My wife and I got married a few years back and the plan was always to get her residency in the US and then citizenship and then move back to her home country. The more I think about it though, the more I don’t want to spend 3-5 years back there. For those who have spouses with citizenship, why did you do it? For those with spouses without citizenship, are there any benefits you’re missing out on based on them not having it?
I am a dual national American/Italian, and my wife is German. She has her greencard but not her US citizenship. We probably will be moving to Europe in a few years so I am not encouraging her to get her US citizenship.
At times I have thought about giving up my US citizenship, because it does not really afford me that much and is almost a stigma these days given the US’s horrific foreign policy blunders of the last 50 years. Hard to tell all of these different rogue countries apart these days.
My mom and dad are completely different nationalities (one North American, the other dual European-Australian).
I now live in my father’s country and my mother desperately wishes she could be with the kids and I but can’t because of immigration ties.
Probably not directly relevant to your situation because you guys are married, but just an illustration of how devastating it could be for your future kids to find themselves in a situation where they need to live in one country but their other parent can’t access it.
Counter question: does it hurt or bother you in anyway if she get the citizenship other than paperwork?
Just trying to understand why you are reluctant to get her US citizenship in the first place. Having US passport and living in other countries still bring enough benefits as far as I’m aware.
Money. And strong passport are the only reasons to get your wife a U.S. citizenship. After that 5 years of living in the US making comparatively more money, she will have a U.S. passport and will make traveling much easier. They’ve gotten much stricter at the borders of every country even if you are legally allowed to enter visa free. The fact that my wife was traveling with me and my passport has made it easier. She was pulled to the side from the border line multiple times
Does it change your mind at all if I say I have dual citizenship in Italy and thus she can also get citizenship there?
If you are currently both in the US, it makes a ton of sense to stay a bit longer and get her citizenship then relocate. If you’re in her home country and this requires you both uprooting your lives and moving to the US for 3-5 years just to get her a passport, I feel like that’s a bit much. Everyone seems to be assuming you’re still in the US and can just stay because otherwise it would not be a clear cut “yes do it” to literally move countries knowing in 3-5 years you’d move back JUST for a passport. But you use here/there in different sentences so I’m not entirely sure which country you’re currently in and that could make a difference.
I just gave up my citizenship it’s such a pain in the ass with the double taxation. Even just filing all the time is way too much work for a place where I don’t ever want to live
How about you just do nothing and let her make her own decisions regarding citizenship? “should I get her citizenship?” no, it’s not something for you to give like a toy to a child. She is presumably a grown woman right?
If you are thinking about if you would like her to get herself citizenship how about asking her how she feels
It is somewhat better than any South American citizenship. At least for now, it might be worse or better in the future, nobody knows. It’s not even that much better for traveling compared to many South American passports, since they have Schengen access and more. Depends which one she has.
Generally speaking, more citizenships are better, but you will have to spend several years in the US, and not all countries allow dual citizenship, so this is something to consider.
Personally, I think it would be more beneficial if you get the citizenship of her country first. As for “emergency plan b” case, I think you both should get a tier-A passport from another country. If you both want to invest so much time and energy into a second passport this would be more advantageous, since residency for a spouse is relatively easy to get anyway, and both of you would get a new citizenship, not just one.
If you are wealthy, there are CBI options for second passports.
NOOOOO!!!
The arguments against US citizenship are basically:
- Citizenship-based taxation. You’ll have to file taxes and FBARs with the IRS no matter where in the world you live. This is already the case for you as USC, so filing jointly is not really that much of an additional burden.
- Reduced banking options abroad. Some foreign banks will turn US citizens away because they opted out of FATCA reporting to the US. Sometimes smaller, local banks have the best mortgage rates which your spouse could access under her name if she’s not a USC and no longer has an IR-1 visa.
In favor of citizenship:
- Emotional/personal reasons. Where do you feel home?
- No longer having to deal with USCIS, ever. I’ll include unlimited travel to and from the US and prolonged stays abroad here.
- Voting rights
- Getting ahead of potential uncertainty after the 2024 election for LPRs. Not necessarily the worst scenario, but deliberately long delays processing N-400s etc. Who knows.
If it were me, I wouldn’t explore US citizenship for my wife. The US is a capitalist hellscape, that’s barely affordable to simply survive in, especially if you have any health conditions. If you have children, don’t tell the US, otherwise it’s another tax burden for them to deal with when they get older.
Quit playing Cyberpunk and go outside for a bit.
My husband and I are in a similar situation, we’re relocating to the US (my home country) and the plan is to get him citizenship then leave again. I’ve done extensive research and from what I understand your wife may or may not be eligible to return to the US if she abandons her permanent residency. To keep permanent residency she’ll need to be in the US for a certain amount of time each year or risk losing it and being denied entry back into the US. If immigration even suspects that she is not a true permanent resident then you risk all sorts of issues. https://shorelineimmigration.com/how-long-can-you-live-outside-the-us-without-losing-your-green-card/#
For me it was simple, the US is always there to fall back on if we are both citizens with the job market, family, etc and it’s worth him getting citizenship so we don’t lose that access even if I intend to become a dual citizen in his home country afterwards.
Honestly if she’s not going to get citizenship then why not just move to her home country and skip the US step? She’ll have dealt with a ton of bureaucracy and paid a good amount of money for her green card just to abandon it a few years later but that’s just my two cents.
Depends on her current citizenship.
Let’s say you die and the country you live in goes to shit. Do you want your wife to have the option to leave?
The main benefit of your wife getting US citizenship is that you don’t have to start the immigration paperwork all over if plans change in the future and you decide you want to move back to the US later on.
You should definitely get the citizenship of your wife’s first IMO if you actually want a second citizenship. You never know what could happen in the future. You can get a divorce and you have lost the access to that country. The way the world is going, it’s good to have a citizenship in south america.to escape nuclear war.