# Canadian digital nomad, should I get a green card?



## gerardc (Feb 19, 2016)

Canadian citizen, now employee in the US as H-1B, I could get a green card through my employer with E-B1 (process already started actually).

In 1-2 years, I plan to quit and travel the world for a few months for fun, then keep travelling while doing some (remote) IT consulting. Probably staying 1-6 months at each location.

I can do all this as a Canadian and don't need a GC. However:

Pros of green card:
- Allows me to stay more than 6 consecutive months in the US (which I might want to do if I ever get tired of moving all the time)
- Sign a lease, keep my car
- Easier path to work in the US in the future (easier than requesting H-1B transfer/extension)

Cons:
- Need to get back to the US every 6 months for a non-trivial amount of time, or get re-entry permit. However since I'd have no ties elsewhere, I'd still be a legit LPR (not like I'm living in another country for 2 years and trying to hold on to my GC)

So, I know the rules well, and it probably boils down to what I want. But I'm confused. So, what would you do in my situation?

Note: I'm aware of the tax implications. Since I want to work less, shooting for low income <$20-30k/year, my taxes should be negligible and they're not playing much in the decision. I have huge investment savings.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

What makes yiu say you know the rules well?


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

I think you meant the EB-1, a permanent resident visa.



gerardc said:


> Pros of green card:
> - Allows me to stay more than 6 consecutive months in the US (which I might want to do if I ever get tired of moving all the time)


It's at least a bit stronger than that. A U.S. green card means you have a legally recognized right to enter the United States. It's not an absolutely ironclad right, as with U.S. citizenship, but foreign visitors (including Canadians) have no legal right of entry.



> - Sign a lease, keep my car


True, but you can drive your car from Canada across the border and visit the United States with your car.

Here are some more potential or actual benefits:

1. A green card provides a path to U.S. citizenship if that ever interests you.

2. A green card is quite helpful if you want to have a long-term relationship with someone south of the border. In particular, if you wish you can live together indefinitely without getting married.

3. There are some potential U.S. tax advantages when you have U.S. source income.

4. You're treated slightly better at the U.S. border (faster line) even without enrollment in a trusted traveler program, although that's not really a big deal since it's easy enough to sign up for NEXUS if you want to breeze through U.S. Immigration and Customs.



> Cons:
> - Need to get back to the US every 6 months for a non-trivial amount of time, or get re-entry permit.


Only if you want to maintain your permanent residency, but you're not _required_ to do so. You can file an I-131 ahead of time and, once approved, spend up to 24 months physically outside the United States without jeopardizing your green card. Note that checking out of the U.S. tax system is a separate matter.



> Note: I'm aware of the tax implications. Since I want to work less, shooting for low income <$20-30k/year, my taxes should be negligible and they're not playing much in the decision. I have huge investment savings.


On balance the U.S. tends to have lower tax rates than Canada, so conceivably you could "check out" of the Canadian system and even move assets into the United States and do a bit better in tax terms. But you might have to pay more for medical care, less for gasoline.... Taxes are only one factor, let's just stipulate.

If your assets are non-U.S. then U.S. tax and financial reporting can get a bit complicated, especially if you trigger PFIC and/or foreign trust rules. "Complicated" doesn't necessarily mean "bad" in terms of tax liability. Some Canadian tax-advantaged savings vehicles are not U.S. tax-advantaged, for example TFSAs. Others are treated pretty well, for example RRSPs. That said, if you're a U.S. H-1B (i.e. U.S. resident) you're probably already familiar with this stuff or at least largely familiar, so these bridges are probably already well crossed.

If you hold U.S. residency long enough then you could fall under the U.S. Expatriation Tax rules if/when you ever decide to terminate your U.S. residence. That's an "exit tax." You hit that point when you clock at least eight years of U.S. residence including your H-1B time, if I understand it correctly. It's counted in terms of status time, not physical presence. If your total global net worth is under US$2 million, there's not even the chance of any Expatriation Tax owed. If it's over you need something north of ~$690,000 of hypothetical ("paper") gains on your assets to be subject to any exit tax.

You're probably already familiar with the new 2014 onward U.S. medical insurance provisions ("Obamacare" and so forth). You're in a good spot there if you're going to be earning $20-30K because you should qualify for good subsidies (advance tax credits) to purchase a Healthcare.gov insurance policy, even a "silver" policy, if you're not getting employer-provided insurance. The subsidies are calculated based on income, not on wealth, so that should work quite well for you. Yes, all legal residents are eligible for these subsidies.

If you can clock 40 U.S. Social Security credits -- and you're on your way with your H-1B stint -- then you'll qualify for free U.S. Medicare Part A, available when you're age 65. Roughly $6K or better of Social Security earnings in any 10 calendar years will get that job done. Even if you end up retiring in Canada it's still a little bit of nice future coverage for your Florida vacations, let's say. (Medicare Part A isn't everything by any means, but it isn't nothing.) A green card makes it easier to get qualified for U.S. Medicare.

Green card holders have some rights to sponsor foreigners for immigration into the United States. The foreigners you can sponsor are your legal spouse (same or opposite sex) and your unmarried children of any age. So, for example, if you fall in love with somebody who isn't a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and you marry, you can get that spouse into the United States on a CR-1 visa. And you should have no trouble meeting the financial test, at least based on your assets, in order to be a qualified sponsor.

OK, I'll stop there. Those are some of the many considerations. Hope that helps.


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## gerardc (Feb 19, 2016)

twostep said:


> What makes yiu say you know the rules well?


I researched most aspects relevant to my situation. Examples:

- I could get cheap health insurance ($240/year for silver plan or even ~0 for high-deductible) through Obamacare with low income. If resident of a state that doesn't implement Medicare extension for single non-parents (e.g. FL), I'd be careful to get (or plan to get) at least the minimum poverty level (~$11k/year) which I could easily do by rolling over some pre-tax traditional IRA money to Roth in the worst case.
- If I'm non-resident, Vanguard would freeze my account (everything but automatic dividend re-investment and sales, no rebalancing, no rolling over to Roth, etc.) which is fine but a slight inconvenient.



BBCWatcher said:


> ...


Yup. Whenever I think about this, I end up stressing over some cross-border tax code technicality (e.g. treatment of US-based dividends tax for both US/Can as a hypothetical resident of US/Can) that realistically wouldn't amount to much money, but I'm trying to think at a higher-level and see the big picture. Truth is, both arrangements would work well. Canada has a good health care system too, and lower cost of living (specifically, Montreal vs Florida) so it might make sense to establish my home (and tax) base there.

Ultimately, I'll probably get the GC since it's basically free for me now, I might not get this opportunity easily later, and I can always relinquish it. The question is more if I should keep jumping through USCIS hoops to maintain it (e.g. via a re-entry permit) if the benefits are not that high. I kinda miss Canada too. But then again, I probably will strive to maintain it.

Also: I don't care about citizenship and probably won't get married.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

I am not talking about medical I surance. That is BBCwatchers domain.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

gerardc said:


> I don't care about citizenship and probably won't get married.


Just to be clear, not getting married argues _in favor_ of getting a green card. A green card means you can live with a romantic interest south of the border for as long as you want without getting married.

If you will actually be living a life of solitude at least while visiting the U.S., with no relationships longer than a couple months, say, then a green card has no effect.

Or, with a green card, you can bring a foreign spouse into the United States.

To net it out, a green card can be romantically helpful in certain respects.


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## gerardc (Feb 19, 2016)

BBCWatcher said:


> To net it out, a green card can be romantically helpful in certain respects.


Ha, good point. I didn't think of that!


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