Should I become US citizen and leave?

U

USEmerika

New Member
Folks, long story short. Several years ago, I was the lucky one to win green card in the lottery.

I very much enjoyed America and I had blast. I went to college for couple of years, I worked and made decent money. Recently, I traveled back to Europe to country of my origin. It felt really good to be back home after the time in the States. None of my family is in the States and nobody has desire to move here to live with me.

Now, I am back to States, without job and feeling blue, mostly because I lost my girlfriend of many years. So why am I writing this ...

I am only maybe 8 months away from being able to file application for Naturalization N-400 and become US citizen. However, I do not see my future in the U.S. anymore and I feel I would be better off in my old European continent.

This was my emotional state.

But being rational, I realize that soon I will have the chance to become citizen of this great country and kind of secure the back door to the USA should I ever wanted to come back in the future. Is it good idea to do it though?

What is your thinking/point of view? Am I missing something important?
 
Note that you will be subject to U.S. taxes on your worldwide income no matter where you live. Although you may or may not actually have to pay any U.S. tax because of the Foreign Tax Credit or the Foreign Earned Income Exemption, you will have to go to the hassle of filing U.S. taxes every year while in a foreign country.
 
USEmerika said:
What is your thinking/point of view? Am I missing something important?
Click to expand...

Go ahead, take USC and leave. I left then came back to US in 4 years as I changed my mind. The option is great to have.

Taxes - yes it is painful but you file it once, you can file it again. It becomes mechanical. Only pain is if you earn too high and your residence country taxes too little - then US will demand its own share. So if you do not expect to lose a lot of money every year in taxes, why not?
 
You're going through a turmoil; so it's very understandable for you to think dejected and in a negative manner but life's a long journey. You'll most likely rue your decision to abandon your golden opportunity if you left w/o an option to return back. I'd get naturalized and then leave. Who knows, in couple years time, you might totally lose your desire to live back in your native country. Good luck!
 
newacct said:
Note that you will be subject to U.S. taxes on your worldwide income no matter where you live. Although you may or may not actually have to pay any U.S. tax because of the Foreign Tax Credit or the Foreign Earned Income Exemption, you will have to go to the hassle of filing U.S. taxes every year while in a foreign country.
Click to expand...

How big hassle is this? I didn't know about that actually. So even if I don't live in the U.S. , don't have bank there, no property or business I still do have to file taxes? That doesn't make much sense and nobody told me about that.
 
USEmerika said:
How big hassle is this? I didn't know about that actually. So even if I don't live in the U.S. , don't have bank there, no property or business I still do have to file taxes? That doesn't make much sense and nobody told me about that.
Click to expand...

Not sure how big a hassle it is but the bottomline is that if you are a US citizen, you are not exempt from filing tax returns just because you do not live and work in the US.
 
USEmerika said:
How big hassle is this? I didn't know about that actually. So even if I don't live in the U.S. , don't have bank there, no property or business I still do have to file taxes? That doesn't make much sense and nobody told me about that.
Click to expand...

you are going to be a citizenhip therefore it is your duty to pay your taxes. hopefully your native country has an agreement with the U.S, in which you will be exempt
My comments are only my opinions and are not legal advice.
 
USEmerika said:
How big hassle is this? I didn't know about that actually. So even if I don't live in the U.S. , don't have bank there, no property or business I still do have to file taxes? That doesn't make much sense and nobody told me about that.
Click to expand...

Depends on how ruch you are. US citizens live up to 11 month in a tax year can have income exempt up to roughly
100,000 dollars.
 
Very briefly spoken, as long as the other country has a highter tax rate than the U.S., what is most likely the case, you don't have to worry about taxes.

Me and my wife basically did the same after we got USC last year and moved back to Europe because of job opportunities. I wouldn't have left without the USC, can't hurt to have both esp. in todays job market.
 
Like many have already said, you should get it and then move back to your country of origin if that 's what you want (I think about it pretty often myself). It's always good to have options and who knows, you might change your mind later on so it's better not to burn any bridges.
 
cafeconleche said:
Most Americans abroad do NOT file taxes, by the way. At least the ones that earn less than the threshold.
Click to expand...

They won't owe taxes if they make below the threshold but they are not exempt from FILING annual tax returns. How else will the US Govt know whether these USCs are exempt from any paying Uncle Sam any income taxes?
 
JPBoston said:
They won't owe taxes if they make below the threshold but they are not exempt from FILING annual tax returns. How else will the US Govt know whether these USCs are exempt from any paying Uncle Sam any income taxes?
Click to expand...

I actually wonder what would happen if they ever sue you for not filing annual tax returns even though you owe nothing to the government. I guess they can always audit you, but if you owed nothing, could you ever be convicted of a crime?
 
As long as you don't owe taxes, I don't think there is any major issue but it would be a pain to deal with an audit especially if you haven't filed your tax returns. All I was saying is that, as a USC, you have a responsibility to file your annual tax returns from abroad even if you know you won't owe anything. I think it is only if you made no income or or very very low that you may not need to file your tax returns from abroad.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I understand it's required, just as it's required in the US. But, what I'm saying is that I have never met someone abroad who has filed, and these people don't make more than 90K or whatever. I still have to file...
 
I have several USC friends living in Europe and Asia and discussion around this topic has come up before. Consistently, they all file their tax returns.
 
The privilege of US citizenship comes with an added burden of full financial disclosure and compliance. This includes, paying taxes on worldwide income (above a certain threshold and adjusted for local taxes already paid). This is not the hard part because as someone mentioned, you get used to it, and once you file taxes in your "home" country, you just submit the tax filing to a US CPA who will convert to US tax return and let you know if you owe anything. However, you will need to disclose any foreign bank accounts, property holdings, and ownership and any businesses annually. Again, once you are in the habit of filing these are routine items

Issues arise if you have something to hide. If you have significant wealth that you are hiding overseas and would not like it to be exposed to US taxation, then you have a reason to give up your green card and just leave, because even as a GC holder you are subject to all of the above.

Good Luck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top