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Even if you return to your country you have to file taxes in the US?

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Dimitri001

New Member
I have two questions:

#1 I found the following claim in an article:

Just know that if you return to your home country, even if you give up your green card, you will have to file taxes in the US for ten years.
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Is this true? Does this mean PAY taxes or just submit paper work? If I were to return to my country and make a living there, would I still have to pay some tax in the US?

You can find the article by googling "getting a visa as a writer", it's the second result - I can't link to it, the forum won't let me.

#2

I understand a person who is selected for a diversity visa has to enter the US within usually 6 months of visa approval. Can a person enter within that period and then travel back to the home country, only to move back to the US years later? In other words, a person who actually intends to immigrate years later, but would temporarily just enter the country within that 6 month window to prevent their visa from being voided. Is that allowed and possible?
 
Dimitri001 said:
I have two questions:

#1 I found the following claim in an article:



Is this true? Does this mean PAY taxes or just submit paper work? If I were to return to my country and make a living there, would I still have to pay some tax in the US?

You can find the article by googling "getting a visa as a writer", it's the second result - I can't link to it, the forum won't let me.

#2

I understand a person who is selected for a diversity visa has to enter the US within usually 6 months of visa approval. Can a person enter within that period and then travel back to the home country, only to move back to the US years later? In other words, a person who actually intends to immigrate years later, but would temporarily just enter the country within that 6 month window to prevent their visa from being voided. Is that allowed and possible?
Click to expand...
1. As a LPR, your worldwide income must be reported to the IRS. Wether or not you’ll need to pay an income tax depends on several factors such as the US having a tax treaty with the country where the income is earned, the amount of money earned, etc. Read more on this from AllLaw.com

2. The GC is meant for living permanently in the US, not for touching down every six months for a couple of days/weeks for the purpose of maintaining a LPR status.
 
1. That's not really correct. They are probably referring to the expatriation tax, which applies to US citizens who renounce citizenship, and "long term residents" who give up residency, who have above a certain amount of net worth. I believe that prior to 2008, the expatriation tax applied US tax for 10 years, but after 2008, the expatriation tax applies a one-time tax as if all your assets were liquidated when you expatriate. (I'm not too familiar with the details.) In any case, if you are not a US citizen, you need to have been resident for 8 of the past 15 years to be considered a "long term resident", so someone giving up their green card right away wouldn't count. Also, this tax only applies to people above a certain net worth, so wouldn't apply to most people anyway.
 
Sm1smom said:
1. As a LPR, your worldwide income must be reported to the IRS. Wether or not you’ll need to pay an income tax depends on several factors such as the US having a tax treaty with the country where the income is earned, the amount of money earned, etc. Read more on this from AllLaw.com

2. The GC is meant for living permanently in the US, not for touching down every six months for a couple of days/weeks for the purpose of maintaining a LPR status.
Click to expand...

On 2, the idea would not be to just pop in every once in a while, but to fully immigrate, but after a period longer than 6 months, in say a year or two or three, so I would enter within 6 months to meet the requirement of entering the US within 6 months, leave and then fully move there in 2 years. Is that legally possible? I know that isn't necessarily what is intended, but is it legal?
 
Dimitri001 said:
On 2, the idea would not be to just pop in every once in a while, but to fully immigrate, but after a period longer than 6 months, in say a year or two or three, so I would enter within 6 months to meet the requirement of entering the US within 6 months, leave and then fully move there in 2 years. Is that legally possible? I know that isn't necessarily what is intended, but is it legal?
Click to expand...
You can go in the 5th month to activate your green card and then leave and return in a year max. For more than a year, you have to apply for a re-entry permit. That will give you a window of 1.5-2.5 years to move there.
 
The “legal” route would be for you to apply for a re-entry permit if you’re not ready to fully immigrate after the initial activation and you will you’ll need more than a year to do so.
Read this for more on re-entry permit.
Here’ an IRS Article on your tax filing obligations as a LPR which supports what I previously posted in response to question 1 on your initial post.
 
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