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?
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.