# Should I apply for us citizenship?



## charlesig (Feb 15, 2014)

Hello,

I know this is a personal decision, but we have some doubts. I would appreciate any advice.

In two months my wife and I can apply for citizenship after 5 years with green card. Our plan is to apply for us nationality and then go back to our country, Spain, and stay there the rest of our life.

We think it would be better to have double nationality so will have USA doors opened. Who knows if for whatever reason we decide to go back to USA.

I have been reading that there are more and more Americans renouncing to their nationality due to taxation. Is this so painful? Has anybody had any experience about it? 

Is having double nationality going to be a headache more than having the freedom to live wherever you want?

Thanks for any advice,

Charles


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

This thing about taking US nationality just before returning to your home country is that you will be signing up to filing US taxes for the rest of your life, no matter where you live. Depending on your financial circumstances, this can be a royal PITA, or not.

You will also have to report all "foreign" (i.e. non US) accounts each year - again, no matter where you live. 

The real issue seems to come with retirement accounts or "tax free" savings accounts outside the US. The US does not recognize retirement savings accounts established outside the US, even if they function almost identically to the US IRA or 401K accounts - and thus you may wind up incurring US taxes on earnings. There are also issues with foreign trusts and other types of investments or government benefits, which may cost you US taxes if not taxed (or tax advantaged) in the country in which you are living.
Cheers,
Bev


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## maz57 (Apr 17, 2012)

@charlesig. If the idea of filing tax returns to a foreign government for the rest of your life and having a foreign government telling you what investments you can and can't make sounds good to you, then go for it, become US citizens. The US tax code interacts badly with the tax code of most other countries. A US tax return filed from "abroad" (i.e. your home in Spain) will be very much more complicated than the US returns you are filing now as US residents. Depending on how complicated your financial affairs are, you may need to pay for professional help. Such help may be hard to find in Spain and will be expensive.

Also, prepare yourself for the fact that the US government will assume that you are criminals. After all, what other reason would you have for leaving the best country in the world, right? You will have to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to submit annual "foreign" bank account reports, even for the savings and checking accounts at the bank down the street where you live. Your Spanish filed 1040 will necessarily include the notorious FATCA Form 8938, an annual inventory of all your "foreign" financial assets.

So, in order to preserve the right of return you are contemplating taking on a lifetime of onerous filing and reporting obligations even if you don't actually owe US taxes. Note, however, that if you keep your green cards for a few more years, it becomes a moot point. You will be in the US system for good anyway. (I think its 8 years.) If you decide to return to Spain sooner than that, you must file a I-407 to officially give up your green card to avoid becoming a permanent US tax payer.

In the end, only you can make the decision.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

On the plus side, Spain has crushing unemployment and the U.S. doesn't (or at least much less crushing), which also can be highly relevant to children. Spain has a comparatively high tax rate compared to the U.S. The two countries have a tax treaty with one another. The U.S. also offers its citizens preferential tax rates and unfettered access to its excellent, low cost savings and investment products. In certain professional fields the U.S. offers the world's highest earning potential, including entertainment, Internet-related businesses, and medicine, among others. And the Grand Canyon (for example) ain't bad.

Yes, there are U.S. tax filings, but that might be the only negative. And those filings are presumably already familiar.

There are many pros and a few cons, in short. Everybody values them differently.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

One other inconvenience of taking US nationality are the various laws that the US insists on enforcing on all its citizens. Besides taxation, there are the travel restrictions. Admittedly these have been much reduced in the last 20 years or so, but if you have an interest in visiting, say, Cuba, you are technically not allowed to do so (except under fairly restrictive circumstances) if you are a US citizen. (Normally, you just go on your "other" passport - but technically even that is a violation of the law.)

There are a couple other laws like this - mostly related to business stuff IIRC.
Cheers,
Bev


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