Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
For US taxes there is a capital gains exemption for a primary home being sold ($250K for an individual, $500K for a married couple), if you have owned and lived in the home for at least 2 out of the past 5 years.
Reasons for US citizenship on relocating to India
- Thread starter confused124
- Start date
and USCIS is also going to increase the fees for all applications/petitions.
Is this speculation or are you citing a source?
My husband and I are in India and have no intention of returning to the US. He is the only son with 4 dependents in his family. We do not have children.
He got his citizenship whereas I still have to go thru fingerprinting and then interview after 2-3 months.
I have been wondering if I should go at all wasting 150,000 rupees ($3000+) when I could be pursuing other more important activities here.
I suppose getting social security income for which I have 40 credits , would be a reason for getting the citizenship. And perhaps foreign travel if the opportunity arose. Can't think of anything else.
Wondering if anybody can think of any other reasons why it would make sense to take the citizenship.
And yes, I do know that this is a personal decision, still wanted inputs.
Thanks
Confused
I have read all the other posts. If you are eligible for US citizenship get US citizenship. Then get OCI for India. Regarding Vote in India how many vote in India being Indian citizen? Are they worth for your vote? Regarding agricultural land how many think of buying agricultural land? Even if one wants to buy agricultural land does the SUB-registrar ask your passport? Sub-registrar does not know that OCI or NRI cant buy agricultural land he/she is only interested in bribe of Rs 500 to 1000 for registration and gives the registration same day. Can anybody list any case that OCI or NRI bought agricultural land and faced problems? We only know because we keep on reading being NRI or US citizens of India origin for the laws/rules for NRI or OCI. The person who is in India does not read NRI or OCI laws/regulations and registrar or Sub registrar does not know the law for agricultural land. I know few cases where NRI did buy the agricultural land and few buy on father/mother name. Voting or buying agricultural land in India should not be the criteria to get US citizenship or not to get USC. Regarding Social security if at that time US has funds they will pay if you are eligible like other US citizens residing in US.
If you are not in US and you are not eligible for US citizenship then it is much better to surrender GC at US consulate (they need you to fill up form) and one can get Visor visa.
Your spouse is USC and if in future he wants to live in US then he has to file GC again for you by filing I-130, then NVC then consulate interview and it can take 6-10 months to enter again with immigrant visa. FYI the USCIS Fees is going to increase in few months.
The article state they are considering increasing fees, not that they actually have/will.
USCIS increased the fees in 2007 to hire more adjudicators to reduce the backlogs. Now that the backlogs have ceased and overall applications have reduced (thus reducing revenues) I would expect a cut in those adjudicator positions first before a rise in fees.
When was the fee increase before 2007 increase? Fee can increase to adjust inflation
Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
Dude, it's USCIS. They WILL increase fees. If it's not this year or next year, it will happen within the next 5 or 10 years, and the increase will be in excess of the general inflation that occurred since the last increase. Guaranteed.
Sure they will increase fees eventually, but ginnu's response implies they will happen in the very near future which I doubt is the case considering that congress needs to approve any increase and the last increase was in 2007.
desibartender
Registered Users (C)
What's 1.5Lakh rupees in India these days? It's nothing. It is most likely your kids pocket money for the year. You probably spend 10-15 thousand rupees every month eating out. Or maybe you could cut down from 5 maids to 3 maybe? The one that just takes clothes in and out of the washing machine is wasteful anyway. Fire her. Or maybe instead of buying the Honda Jazz you buy the Skoda Fabio(much better car than Honda anyway and cost 2 lakhs less). Instead of changing your cars every two years you can do that maybe every 5 years? Maybe one Diwali you can go without that 1.5 lakh gold necklace. I can go on and on. Rich US returned Indians make me sick when they complain of expensive things. Sheesh! I hate it when people try to be penny wise and pound foolish.
Yes it is a little bit of a hassle to move to US and stay till you get USC but you will have USC. I know people who have done that.
I see a big problem in not having the same nationality as my other half or my kids. That was my big issue with getting US citizenship. What if your hubby wakes up one day and leave India with kids for US? What if your kids decide in future that they want to be US citizens. You will need freaking visa to visit them. Now compare 1.5 Lakhs to be able to visit your kids freely. I cannot believe that this woman is placing $3000 above the privilege to visit her kids freely.
Filing US taxes from India is darn simple. Many people I know do it already. And you will get Social Security won't you?
You have OCI now which is almost like second rate dual citizenship. This allows you to work and live in India.
The OCI is being offered now so you should take advantage of it. Who knows if the next government will keep this around? Just get the OCI document while you can. Once you have the document it is hard for any government to cancel it. Remember it has been hard to get rid of slums in Mumbai for last 50 years because people living in slums were issued "Ration Cards" by the government. The government finally had to relocate them. So get a document from the Indian government while they are giving it. Once you have the OCI document u have the privilege for ever. Because one thing great about US and Indian constitution is that rights/privileges given to people are extremely hard to take away.
Yes it is a little bit of a hassle to move to US and stay till you get USC but you will have USC. I know people who have done that.
I see a big problem in not having the same nationality as my other half or my kids. That was my big issue with getting US citizenship. What if your hubby wakes up one day and leave India with kids for US? What if your kids decide in future that they want to be US citizens. You will need freaking visa to visit them. Now compare 1.5 Lakhs to be able to visit your kids freely. I cannot believe that this woman is placing $3000 above the privilege to visit her kids freely.
Filing US taxes from India is darn simple. Many people I know do it already. And you will get Social Security won't you?
You have OCI now which is almost like second rate dual citizenship. This allows you to work and live in India.
The OCI is being offered now so you should take advantage of it. Who knows if the next government will keep this around? Just get the OCI document while you can. Once you have the document it is hard for any government to cancel it. Remember it has been hard to get rid of slums in Mumbai for last 50 years because people living in slums were issued "Ration Cards" by the government. The government finally had to relocate them. So get a document from the Indian government while they are giving it. Once you have the OCI document u have the privilege for ever. Because one thing great about US and Indian constitution is that rights/privileges given to people are extremely hard to take away.
Now that we have given a source, you are doubting the source
Anyway, USCIS might have cleared the backlog (many will doubt that too) but as per Director Majorkas they are well behind the target collection (of additional 1 billion). Check following link:
http://www.laborimmigration.com/2009/09/2007-uscis-fee-increase-seemsinsufficient/
If you know how budget (and allocation of funds) are regulated in US govt., one can easily figure the future of USCIS fee increase. Most probably USCIS wants more share from federal budget, and if they don't get that (a very good probability) then they will propose a fee increase. And, I am sure politicians will be very happy to agree on fee increase (then giving $$$$$ to USCIS).
Anyway, USCIS might have cleared the backlog (many will doubt that too) but as per Director Majorkas they are well behind the target collection (of additional 1 billion). Check following link:
http://www.laborimmigration.com/2009/09/2007-uscis-fee-increase-seemsinsufficient/
If you know how budget (and allocation of funds) are regulated in US govt., one can easily figure the future of USCIS fee increase. Most probably USCIS wants more share from federal budget, and if they don't get that (a very good probability) then they will propose a fee increase. And, I am sure politicians will be very happy to agree on fee increase (then giving $$$$$ to USCIS).
One can also get Ration Card in mumbai (they dont ask if you are OCI) they dont know what is OCI and they dont want to know. Rationing office inspector is only interested in 500 rupees and if you pay 1000 then he will come to your house to give you ration card. Many Bangladeshi or bhaya first get ration card then passport or domicile certificate.
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Like I said, the article states they are contemplating raising fees, not that they will. Stating that they will and assuming they will are two very different things and have nothing to do with doubting the source.Now that we have given a source, you are doubting the source
Your argument makes no mention of possible cut backs in the agency in order to make up the shortfall. Again, the 2007 fee increase was used to hire more adjudicators to tackle the long processing times. Now that the processing times have been brought down to acceptable levels, it would only make sense (and easier) to cut back current personnel than to ask congress for another fee increase.
kaatupaadi
Registered Users (C)
I couldn't have said it better. 3K is nothing. I have friends stuck in GC process who are ready to pay 30K if someone can get them a Green card ( Let alone citizenship)!!
Guys ! Be sensitive to the context.
3K or 1.5 Lak might not be much for someone who is doing well and has good job (whether at India or US). But when the earning member is between jobs and you are considering all alternatives for the future of the family, everything counts. The least we can do if give valuable suggestions to make informative decision.
sanjoseaug20
Registered Users (C)
I thought guju's comment provided the context. There are people who are willing to pay 30K for GC, so looks like that is at least the market value of a GC, looking at it in pure economic terms. So 3K is just 10% of that value, and it gives a person lifelong security of not worrying about residence requirements in US. Add to it another 500 USD and it gives you lifelong security of not worrying about residence requirements in India (via OCI). Of course, you need to renew various documents like passport from time to time, but that is over a very long time horizon.
And while 3K might be truly too much for many people in India, I am sure a person who has lived in US long enough to become USC will relate to it differently, however dire the circumstances might be.
firstimmigrant
Registered Users (C)
It's personal decision, however after going through all this effort it makes lot of sense to complete the process but do what will make you happy. End of the day your happiness is worth more then any passport. Good luck!
Triple Citizen
Registered Users (C)
Some of that money can be recovered by not having to pay for visas for foreign travel.