Writer's Block: Citizen of the universe : comments [Villainous Equals "Evil with Intent"]

True. We'll see what happens. Either way, the husband can't get US citizenship, though. And it could take up to eighteen months for me to get Canadian citizenship, once I'm eligible to apply. That will probably be sometime in October.

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Good luck! How much does it cost to apply for citizenship? Could you not just stay a permanent resident? I know people in the US who only have that status here.

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Thanks! It currently costs $200 in Canadian money to pay for applying for citizenship. I could stay a permanent resident, but then I have to keep track of every time I am out of Canada, to make sure I am in Canada for two years out of every five, and every five years I have to renew my permanent residency card. So it is just easier to apply for citizenship as soon as I can, since once I am a citizen I do not have to worry about how long I am out of Canada. And either way I have to file US taxes every year, since the US taxes folks based on whether or not they are citizens, rather than on if they are actually living in the States.

It all gets very confusing!

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That is where the US screwed itself. By making becoming a legal citizen way too expensive. One has to work without papers just to pay the fees. I heard it was $2000 just to apply for the green card to work.

It is crazy. I know of people who travel and live part time in other countries. Normally it is 6 months in each place. But that might be a US thing. The Canadian person that lives in Hawaii part of the year goes back to Canada for the spring and for part of the summer. I knew a woman who went back and forth from Ireland to the US. 6 months in each country. But might have been the US rules. Now they stay in Ireland full time.

You have to pay taxes to the US, why? That makes no sense whatsoever.

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It is a lot of money to pay for the stuff to become a permanent resident in Canada, too--about $2000, between the paperwork fees, the medical fees, the fingerprints, and other stuff--but a lot cheaper for citizenship.

I don't have to pay taxes to the US, unless I make over a certain amount each year (I think it is about $80,000 US a year). But I do have to file taxes even if I don't have to pay. I cannot have a special account up here for saving for retirement, unless I get rid of the US citizenship, though, because even though that money would be considered not taxable and for retirement purposes here in Canada, the US considers that money to be income, and thus taxable.

It makes no sense whatsoever. Apparently the US is one of only three or four countries in the world who tax folks based on citizenship rather than where they live.

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That is just wrong. It should not cost so much money. In the US that is what causes the immigration problems that we have. People need to work to pay the fees. Here is one thing that most US citizens do not know. most workers use illegal social security numbers to work. So they still pay taxes but never get the benefits for the time that they worked illegally. So the US benefits from having these workers.

You would not have to do this in the US. I know plenty of people who do not make the minimum amount and they just do not file. I never filed a tax return in the years that I did work since I never made enough money. They can not control your savings accounts. Do you pay taxes in both Canada and the US?

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It is wrong, I agree. And to immigrate to Canada it used to cost a lot more. When we got a new government in charge a few years ago, they made the price for the paperwork about $500 less than it was before. So now it's about $1000 for the paperwork stuff, and the another $1000 or so for the medical fees, the fingerprints, any moving expensese someone might have, and everything. It is definitely wrong that it costs so much, I think. It is also a lot easier to immigrate to Canada than it is to immigrate to the US. It only took about six months, once we got the paperwork to the Canadian government, for me to get my permanent residency. It would have taken a lot longer if we had tried to have the husband come to the States instead.

That is interesting, about the workers with the illegal SSNs. It does make sense that they would do so. I think the States, and probably other countries, would have a lot less illegal immigration if they made it easier to immigrate legally. Even the paperwork is written in confusing legal-type language, so if someone is not so good at understanding the language of whatever country they are trying to get to, they will have trouble just filling out the papers.

For some reason, if you are a US citizen living in the States, if you make less than whatever the minimum amount is, you do not have to file taxes. But if you are a US citizen living outside the States, you have to file taxes even if you have made no money at all in any country. I have worked in Canada for the past few years, so I do have to file both Canadian and US taxes (and will have to file Canadian taxes even if I had no income, as Canada requires the filing of taxes every year whether someone works or not). But I should not have to pay US taxes, as long as I do not make more than about $80,000 US a year. So far I have not even made $30,000 Canadian a year (the husband and myself are considered the working poor up here in Canada; I guess we are technically at or below the poverty line, or something, according to how it was explained to me), so I do not have to pay US taxes. I just have to file them. Which I still have not done for this year. Next weekend, I think I will try to do so. I cannot this weekend as I have a project to do for work.

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Villainous Equals "Evil with Intent"

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