QUESTION: Hi. I am a Canadian citizen and a US green card holder. After
nine years of living in the US, I returned to Canada to complete a trades
apprenticeship. I sponsored my US wife and she now lives with me in Canada
and has PR status. I failed to file for permission to stay out of the US
for more than 180 days, and so I will probably not attempt to renew my green
card (which expires in a few months) because they will probably deem that I
have abandoned my US residence and hence deny me a new green card. My
question is, can my wife re-sponsor me to move back to the US in a few
years, say, in case Canada doesn't work out for us?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
I am not a lawyer and do not speak for the US Department of Homeland
Security.
However, I can say that many many people have kept their green cards alive
by continuing to file their US returns and claiming foreign tax credits
(instead of an earned income exemption).
Your wife must continue to file a US return as long as she lives in Canada.
Filing a joint return with her indicates your fulfilling your US duties and
should indicate to anyone that you are intending to return. (No
guarantees).
In any case, your wife can sponsor you back to the USA in the future if you
do in fact lose the US status.
However, it is a whole lot easier and cheaper to keep it alive than it is to
abandon it.
I would be happy to help you with your returns and am set up to look after
your returns at a distance.
For US Immigration legal help, I suggest that you can not go wrong using Joe
Grasmick at www.grasmick.com. He has a prepaid phone consultation available
there and is set up to handle people who do not live next door to his
office. Most of my clients do not live in Canada for instance.
Make sure that your wife gets her Canadian Citizenship as soon as possible.
-----------------------------------
David Ingram's US / Canada Services
US / Canada / Mexico tax, Immigration and working Visa Specialists
US / Canada Real Estate Specialists
My Home office is at:
4466 Prospect Road
North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Cell (604) 657-8451 -
(604) 980-0321 Fax (604) 980-0325
Calls welcomed from 10 AM to 10 PM 7 days a week Vancouver (LA) time -
(please do not fax or phone outside of those hours as this is a home office)
email to taxman at centa.com <mailto:taxman at centa.com>
www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com/> www.david-ingram.com
<http://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 and the author and any
and all non-contractual duties are expressly denied. All readers should
obtain formal advice from a competent and appropriately qualified legal
practitioner or tax specialist for expert help, assistance, preparation, or
consultation in connection with personal or business affairs such as at
www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com> . If you forward this message, this
disclaimer must be included."
Be ALERT, the world needs more "lerts"
David Ingram gives expert income tax & immigration help to non-resident
Americans & Canadians from New York to California to Saudi Arabia to Mexico
to China or Chile - Cross border, dual citizen - out of country investments
are all handled with competence & authority.
New York, Boston, Sacramento, Minneapolis, Salem, Wheeling, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Pensacola, Miami, St Petersburg, Naples, Fort Myers,
Cape Coral, Orlando, Atlanta, Arlington, Washington, Hudson, Green Bay,
Minot, Portland, Seattle, St John, St John's, Fredericton, Quebec, Moncton,
Truro, Atlanta, Charleston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego,
Sacramento, Taos, Grand Canyon, Reno, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sun City, Tulsa,
Monteray, Carmel, Morgantown, Bemidji, Sandpointe, Pocatello, Bellingham,
Custer, Grand Forks, Lead, Rapid City, Mitchell, Kansas City, Lawrence,
Houston, Albany, Framingham, Cambridge, London, Paris, Prince George, Prince
Rupert, Whitehorse, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Frankfurt, The Hague, Lisbon,
Madrid, Atlanta, Myrtle Beach, Key West, Cape Coral, Fort Meyers, Berlin,
Hamburg
Warsaw, Auckland, Wellington, Honolulu, Maui, Kuwait, Molokai, Beijing,
Shanghai, Tokyo, Manilla, Kent, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Red Deer, Olds,
Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, Brandon, Portage La Prairie, Davidson,
Craik, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Edinburgh,
Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Copenhagen, Oslo, Munich, Sydney, Nanaimo,
Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin, Perth, Athens, Rome, Berne, Zurich, Kyoto,
Nanking, Rio De Janeiro, Brasilia, Colombo, Buenos Aries, Squamish,
Churchill, Lima, Santiago, Abbotsford, Cologne, Yorkshire, Hope, Penticton,
Kelowna, Vernon, Fort MacLeod, Deer Lodge, Springfield, St Louis, Centralia,
Bradford, Stratford on Avon, Niagara Falls, Atlin, Fort Nelson, Fort St
James, Red Deer, Drumheller, Fortune, Red Bank, Marystown, Cape Spears,
Truro, Charlottetown, Summerside, Niagara Falls, Albany Zimbabwe
Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona,
California, Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida,
Garland, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New Mexico, New York, North Carolina,
North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon.
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 - consultant - expert - advisor -advisors consultants - gurus - Paris
Prague Moscow Berlin
Lima Rio de Janeiro, Santaigo Zimbabwe
international non-resident cross border income tax help assistance expert
preparation & immigration consultant david ingram, experts on rentals mutual
funds RRSP RESP IRA 401(K) & divorce preparer preparers consultants
David Ingram expert income tax help and preparation of US Canada Mexico
non-resident and cross border returns with rental dividend wages
self-employed and royalty foreign tax credits
This from "ask an income tax and immigration expert" from www.centa.com
<http://www.centa.com/> or www.jurock.com <http://www.jurock.com/> or
www.featureweb.com <http://www.featureweb.com/> . David Ingram deals on a
daily basis with expatriate tax returns with:
multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate problems for the
United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai,
Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, 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, and any of the 43 states with state tax returns, etc. Rockwall, Dallas,
San Antonio Houston
Denmark, Finland, Sweden Norway Bulgaria Croatia Income Tax and Immigration
Tips, Income Tax Immigration Wizard Antarctica Rwanda Guru Consultant
Specialist Section 216(4) 216(1) NR6 NR-6 NR 6 Non-Resident Real Estate tax
specialist expert preparer expatriate anti money laundering money seasoning
FINTRAC E677 E667 105 106 TDF-90 Reporting $10,000 cross border transactions
Grand Cayman Aruba Zimbabwe South Africa Namibia help USA US
(
What's Related