Canadian Passport -US GreenCard

Hi,

I became US Green Card holder along my wife and two kids-last year in September. I visited US in December 2007 for the first time as a US Immigrant for the first time. I stayed there for short time and returned to Canada. After that visit I went to US 2-3 times every time by showing my Canadian Passport. They never asked me to show my US Green Card.

I am not planning to move to US in near future-however I don't want to loose my Green Card. Can anyone please show me the way?

You can't keep it if you don't plan on staying. For one thing a claim of permanent residency under the tax treaty means exactly that - you permanently reside in the US. Which means you must file a US tax return every year as a resident. If you carry on living in Canada you will be subject to dual taxation.

You should have filed a 1040 for 2007, in fact you should have filed dual-status, meaning a 1040NR for the part of 2007 you weren't there.

If you don't file tax returns it puts your PR status in jeopardy.

The only way around it would be to file a 1040 in the US and file a non-resident T1 in Canada, however this is impossible if you don't sever residential ties to Canada as the CRA won't believe you.

To maintain your PR status if you are outside the US you have to file USCIS Form N-470, but this can only be done in limited situations (e.g. you work for the US Govt.), from the sounds of it you wouldn't qualify.

Hi,

I can still apply for re-entry permit to stay away from US for up to two years. Can't I?

here's the USCIS webpage with info on what your obligations are now as US green card holders.

A re-entry permit doesn't help because your problem is that you have not established a principal residence in the US. Without severing ties to Canada there's no way of avoiding dual taxation. You cannot permanently reside in both countries simultaneously.

If your family was in the US, you had a house there and perhaps you just visited Canada to work but could demonstrate you were non-resident (i.e. US driver's licence etc.) then you could do it that way.

This is my first post here so hopefully this is the right place. My wife is a US/Canadian citizen. I am a Canadian but have had my Greencard for 16months. As yet we have not moved (back the US in my wifes case) or to the US in my case because of the current economic climate, ie no jobs in my field. We are planning on going but until a job comes up I am not going to quit my current one.
I have travelled to the US on 4 occasions since last March and on 2 of those occasions I have got grilled at the border.The last trip this weekend was quite intimidating and makes one feel like a criminal.The border agent asked me "WHY" I have a green card, and I had to explain to him that my wife is American and wants to return, however until I can get a job Im not moving and adding to the huge problem down there. On 1 occasion when I went down the agent at the airport said I need an I 151 exit visa, but I found out I have to be in the US to file it.
Im getting paranoid now about going down there on vacation for fear of the border guards pulling my green card that was a lot of hassle and expense to get. Meanwhile I have a friend who with his whole family has green cards for the last 20 years , has no intention of moving there yet never gets asked for it at the border.Anyone have any ideas as to what I should do would be much appreciated

It will get pulled, because you cannot spend more than a year outside the US as an LPR. What you should have got is a commuter green card, not sure if you can convert it back from a regular LPR status now, sounds like it's too late. In addition you have to file taxes as a US resident as an LPR, which you aren't, which also makes your case for keeping it harder. On a commuter green card you don't need to do that.

I appreciate the info Steven. As yet I still haven't been back to the US since March, but I still cant figure out how this colleague of mine who has had a green card for over 20 years (renewed 9/11 2001) comes and goes with his family without getting any hassle?
If I do choose to go over again with my American wife and I lose the green card should it be a big deal to get it back again.
We are planning on moving to Florida or California after I retire in a couple of years.
What about getting a Nexus card? Would US customs take away my green card at the interview and who does the interview if you are currently residing in Canada? US or Canada customs?
Had I known about this mess I would have delayed applying for the green card in the first place.

NEXUS card won't help you, at the interview they will ask what your legal status is in Canada and the US (in fact it asks on the application form) and add that in to the NEXUS database, they will actually want to see your LPR card and add that date in and you have to notify the NEXUS office every time you renew it. NEXUS is a replacement for a passport, it confers no other benefits at all.

Can't comment on your colleague, I assume he claims to be resident in the US, pays taxes and has an address there. From what you've said though he doesn't mention his LPR status, just goes in as a visitor which is misrepresentation and illegal, I'm surprised CBP hasn't picked up on it yet frankly.

However generally speaking the rule is that if you spend more than a year outside the US, you lose your LPR status. I've actually sat in secondary inspection at Sweetgrass and watched CBP seize the LPR cards of a Chinese couple who had spent several years in Canada.

If you lose it, it will be a hassle to get it again. USCIS really don't like applications to sponsor people again, you can file I-407 and surrender it then re-apply later on I suppose, but talk to USCIS before you do it.