# Dual Permanent Residency USA/Australia



## Happy4 (Oct 3, 2011)

Hello Everyone,

My family of four are in the crossroads right now and we humbly need advise. We are so glad to have found this wonderful online community of generous and helpful people and we know we can get help from you guys and gals. I'm not sure if this has been asked before in this community but we have searched for a while now and haven't really found the right answers to our questions.

Our situation is this:
- Currently in the USA working on EAD (been in the US for 8 years), our I485 app process pending and may have to wait probably 2-3 years before we get our US green cards in the mail accdg to our lawyer.
- We have family in Australia and decided to move there to get reunited. Very recently applied for Australian PR 176 visa through SA sponsorship and still awaiting result/response. 
- We want to keep our US Permanent Residency because we have a growing business in the US that we need to keep and at same time expand the business in Australia as well.
- Our long term goal is Dual USA/Australian Citizenship.

Our questions:

1. When granted AUS Permanent Residency, would we still be able to continue our US Permanent Residency processing ?

2. And if it is possible to keep both PR visas, what would be the best way to keep both visas active (with our goal of dual citizenship in mind) in terms of:
- Length of stay: Which country should we stay the most in a year? How do
we keep/maintain an ADDRESS in the country where our 
stay is shorter?
- Tax return: Which country should we file income tax returns? Should we file 
for both?
- Any other parameters that we should consider in addition to above ?

Any answer/advise/reaction to above questions is very very welcome


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## RakeshPatel (Aug 18, 2011)

Hi ,

for Aus citizenship you need to stay 4 years from last 5 years.

well. as far as i have knowledge you can keep both PR.
but after 5 years if you didn't got citizenship you need to renew it.

my bro has two citizenships AUS & india.
read more here.

Australian Citizenship – Applying for citizenship

Skilled – Sponsored (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 176)

Thanks
RakeshPatel



Happy4 said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> My family of four are in the crossroads right now and we humbly need advise. We are so glad to have found this wonderful online community of generous and helpful people and we know we can get help from you guys and gals. I'm not sure if this has been asked before in this community but we have searched for a while now and haven't really found the right answers to our questions.
> 
> ...


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## Happy4 (Oct 3, 2011)

Rakesh, thanks a lot for the info. We truly appreciate it.


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## _Sarah_ (Jun 27, 2011)

Happy4 said:


> Rakesh, thanks a lot for the info. We truly appreciate it.


But are you allowed to have triple-citizenship? Your home country+US+Australia?


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## Happy4 (Oct 3, 2011)

Hi Sarah,

I never thought of that. I know my country allows dual citizenship with either USA or Australia. But im not sure about "triple"


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## _Sarah_ (Jun 27, 2011)

Happy4 said:


> Hi Sarah,
> 
> I never thought of that. I know my country allows dual citizenship with either USA or Australia. But im not sure about "triple"


Me neither


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## armandra (Nov 27, 2009)

_Sarah_ said:


> But are you allowed to have triple-citizenship? Your home country+US+Australia?


It's not actually about dual citizenship, as such. If a country allows you to hold citizenship of another country, it means they wouldn't be concerned with you holding one, two or three other citizenships as such. 

I know people who even hold four citizenships (sounds crazy, I know) 


armandra!


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## Andrew James (Nov 6, 2010)

Happy4 said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> My family of four are in the crossroads right now and we humbly need advise. We are so glad to have found this wonderful online community of generous and helpful people and we know we can get help from you guys and gals. I'm not sure if this has been asked before in this community but we have searched for a while now and haven't really found the right answers to our questions.
> 
> ...


Hi,

Having seen people in your situation before, you truly need qualified immigration and tax advice. Do not follow what you are told on a forum, take it as a guide but then get it ratified by a professional.

In answer to your tax question, you will file in both and you will have horrific tax returns as your situation is really messy. You have both double taxation issues at a personal level and you have controlled foreign corporation issues which have draconian penalties attached. Please seek help.

Cheers,

Andrew


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## amp09 (Aug 4, 2011)

I am pretty much in the same boat as you are except i already have a US Green card. After reading your post, here are some concerns:

1. You said you will get the US green card after 2-3 years and you have already applied for Australian PR.

You have to live in US 5 years after your Green Card to become a citizen. If you obtain PR in australia and live 6 months in US and 6 months in Australia. At port of entry in US they will really start questioning you and there is a chance the green card gets taken away if you take residency in other country. 

Consult a lawyer and let me know also. My whole family lives in Australia and i am in process of putting my PR through SA sponsorship also. I dont want to loose green card either but don't want to wait either until i become a citizen.

-----------------------------------

Also, i am putting my application for skill assessment whey they say need certified copies of passport and resume etc. Do i just make the copies and get them notarized?




Happy4 said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> My family of four are in the crossroads right now and we humbly need advise. We are so glad to have found this wonderful online community of generous and helpful people and we know we can get help from you guys and gals. I'm not sure if this has been asked before in this community but we have searched for a while now and haven't really found the right answers to our questions.
> 
> ...


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

amp09 said:


> I am pretty much in the same boat as you are except i already have a US Green card. After reading your post, here are some concerns:
> 
> 1. You said you will get the US green card after 2-3 years and you have already applied for Australian PR.
> 
> You have to live in US 5 years after your Green Card to become a citizen. If you obtain PR in australia and live 6 months in US and 6 months in Australia. At port of entry in US they will really start questioning you and there is a chance the green card gets taken away if you take residency in other country.



The answer is already on the govt's website: 

*Maintaining Permanent Residence*

You may lose your permanent resident status (green card) if you commit an act that makes you removable from the United States under the law, as described in Section 237 or 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) . If you commit such an act, you may be brought before an immigration court to determine your right to remain a permanent resident.

Abandoning Permanent Resident Status

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:

-Move to another country intending to live there permanently

-Remain outside of the United States for more than 1 year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However, in determining whether your status has been abandoned, any length of absence from the United States may be considered, even if less than 1 year

-Remain outside of the United States for more than 2 years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However, in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the United States may be considered, even if less than 1 year

-Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the United States for any period

-Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your tax returns

USCIS - Maintaining Permanent Residence


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## Happy4 (Oct 3, 2011)

Thanks Andrew. I will definitely seek pro advise. We are searching for some people here in this community that have similar situations. I'm glad that we are starting to see posts/replies from some that's on the same boat. 

Keep it coming guy/gals. We're sure there are others who are also on the same boat and several others will be soon. We are seeing an "immigration trend".....the birth of an "Australian Dream" kinda like the 'ol American Dream


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## Happy4 (Oct 3, 2011)

Hi amp09,

We are so glad to hear from you, who has same situation and especially SA. I will definitely post whatever lawyers's advises we may get back to this thread.

About the certified copies for assessment, we just made copies and went to a UPS Store. The attendant apparently was licensed to make certified copies of original. She had a seal/stamp and wrote her license number. She charged us $2 each copy. I hope that helps.


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## Happy4 (Oct 3, 2011)

Hi stormgal,

Thank you so much for the great info. We were hoping/wishing that there's some sort of legal "workaround" to achieve our goal of dual citizenship. 

Do you know the immigration policies in the OZ side of the situation. Can we "enter" Australia and say stay for a month each year and stay in the US the rest of the year?

Thanks again..


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## _Sarah_ (Jun 27, 2011)

Happy4 said:


> Hi stormgal,
> 
> Thank you so much for the great info. We were hoping/wishing that there's some sort of legal "workaround" to achieve our goal of dual citizenship.
> 
> ...


It's a bit complicated. You will loose your Permanent residency status in Australia if you spend too much time away, because when your PR expires, you will not be able to re-new it unless you've spent enough time here:
http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/res...ttp://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/residents/155/

In order to gain citizenship you need:
_- 4 years lawful residence in Australia. This period must include 12 months as a permanent resident immediately before making an application for Australian citizenship
and
- absences from Australia of no more than 12 months in total in the 4 years prior to application, including not more than 90 days in the 12 months immediately prior to application._


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## amp09 (Aug 4, 2011)

awesome thank you for your reply.



Happy4 said:


> Hi amp09,
> 
> We are so glad to hear from you, who has same situation and especially SA. I will definitely post whatever lawyers's advises we may get back to this thread.
> 
> About the certified copies for assessment, we just made copies and went to a UPS Store. The attendant apparently was licensed to make certified copies of original. She had a seal/stamp and wrote her license number. She charged us $2 each copy. I hope that helps.


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

Yes, you are. I have 3 at the moment. Essentially you can have any number of citizenships as long as each countries nationality law allows for dual citizenship.

Australia: no restriction on dual citizenship
USA: allowed but discouraged (but legally allowed without a problem)
Home country: check the nationality law of that country.



_Sarah_ said:


> But are you allowed to have triple-citizenship? Your home country+US+Australia?


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

Note you need to get a new RRV (Resident Return Visa) at year 5, and you need to normally spend 2 out of the 5 years in AU to get that. So 1 month in AU per year is insufficient. Try 6 months at a time per year and its workable. But then you need more years before you have enough AU time to apply for AU Citizenship.

Realisitically to achieve US and AU Citizenship it'll take a decade just so you have enough residence time in each country.

Also the US is more finicky about how much time you spend inside there. As they expect you to be resident inside the US for most of the year to be considered PRs.

AU is not so picky as long as it's PR, but around year 5 when its time to get the RRV they will examine the time periods and hopefully you've built up enough time in AU to be eligible for another 5 yr RRV.

Another way to handle this situation.

Get US LPR
Spend 4 yrs in US
Get AU PR
Make a single visit in the first few months to validate your visa and kick off the 5 yr RRV.
Go back to USA, live there long enough to get US Citizenship (i.e. 1 yr to 2 yrs more)
Return to AU, still within the first RRV period. Live in AU onwards making only short trips outside of AU and reside long enough to achieve AU Citizenship.

Once you have achieved both Citizenships then you are no longer bound by visas and may come and go as you please.




Happy4 said:


> Hi stormgal,
> 
> Thank you so much for the great info. We were hoping/wishing that there's some sort of legal "workaround" to achieve our goal of dual citizenship.
> 
> ...


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## Happy4 (Oct 3, 2011)

amaslam said:


> Note you need to get a new RRV (Resident Return Visa) at year 5, and you need to normally spend 2 out of the 5 years in AU to get that. So 1 month in AU per year is insufficient. Try 6 months at a time per year and its workable. But then you need more years before you have enough AU time to apply for AU Citizenship.
> 
> Realisitically to achieve US and AU Citizenship it'll take a decade just so you have enough residence time in each country.
> 
> ...


Hi amaslam,

Wow! Thank you so much for this nice idea.


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