Dual citizenship

[camfused]

Both my parents were born in Canada, met there, got married there, and moved to the US in the 50s (for job opportunities, and to escape the winters). I was born in Florida, and have lived all my life in the US.

My mom had the opportunity, when I was little, to apply for dual citizenship for me, but for whatever reason decided not to. Many years later, she (and I) regretted her not doing that. When I was a young adult, I looked into that, and there was nothing to be done anymore about that, short of immigrating there.

Well, unbeknownst to me until yesterday, several years ago, Canada changed the definitions/rules for citizenship. You are likely a Canadian citizen if you

were born outside Canada and at least 1 of your parents (legal parent at birth or biological parent) either
- was born in Canada, or
- became a naturalized citizen before you were born

So, surprise, it looks like I am a Canadian citizen (and a US citizen). I can fill out a form, and (over a year later) Canada will send me a certificate of citizenship. With that, I can then get a Canadian passport.

I checked and: 1) the US has no problem with having dual citizenship, 2) Canada has no problem with having dual citizenship, 3) Revenue Canada would not require me to pay taxes, because I am not a resident.

I don't see any downsides to this. Are there any?

It's funny, because with all the political mess the last few years in the US, I have joked with my wife that we should flee to Canada to get away from all the insanity. Well, it looks like I could actually do that now, LOL.

Excuse me now while I flip on a hockey game, and eat my butter tart.

 

[Alan]

There are no downsides to being a dual Canadian/USA citizen that I am aware of. As you say, no tax implications, but if you do move to Canada at some point then the USA would continue to tax you on your worldwide income as it practices citizenship based taxation.

You don't even need to enter Canada using a Canadian passport. (If you held dual Canadian citizenship with another country you would need to enter the country on your Canadian passport)

When we decided to move back to England after almost 30 years of living in the USA it was nice to be able get on a plane, step off in England, say we were resident on day 1, and have access to all the stuff UK residents have access to.

 

[jim584672]

My mother came from London in the 1950s. Found out that they allowed you to apply for descent citizenship due to a change in the law. Before descent only passed down by the father, not the mother, due to historical patriarchy laws. A few years ago I applied and registered, got a burgundy passport. No downsides really.

Now all children are automatically British by operation of law, no application needed, if parents are British other than by descent.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I have both Canadian & US as does my DW. No issues at all. We do not have Canadian passports as it is too short a time and a PIA to apply for unless you are in Canada. We do not need one as I have a UK and US passport. I also have UK and Maltese citizenships, again no issues even with quad citizenships.

 

[nap470]

I'm sure this will not apply in your situation, but I thought I would share.

My wife's mother was born an raised in Lithuania and held dual citizenship with US. She passed in 2011. My wife's brother decided a couple of years ago to apply for Lithuanian citizenship for himself and his now 21 year old son. No current intentions of living there. They were recently approved late last year. Last week his son received notice of compulsory military service. Now he is hiring an attorney to submit a exception response that his son is a full-time college student. Always be aware of the "small print"

 

[camfused]

^^^^ Interesting. Yes, would not apply to me (too old), but I wonder about jury duty (or something like that), if a citizen but not a resident. I guess I would be able to vote in Canadian federal elections?

 

[MichaelB]

I don't see any downsides to this. Are there any?

Excuse me now while I flip on a hockey game, and eat my butter tart.

Probably no downside, but you will need to make some lifestyle adjustments. For example, right now Winter Olympics is on, and you should be glued to the TV watching curling, then hockey, then more curling. During commercial breaks you need to get more maple syrup. Also, you have to end every sentence with “eh?”

Now, as long as you don’t have to eat poutine ...

 

[travelover]

If the US re institutes the draft, you can just slip over the border.

 

[camfused]

^^^ Or when the next civil war breaks out.

 

[Alan]

I’m sure it depends on the 2 countries involved.

With the UK and USA each passport specifies that you can be drafted into the military whichever country you happen to be resident of at the time.

Also, if you happen to be in trouble while living in the UK you can’t call on the US to assist and vice versa.

 

[rodi]

We made sure that Italy had ended their compulsory military service before deciding to have my sons get dual Italian citizenship. Law passed in 2001 and became effective in 2007 making Italian military 100% voluntary. My husband is the Italian descendent and qualified... and the boys piggybacked in his application. I did all the research, document gathering, etc. Unfortunately, for spouses (me) you have to show L1 fluency to qualify for spousal dual citizenship. I've got 3 semesters of Italian at the community college and a 314 day duolingo streak... but nowhere close to fluency. I will probably do an immersive school in Italy in the next few years. I'm not good at learning languages so it may take a few months of immersion.

I'm currently helping some nephews and a niece through the process. They are piggybacking off of my research but having the same troubles I had getting birth/marriage records out of Sicily.

 

[Sunset]

There are no downsides to being a dual Canadian/USA citizen that I am aware of. As you say, no tax implications, but if you do move to Canada at some point then the USA would continue to tax you on your worldwide income as it practices citizenship based taxation.

You don't even need to enter Canada using a Canadian passport. (If you held dual Canadian citizenship with another country you would need to enter the country on your Canadian passport)

....

A few years ago, the Canadian Customs officer got mad at me for using my CDN passport to enter from the USA, he told to use the USA passport from now on.

He may have been extra peeved as he thought he had caught a Canadian driving a USA car into Canada, until I showed my USA passport. (autos in USA are a LOT cheaper than in Canada, can be imported, but need to fill out paperwork).

 

[jim584672]

I thought that you should enter into a country with that passport that shows you are a citizen. That way they know you are not subject to immigration control and require no visas.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Great post, I also regretted not applying for dual citizenship for my 2 kids and after checking it turns out they are automatically UK citizens.
The texts have been flying fast and furiously between the three of us this afternoon, I never thought they'd be that excited about it but they are ecstatic. My son already asked for the website so he could apply for his letter of proof of citizenship and wants to investigate the possibility of buying a rental property. We may be going to a family wedding in May if Covid lets up so now he's making plans to make it a business trip, he's always looking for tax deductions.
Now they'll have to learn to use words like "Tosser" and "Done a Runner" and watch Eastenders. Actually my daughter learned all these on Eastenders many years ago when it ran on PBS.
Thank again for your post.

 

[jim584672]

If they are already citizens just apply for the passports. No certificate needed. I had to have a citizenship ceremony at the Consulate, take an oath to Queen Elizabeth.

 

[travelover]

......... take an oath to Queen Elizabeth.

Better hurry, I've heard Camilla won't just let anybody in.

 

[justlikebike]

As long as you plan to stay in the US, I don't believe you will have any issues, and could help your kids get dual citizenship. If you spend too much time in Canada you have to be careful, the US is very particular about you filling out a us tax return no matter if you weren't in the US in the past year. Canada/US has an agreement where you won't double pay your taxes, but if you don't do both tax returns all bets are off.

 

[camfused]

@RetiredAndLovingIt, a w e s o m e !

 

[Sunset]

As long as you plan to stay in the US, I don't believe you will have any issues, and could help your kids get dual citizenship. If you spend too much time in Canada you have to be careful, the US is very particular about you filling out a us tax return no matter if you weren't in the US in the past year. Canada/US has an agreement where you won't double pay your taxes, but if you don't do both tax returns all bets are off.

If a person stays over 1/2 a year in Canada, they get to do the Canadian tax return.
While there is a treaty between the 2 countries, it won't protect a person from paying some extra taxes.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

A little of topic but I think that's great news about Camilla, she's stood by her man, kept her mouth shut and she makes Charles very happy, you can see that.

 

[savory]

OP, You are a Lost Canadian. As was I until a few years ago. You can thank Don Chapman for his long and consistent advocacy efforts. He is the guy who made it happen for you and me.

I have my citizenship card but I have yet to apply for a passport. I show my Canadian card when going into Canada. My US passport when returning to the States. Otherwise, until i elect to become a resident, nothing changed for me.

It is unfortunate my kids do not qualify but the government elected to bend so far. Google Don and Lost Canadian if you want to read his book and or the many newspaper stories. He may have been your pilot over the years on one of your commercial flights.

BTW, I added this edit, to let you know that the original Lost Canadian rule did not include the next generation. If you learn that to have changed, it would be great to know.

 

[Alan]

I thought that you should enter into a country with that passport that shows you are a citizen. That way they know you are not subject to immigration control and require no visas.

So did I until I checked but Canada and the USA have a different arrangement.

With some countries like the USA and Australia it is a legal requirement to enter the country if you are a citizen of that country.

In 2006 Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, was traveling on holiday with his family to Mexico when he was denied boarding at Heathrow because the ticketing agent noticed on his passport that he was born in NYC. ( His father was a diplomat and Boris lived there for a short while after being born). Because he didn’t have a US passport and the flight to Mexico City changed planes in Houston he was not allowed to board. His wife and children went without him while he paid “a tonking load of money” to get a different flight that bypassed the USA. He has since given up his US citizenship although it cost him a load of money in back taxes.

https://www.boris-johnson.com/2006/08/29/american-passport/

 

[savory]

So did I until I checked but Canada and the USA have a different arrangement.

With some countries like the USA and Australia it is a legal requirement to enter the country if you are a citizen of that country.

In 2006 Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, was traveling on holiday with his family to Mexico when he was denied boarding at Heathrow because the ticketing agent noticed on his passport that he was born in NYC. ( His father was a diplomat and Boris lived there for a short while after being born). Because he didn’t have a US passport and the flight to Mexico City changed planes in Houston he was not allowed to board. His wife and children went without him while he paid “a tonking load of money” to get a different flight that bypassed the USA. He has since given up his US citizenship although it cost him a load of money in back taxes.

https://www.boris-johnson.com/2006/08/29/american-passport/

It has been several years since I reviewed the process but when I applied and received my Canadian citizenship, the people who guided me in the process said for entering Canada I should demonstrate my Canadian citizenship. That has been my most frequent approach. I have used my USA passport when I forgot my citizenship card without problem. So perhaps both work or no one really cares at the Canadian border.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Until Climate change reverses the Canadian extreme (for us) weather, we will not be returning residents. Now I have Medicare there is no reason.

 

[anethum]

Better hurry, I've heard Camilla won't just let anybody in.

This is even more off-topic but it's pretty funny. Way back in 1996 (before Diana's death), Ben & Jerry's had a contest in the UK for a new flavor name. Some of the losing entries were hilarious, and every time I see Camilla Parker-Bowles' name, I think of one of the entries.

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1996/07/04/ben-jerry-s-name-game-gives-brits-fits/

"If Britain were an ice cream, what flavor would it be?

Jack the Ripple? Charles and Diana Split?

Those names were floated in a contest run by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. to create the quintessential British ice cream flavor, along the lines of its American Cherry Garcia. The new flavor will be introduced in Britain today and later sold on the other side of the Atlantic.

The entries offer a glimpse inside Britain's collective mind. Among the 7,500 losing flavors were Cream Victoria, Queen Yum Mum and Vanilla Parker-Bowles"

"From rock-music fans came John Lemon and Ruby Chewsday. Literary references included Grape Expectations and Agatha Crispie. Nessie's Nectar and Choc Ness Monster were nods to the mysterious Scottish beast. Other finalists included Minty Python, Cashew Grant, James Bomb and Stiff Upper Flip."