maintain her Korean Citizenship while she is married to a US citizen while living in the U.S.? or does she have to eventually get a green card at least?
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Hi
I am sorry but I do not understand why you associate GC with foreign citizenship. They will not bother each other.
 
sanjoseaug20 said:
PLEASE do check the latest laws and timelines regarding continuing H1 while seeking GC ... I know my information from 2-3 years back. But I know people who were in their 7th, 8th or 9th year H1s.
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Extending H1B status beyond the 6th year requires that a labor certification or employment-based immigration petition was filed by the end of the 5th year.

The OP mentions that her 6th year of H1B will end "soon" ... if "soon" means less than a year (after accounting for the recapture of time outside the US), the beyond-6-years extension would be unavailable to her.
 
usaflyingeagle said:
Hi
I am sorry but I do not understand why you associate GC with foreign citizenship. They will not bother each other.
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It is common for people unfamiliar with citizenship and green cards to think that a green card is the same thing as naturalized citizenship.

Even worse, some think that everybody in the US who isn't a citizen is an illegal alien.
 
Jackolantern said:
It is common for people unfamiliar with citizenship and green cards to think that a green card is the same thing as naturalized citizenship.
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It's worth noting, I think, that Michael Ignatieff--currently a candidate for prime minister of Canada, a country where people pretend to know more about the USA than Americans themselves do--has found it politically necessary to deny even holding a green card when he lived in the USA.

If the difference between a green card and citizenship is confusing to Canadians, it is likely to be confusing everywhere.

Regarding the OP's question, I believe there are some tax loopholes that non-green card holders can take advantage of when returning home--that may be harder for GC holders. It is not just a question of being a GC holder for 8 years and having a high net worth. I can see some wisdom, in certain cases, of wanting to delay getting the GC for as long as possible. H-1B's can be extended more or less indefinitely if there is a GC application pending--and this COULD delay the process for longer than getting a GC through marriage.

But the OP's wife should certainly look carefully at the tax laws to see if there is any real issue for her. In a lot of cases there won't be--in which case just going for the GC through marriage will be easier.
 
CalGreenCard said:
Regarding the OP's question, I believe there are some tax loopholes that non-green card holders can take advantage of when returning home--that may be harder for GC holders. It is not just a question of being a GC holder for 8 years and having a high net worth. I can see some wisdom, in certain cases, of wanting to delay getting the GC for as long as possible. H-1B's can be extended more or less indefinitely if there is a GC application pending--and this COULD delay the process for longer than getting a GC through marriage.
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It is not tax loopholes, these are tax laws.

If you are on H1 and go back to your country (or go to another country), as long as you do not meet the residence test, you can file as non-resident.

If you are on green card and go back to your country for 2-3 years (on re-entry), you still need to file as resident and claim whatever exemptions they might give you.
 
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