Green Card Vs Citizenship | How to get Green Card in 2020

Benefits and downside of green cards and citizenship.

A green card, also known as permanent residency, allows someone to live and work in the US permanently, but you keep your home country citizenship and passport. In order to become a US citizen, you first need to have a green card for at least three or five years, three years if you got your green card through a US citizen spouse and five years or if you got a green card in any other way, such as employment. So you cannot jump to citizenship without having a green card first.

Green Card Vs Citizenship | How to get Green Card in 2020

why would someone give up their green card and pay $725 to become a US citizen when they can already live and work here permanently?

What does US citizenship get you?

1. Well, for starters, you have to renew your green card every 10 years, which costs $540. Once you become a US citizen, you are done with the USCIS, no more paperwork ever.

2. You can lose your green card and be placed into removal proceedings if you commit certain crimes. This is a tricky area. Some crimes are treated differently under immigration law than criminal law and what might seem like a minor brush up with the law can have serious immigration consequences. US citizens cannot be removed unless they committed fraud to get their green card or citizenship, such as not disclosing deportation orders to the immigration officer or lying about their identity, in which case you can get denaturalized. This is very rare and not something most people have to worry about.

3. Another huge benefit of US citizenship is the US passport. It is one of the most powerful passports in the world and allows visa free travel to many, many countries. If you're from a country like Canada or Singapore, that's not all that attractive as those passports are pretty powerful, but for most of the world, the US passport is something to be coveted.

4. Next, the right to vote. US citizenship allows you to vote and even run for office. But sorry folks, you can't run for president. For that, you have to be born in the US. US citizens can live abroad for as long as they want without worrying about abandoning their green card. With a green card, you have to spend at least six months out of every year in the US to maintain your status. There are ways to leave the country for several years with a green card, however you have to fill out paperwork and meet certain requirements to do so.

5. One of the biggest advantages of US citizenship is the ability to sponsor family members. As a US citizen, you can sponsor your spouse, your parents, and your unmarried children under the age of 21 as immediate relatives. Immediate relative means that there is no wait for a visa number and that an immigrant visa is always available for these categories should you choose to apply. You can also petition married children and children over the age of 21, but as preference relatives. 

Preference relatives means that there are a limited number of immigrant visas available every year and since most years there are more applications than visas, there ends up being a wait list and the wait is much longer.

Green card holders cannot sponsor their parents, but they can sponsor their spouse and unmarried children of any age. But as preference relatives. Again, like I said, preference relatives implies there are a limited number of immigrant visas available every year, so green card holders typically have to wait a much longer time when they sponsor their relatives.

6. Lastly, US citizenship gives access to certain federal jobs and benefits that are not available to anyone but citizens.

Which one of these benefits is most appealing to you?
Let me know in the comments.

So we've mentioned about all these great benefits of US citizenship, but here are three things to consider before you go from green card to citizenship:

1. Dual citizenship:

Does your home country allow dual citizenship? Not every country does. For example, before I became a US citizen, I was a citizen of India. India does not allow dual citizenship. So when I became a US citizen, I had to formally renounce my Indian citizenship. So that is something to ask yourself, does my country allow dual citizenship? And if it doesn't, is this something I want to do?

2. Have you ever been arrested even if you weren't convicted?

As I mentioned earlier, there are certain crimes that are treated differently under immigration law than criminal law, so if you've ever had any arrests in your past, no matter how small, talk to an immigration attorney before you apply for naturalization. You do not want to put yourself at risk for deportation without checking on this first.

3. Do you plan on living in the US forever?

If the answer is no, there are two things you need to consider. When you become a green card holder, you become a US tax resident. US tax residents are taxed on their worldwide income. Typically, green card holders and US citizens are taxed in the same way. However, green card holders may have more opportunity to use foreign tax credits to minimize their liability. However, this is very individual specific and best discussed with an accountant.

The second thing to consider is the exit tax. If you ever decide to give up your green card and US citizenship because you no longer want to live in the US, you need to think about the exit tax. The exit tax applies to US citizens and long-term permanent residents. By long-term permanent residents, I mean anyone that has had a green card for eight years out of the last 15. If you even had a green card for one day in that year, that year counts. If you're thinking about US citizenship, do it now.

5 Steps to Naturalization: Click Here
Interview Question of USA Visa or EDV:  Click here