Hello all
i am British and have been living in America (married to an American) for over 3yrs now. today i have to go to boston to file my last paperwork to have all conditions lifted and be a permanent resident which means no more hassle and immigration for 10yrs i beleve!
but my question is can i be a dual citizen and hold 2 passports or similar. i do not want to give up my british passport but have come into complications when my husband tried to sort out the wills and stuff, because i am not a citizen the American goverment wil not let me have anything tax free and would be looking at 50+%.inheritance tax.which is way over the top unless i was a citizen? hope this sounds clear.
i have also found out that after 3yrs of marrage i can be naturalised lol which is like a waver from going through the citizenship thing (has anyone looked a the questions blimey wish they would do the same in England).
anyhow any help on this matter would be great.
many thanks mel
Hello all
i am British and have been living in America (married to an American) for over 3yrs now. today i have to go to boston to file my last paperwork to have all conditions lifted and be a permanent resident which means no more hassle and immigration for 10yrs i beleve!
don't you mean sending off an I-751 to Vermont?
but my question is can i be a dual citizen and hold 2 passports or similar.
yes. The USA Gov't has no authority to take away your British passport.
i have also found out that after 3yrs of marrage i can be naturalised lol which is like a waver from going through the citizenship thing
it is the citizenship thing. no waiver.
So long as you have been a permanent resident for at least 90 days less than 3 years and married to a USC then you can file a N400 citizenship papers.
hello
thanks for your reply manc. i have already done the i-751 and now after 3yrs they sent me my final which will be getting my new card form I-551 in about another 6 mths. my new clasification will be IR6
if i want to travel i have to go to my nearest main office (no longer can you use satilite offices) which is Boston to get my passport re-indorced for which you have to make a pre apointment which was really easy using infopass.gov.
i have all the paper work for the n400 and as im in the headquarters today i will ask about the dual passport.
i was a little confused on the 90day or before the 3yrs as on the n400 it says the same but also says if married for 3yrs i can file. so anyhow i will see today!
many thanks
mel
I can tell you with absolute certainly that the government or anyone else will not tax your inheritence from your husband because you are not a US citizen.
I have been through this process and was not taxed on any of the insurance, 401k type rollovers, death benefit lump sum payment or retirement pension payments.
Both my children and I recieve social security payments.
The only tax we will pay will be on the interest and possibly on the income we make off what we invested.
Hope this helps and I would advise you might want to talk to a different lawyer who knows the laws.
I'm sure a lot of lawyers really don't know as it's not something they have to deal with a lot.
hello
thanks for your reply manc. i have already done the i-751 and now after 3yrs they sent me my final which will be getting my new card form I-551 in about another 6 mths. my new clasification will be IR6
if i want to travel i have to go to my nearest main office (no longer can you use satilite offices) which is Boston to get my passport re-indorced for which you have to make a pre apointment which was really easy using infopass.gov.
i have all the paper work for the n400 and as im in the headquarters today i will ask about the dual passport.
i was a little confused on the 90day or before the 3yrs as on the n400 it says the same but also says if married for 3yrs i can file. so anyhow i will see today!
many thanks
mel
roger roger, seems to me that you're about a year ahead of me, so thanks for the heads up about what the deal is once (if) I eventually get the conditions removed.
There are qiute a few dual citizens on this board including myself .
The proceedure does not involve any reliquising of your UK passport be rest assured you will be able to keep it and renew it as normal when the time comes
blimey after getting all the way to boston with my "info-pass" for a 2pm apointment i still had to sit for an hour then only to be told i could of gone to my satelite office..... hey i just read the instructions on the letter!!!!! go to boston!
so anyhow im all stamped and now have to await my new card which is supposed to be good for 10yrs. im also going to file my n400 which i hear can take between 6mnth to 2yrs.
how is the naturalization process do i need to know a tonn of american history? iv downloaded from usgov.com the guide (all 66 pages) which i will have pleanty of time to read.i hope to get a diploma at the end of reading that. do they give you a us passport and do i need to inform the uk embassy? (when it all happens that is!!)
many thanks for your help
regards mel
You need to know what is on the list of 100 questions as far as history and social studies goes.
Once you have become a US Citizen you can then apply for a US passport with a form from your main Post Office.
You have no obligation to inform the UK Embassy unless perhaps you intend to give up your Brit citizenship. lol
Once you've filled the form and paid the money, the rest is just time and a formality....well that is as long as you don't have a mohammed, ali or abdul anywhere in your name. After a little bit you'll get an appointment to be fingerprinted (again).....then after a while longer you'll get an appointment for an interview which is VERY easy. Obviously you can speak and write English so that's no problem. The quesitons they ask are really easy, just go to the INS website and look at the sample questions....they'll ask you some of those but will probably be happy after you've answered 8 of them correctly.
Whatever the appointment letter says, make sure you take with you a couple of those pictures they always want (although I think they might have changed the specification recently so they're no longer 3/4 view).....also, take something that proves you and your husband have joint interest in some asset, loan, whatever.
A while after that you'll get an appointment for the swearing in ceremony....and that is easy peasy, japanese.
I just finished the whole process and was naturalized only a couple of months ago so I remember pretty well. I was really lucky; my fingerprinting appointment was about 45 minutes drive away but my interveiw and swearing in were right here in town! -)
The US only recognize one nationality so when you become naturalized in the US you must state that you are an American citizen (when dealing with any government depts) and not "dual". You will be dual nationality in the UK so you can tell them that you are both.
Once you are sworn in you must apply for your US passport asap (I did mine the same day). Though you can still travel on your British Passport you will not be able to enter the US as a resident as you will no longer have your green card - they take it off you when you are naturalized. The only way to get into the US on a British passport at that time will be to have a return ticket - to wherever you travelled from and be on an I-94 - tourist visa. If you tell them you are a US citizen, it is possible that you will be refused entry into the US because as far as the US are concerned you are no longer British so your British passport is invalid. With the expedited passport service you can get your passport in about a week - it is worth paying the extra to get it quickly.
I am really glad that I became a citizen. No more messing with green cards and having to prove I am a "resident". I love that I can vote too. I hated not having that right. Citzenship gives you that extra piece of security that you really can stay forever and as an added bonus, if you ever commit a felony - you won't be deported ).
Colleen
, if you ever commit a felony - you won't be deported :).
Thats good to know, mwaaa haa haaaa....
well a big thankyou to all the info i have recieved. im sending my n400 on monday and as soon as it all comes about i will indeed send off for my American passport asap thanks for that.
im glad i can still keep my English passport as i am and forever will be British!!!
as you say it just makes things alot easier as to renew my green card in 10yrs i know i will of forgotten all about it by that time.
just a quick question though... if i fly to England (which i do once a yr)can i enter on my Brit passport and then re enter usa on my American one? i ask cause as you know when you have a passport for the country you enter you don't have to stand in those long lines.
cheers mel
just a quick question though... if i fly to England (which i do once a yr)can i enter on my Brit passport and then re enter usa on my American one? i ask cause as you know when you have a passport for the country you enter you don't have to stand in those long lines.
cheers mel
It is not advisable to have more than one passport on you when you travel. It might get a bit tricky if you get caught using one passport at one end and another at the other end. I am not sure that it is legal to do that. I wouldn't chance if I were you. They might think that you are terrorist or a crook and trying to avoid detection as you move between countries!!
It is not advisable to have more than one passport on you when you travel. It might get a bit tricky if you get caught using one passport at one end and another at the other end. I am not sure that it is legal to do that. I wouldn't chance if I were you. They might think that you are terrorist or a crook and trying to avoid detection as you move between countries!!
sorry, but that's a load of bollocks.
It is not advisable to have more than one passport on you when you travel. It might get a bit tricky if you get caught using one passport at one end and another at the other end. I am not sure that it is legal to do that. I wouldn't chance if I were you. They might think that you are terrorist or a crook and trying to avoid detection as you move between countries!!
sorry, but that's a load of bollocks.
Yeah, I'm not screwing around with an American passport at Heathrow. And, when I come back here, I'm not coming in on a Visa waiver. Sod that.