QUESTION: Hello, My wife and I are Canadian citizens living in the US and we received our green cards two years ago. I have a few immigration questions that I hope you can help me with. My apologies if you have already answered in previous postings. We are considering relocating to Canada to have the children go to French immersion schools. I found two good job openings: 1) work in Detroit and live in Windsor; 2) work and live in Toronto. 1) If we relocate to Windsor and I work in the US, I understand that I must change my green card status to alien commuter. Would it then be difficult to change back to "regular" green card if we choose to reside and work in a US city? Does an alien commuter card stay valid for the same length of time as a green card (i.e. renew every 10 years)? 2) If we live in Toronto, is there any way to prevent losing the green card (i.e. I heard that you can keep the green card if you visit the US for a brief period of time every 12 months). Thanks in advance for your response. =============================================== david ingram replies: I think you are barking up the wrong tree. With all due respect , learning Spanish and keeping your green card and getting your US citizenship for your children is a far greater "job-opener" than coming back to Canada to attend a French Immersion school. The US citizenship opens up ten to twenty times more jobs than French Immersion will and Spanish is at least ten times more important in North and South America than French is However, 1. The commuter green card should last as long as your regular green card but does not count your time in Canada as credit for US citizenship. You should be able to change back in the future but these rules change and I would not count on it. 2. Visiting the US every twelve months does NOT keep your green card alive. To keep it alive you must continue to file your US returns to report the Canadian Income but this may not be enough if a US Homeland Security officer decides to take your card away at the border some day. To live in Canada (the longest I have known was eight years) and keep your card valid, you must file form I-131 every year for a reentry permit. The first application MUST be filed BEFORE you leave the US. The fee is $165 currently. I quote from the Homeland Security website. A Permanent Resident of the United States can travel freely outside of the US. A passport from the country of citizenship is normally all that is needed. To reenter the US a Permanent Resident normally needs to present the green card (Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551) for readmission. A reentry permit is needed for reentry for trips greater than one year but less than two years in duration. You can find more information about travel documents from "How Do I Get a Travel Document?" Maintaining Permanent Residence Maintaining Permanent Residence You may lose your permanent residence status if you commit an act that makes you removable from the United States under the law in section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If you commit such an act, you may be brought before the immigration courts to determine your right to remain a Permanent Resident. You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you: a.. Move to another country intending to live there permanently. b.. Remain outside of the US for more than one year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year. c.. Remain outside of the US for more than two years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the US may be considered, even if it is less than one year. d.. Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the US for any period. e.. Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your tax returns. Naturalization Many Permanent Residents of the United States have the ultimate goal of becoming a US citizen. Naturalization is the primary method for most persons not born as US citizens to obtain that status. Under current law naturalization is done by the federal and state courts and in an administrative proceedings. Once a permanent resident completes the necessary residence and physical presence requirements (which vary in certain cases), an application for naturalization can be filed with Immigration. This starts a review of the person’s basic eligibility, criminal and security histories, and then leads to testing of the person’s English language abilities, knowledge of the history and form of government of the US, and good moral character. Complete information on naturalization can be obtained on our Naturalization page. As a naturalized US citizen you have the same rights and privileges as a native born US citizen with one exception. Only a native born US citizen can be president of the United States. As a US citizen you can petition for your parents and siblings to immigrate to the US. Your spouse and children (unmarried and under 21 years of age) qualify for immediate relative classification for immigration purposes, which means they do not have a waiting list to immigrate (like the spouse and children of a Permanent Resident) and can do so as fast as the paperwork can be processed. You can find the details for the reentry permit Form I-131 at: http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-131.htm However, I think you are barking up the wrong tree. With all due respect , learning Spanish and keeping your green card and getting your US citizenship for your children is a far greater "job-opener" than coming back to Canada to attend a French Immersion school. The US citizenship opens up ten to twenty times more jobs than French Immersion will and Spanish is at least ten times more important in North and South America than French is. Just a thought, but I am going to reproduce this paragraph at the start to make sure you read it. Answers to this and other similar questions can be obtained free on Air every Sunday morning. Every Sunday at 9:00 AM on 600AM in Vancouver, Fred Snyder of Cartier Partners and I will be hosting an INFOMERCIAL but LIVE talk show called "ITS YOUR MONEY" Those outside of the Lower Mainland will be able to listen on the internet at www.600AM.com Local phone calls to (604) 280-0600 - Long distance calls to 1-866-778-0600. Old shows are archived at the site. This from ask an income tax immigration planning and bankruptcy expert consultant guru or preparer from www.centa.com or www.jurock.com or www.featureweb.com. Canadian David Ingram deals daily with tax returns dealing with expatriate: multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate gambling refunds for the United States, Canada Mexico Great Britain the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Antarctica, Japan, China, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Georgia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Scotland, Ireland, Hawaii, Florida, Montana, Morocco, Israel, Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mali, Bangkok, Greenland, Iceland, Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, St Vincent, Grenada,, Virgin Islands, US, UK, GB, American and Canadian and Mexican and any of the 43 states with state tax returns, etc. income tax wizard wizzard guru advisor advisors experts specialist specialists consultants taxmen taxman tax woman planner planning preparer of Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California Denver Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware District of Columbia Miami Florida, Garland Georgia, Honolulu Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana Des Moines Iowa Kansas Kentucky, Louisiana Bangor Maine Maryland Boston, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico,New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon. Paris, Rome, Sydney, Australia Hilton Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Rockwall, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec City, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Yukon and Northwest and Nunavit Territories, Mount Vernon, Eumenclaw, Coos Bay and Dallas Houston Rockwall Garland Texas Taxman and Tax Guru and wizzard wizard - David Ingram's US/Canada Services US/Canada/Mexico Tax Immigration & working Visa Specialists US / Canada Real Estate Specialists 4466 Prospect Road North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7 Calls accepted from 10 AM to 10 PM 7 days a week Res (604) 980-3578 Cell (604) 657-8451 Bus (604) 980-0321 davidingram at shaw.ca www.centa.com www.david-ingram.com Disclaimer: This question has been answered without detailed information or consultation and is to be regarded only as general comment. Nothing in this message is or should be construed as advice in any particular circumstances. No contract exists between the reader & the author and any and all non-contractual duties are expressly denied. All readers should obtain formal advice from a competent financial, or real estate planner or advisor & appropriately qualified legal practitioner, tax or immigration specialist in connection with personal or business affairs such as at www.centa.com. If you forward this message, this disclaimer must be included." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.centa.com/CEN-TAPEDE/centapede/attachments/20040817/b02034d2/attachment.htm
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