Dual Canada and US Citizenship

J

jaggy100

New Member
Hello

I am an indian citizen with permanant resident status from both Canada and US.

I recently became eligible for US Citizenship and completed my oath.

My son lives in Cananda and I would like to settle down in Canada in about 5 years now.

Is there a posibility to get both Canadian and US citizenship ?

Please let me know if there are any hurdles
 
Yes, you should be able to do that, no problem. You have already obtained US citizenship. For Canadian citizenship you should reside in Canada for a number of years (I think 3) and then apply for naturalization there. Unless the laws change you can keep the dual citizenship.
 
jaggy100 said:
Is there a posibility to get both Canadian and US citizenship ?
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Not an issue. But in Canada you will not be trated as a US citizen and in USA you will not be treated a Canadian citizen assuming you always enter eitehr country with correct passport. If you travel to
a third country, you will be trated as citizen of the country whgich issued teh passport you use to enter that country.

The only theoretical scenarios that can land you in a dillema is when USA and Canada declare war
on each other, then you have to decide which oath you want to abide by - to bears arm for USA or to bear arm for Canada.
 
jaggy100 said:
Hello

I am an indian citizen with permanant resident status from both Canada and US.

I recently became eligible for US Citizenship and completed my oath.
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Has anybody asked you about why did you have Canadian PR at the interview? Any troubles at all? I mean, has this fact (Canadian PR) somehow popped up during your interview?
 
nickua said:
Has anybody asked you about why did you have Canadian PR at the interview? Any troubles at all? I mean, has this fact (Canadian PR) somehow popped up during your interview?
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All residency related questions on N400 can be answered without any reference to whether applicants have a PR status in another country. There is no such question like "Do you have a PR status
in any other foreign country you ar enot a citizen of?". Even if there were such question, the
applicant could answer "I already abandoned that". A better question USCIS can come up is
"Since you became a PR of USA, have ever ever applied for another country's green card?".

In case of OP, I believe he got Candadian PR first and then got his USA PR.
 
Hmmm, as a Canadian citizen (currently in the N-400 process).....I've been told once we become US citizens, (and continue to hold our Canadian passports), if we ever move back to Canada we would have to pay taxes in both countries. Right now, we are able to declare ourselves non residents of Canada, and we only pay tax to the US government. I don't think it works in reverse. If you leave for the US and move to Canada, if you ever want to return to the US, you may be required to pay your "world income" to the US.
 
A US citizen is always required to file taxes in the US even when moving the residence abroad. A permanent resident, US citizen, etc. is required to report worldwide income regardless of dual citizenship. Basically, there is no need to get things mixed up between dual citizenship and taxation, there is not much of a connection. If you work in Canada, regardless of status you'll have to pay taxes in Canada, likewise in the US.
 
Please let me know if there are any hurdles
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I would say paying taxes in 2 countries that would be a hurdle! Especially after paying tax to the Canadian Govt. There isn't much left over after all that "free" healthcare. If the OP intends to stay in Canada permanently - not paying US taxes won't be a problem. If he intends on returning to the US, he will have to pay his unpaid US tax on his Canadian income.
 
I am not sure what you are proposing. If a US citizen moves to Canada, that US citizen still has to file taxes in the US. Are you proposing to cheat and don't file taxes? It is a chore, but keep into account that the taxes paid in Canada are taken into account in the US tax return, so in most cases taxes are not going to be due in the US, it's just the requirement of filing the tax return. This is regardless if someone stays in Canada as a permanent resident or takes up Canadian citizenship and regardless of coming back to the US. I think in most typical cases no taxes will be due in the states. Of course if you have a large worldwide income that's a different case, but again, regardless of the status in Canada or any other country one chooses to move, a US citizen has to file taxes in the US while living abroad. The point is that I don't see any impediment in taking Canadian citizenship it doesn't change anything related to taxation.
 
Are you proposing to cheat and don't file taxes?
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Seriously? What in any thing that I said implied that? I was giving the guy the heads up - be prepared, if you intend to maintain your American citizenship in Canada, to ensure that you pay your American taxes. That would be a significant hurdle IMO.
 
easybay said:
Seriously? What in any thing that I said implied that? I was giving the guy the heads up - be prepared, if you intend to maintain your American citizenship in Canada, to ensure that you pay your American taxes. That would be a significant hurdle IMO.
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Most US citizens who work abroad don't end up having to actually pay US taxes, even though they have to file US tax returns and report their worldwide income. Once the applicable treaties and exemptions and credits are calculated, usually there is no US tax to pay.
 
It seemed from your posting that you were proposing that a US citizen living in Canada doesn't have to file a tax return or worry about taxes in the US unless the aforementioned citizen comes back to the US. Didn't mean to offend you. You probably didn't mean it that way, but what you were saying sounded like cheating by not filing tax returns. Again, perhaps I misinterpreted you. Unless he gives up his US citizenship when moving to Canada, which doesn't seem to be the case, he will have to file a tax return in the US, but it is likely he won't have to pay a penny in the US.

easybay said:
Seriously? What in any thing that I said implied that? I was giving the guy the heads up - be prepared, if you intend to maintain your American citizenship in Canada, to ensure that you pay your American taxes. That would be a significant hurdle IMO.
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but it is likely he won't have to pay a penny in the US
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I guess it all depends on how much money he makes - or intends to make when living in Canada. When we lived in Canada (prior to 2001) my husband earned approx. $80,000 and we were in a 40% tax bracket (when you combine Federal and Provincial taxes). Any thing over and above that (bonus checks) were taxed at an automatic 50%. There were no payroll deductions, and we usually had a tax bill each year between $3000-6000. Everything is more expensive to purchase (check the back of the birthday card you buy - it's always $1 more if you were to buy it in Canada). And you get the added bonus of PST and GST on purchases.

Recently, he was asked to apply for a position in Vancouver. Doing simple math - the salary would have to be double what he was making in Texas in order to simple make what he was currently making. That and at the level (he doesn't make $80,000 any more!), I'm sure that we would be paying taxes to US govt. too. I'm curious to know what the rates are at what levels.
 
I can't think of any income bracket where one's US tax liability would exceed the Canadian tax liability. The more you make, the more the Canadians take. It's why the most successful Canadians don't live in Canada any more.
 
Huracan has it right. US citizens have to file no matter where they are residing. If residing in Canada, since the IRS gives credit for Canadian taxes paid and since Canadian taxation is higher, it would be very unusual to have to pay anything to the IRS. You simply have to report.

As a long-time Canadian and new US citizen, I think some of the posts on this thread skip over some aspects of a full comparison of the cost of living in US versus Canada. I work for a US-based multinational corporation with what passes for good benefits. I'm currently paying $4,400 per year for health insurance premiums under my employer's plan. (That's to insure a family). I put the maximum allowed by my employer, $3,000 into my FSA plan annually and we spend it on copays, deductibles, etc. before mid-year, most years. We probably bunch up our health care spending into the early part of the year, a bit, so overall I'd say I'm paying about $7,400 in pre-tax dollars plus another $2,000 in after tax dollars annually, for health care costs that would be completely covered out of my income tax, in Canada. If you add this in (and don't forget medicare and social security too - those are lumped in with income tax in Canada), Canadian tax rates start looking not so shocking after all.
 
anxiouscdn2 said:
overall I'd say I'm paying about $7,400 in pre-tax dollars plus another $2,000 in after tax dollars annually, for health care costs that would be completely covered out of my income tax, in Canada. If you add this in (and don't forget medicare and social security too - those are lumped in with income tax in Canada), Canadian tax rates start looking not so shocking after all.
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It's worth mentioning that with American health insurance plans, your mileage may vary. I pay around $5,000 in premiums, and my out of pocket costs for this year have been just under $1,000. It's safe to say that with a single income of $125k, I'd be paying far MORE in Canada than I would here, especially considering that I have more deductions and can income-split.

What kind of deductibles and co-pays do you have? Heck, even a high-deductible plan caps them at $5,200 per family per year!
 
Canadian tax rates start looking not so shocking after all.
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Seriously? So paying double every time you gas up your car, and 30% more at the grocery store, and not writing off your mortgage, and paying 40% income tax, and GST and PST - that adds up to less than your US health premiums?
 
TheRealCanadian said:
It's worth mentioning that with American health insurance plans, your mileage may vary. I pay around $5,000 in premiums, and my out of pocket costs for this year have been just under $1,000. It's safe to say that with a single income of $125k, I'd be paying far MORE in Canada than I would here, especially considering that I have more deductions and can income-split.

What kind of deductibles and co-pays do you have? Heck, even a high-deductible plan caps them at $5,200 per family per year!
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$15 co-pay, $300 per person deductible. However, a family member with a heart condition that requires a battery of medications and twice annual tests that the almighty insurance company deems to be hospital type procedures. Apart from that I'd say we're a fairly typical healthy family, however the two adults are both in our 50s and it's just a medically more expensive time of life. When we were a couple of decades younger we hardly saw doctors ever. I can see that younger colleagues here are the same way - their medicals costs are probably pretty much just their premiums.

easybay said:
Seriously? So paying double every time you gas up your car, and 30% more at the grocery store, and not writing off your mortgage, and paying 40% income tax, and GST and PST - that adds up to less than your US health premiums?
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Actually, I agree with you about the cost of living. My comment, to which you reacted, was specifically about taxation, and really I meant income tax specifically, although the quote didn't say that.

I find that people comparing the US and Canadian cost of living frequently cite high Canadian income tax rates. That's true of this thread, too. In my experience, if you include US health care costs, income tax + health care totals actually look pretty similar. Mind you, some of you are evidently quite high income earners, well in excess of $100K. At that level, my observations may not apply.

Anyway, I think the big factors in the cost of living difference are cost of consumer goods, and sales taxes at the till. I do think it's cheaper down here, because "stuff" is a lot cheaper. We agree on that! Mind you, I'm sitting in the Atlanta suburbs in a house whose reduced value is now around $150K. My former colleages in Vancouver are all sitting in $750K+ houses. I couldn't afford to move back there (and you say you can't afford Vancouver either). My colleagues up there probably have considerably more net worth than I do.
 
Even if the combined tax+health spending in Canada is 5% or 10% more than it is in US, that will favor Canada residency because then you do not have to "worry" about dealing with insurance, not knowing whether you will be denied or approved for a major surgery or illness. The mental peace of mind is worth that much. Healthcare might change this, but there are already attempts to unravel this so I am not sure whether US will ever get parity with Canada on healthcare spending and benefits.
 
sanjoseaug20 said:
... that will favor Canada residency because then you do not have to "worry" about dealing with insurance, not knowing whether you will be denied or approved for a major surgery or illness. ..
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But you do have to worry about when you will be scheduled for surgery in Canada. It's common practice in Canada to be placed on a waiting list for many months for typical surgeries that are scheduled within days in the US.
 
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