How to maintain citizenship

[aussiegem]

Hello everyone, although this is my first post I have been visiting your very helpful website for over a year now. I am unable to really find a direct answer for my situation so I am hoping that someone here can help me out or point me in the right direction.

I was born in Australia but my parents are Canadian and established my citizenship within Canada at an early age. I also understand that I am automatically Canadian by parental nationalization. So I have been a canadian citizen living in canada for the majority of my life.

However about 5 years ago I met an american man and through the course of things we have fallen in love and gotten married. I am currently living in the united states. We have almost completed the immigration work for my US adjustment of status to permanent residency and within a few months I should be eligible to work here in the US.

That being said, I would like to know what steps I can take to maintain my Canadian residency. My family are all in Canada. I have multiple Cdn bank accounts that I maintain. It wasnt until just this year that I did not complete my canadian tax forms since there was nothing to declare. (I am currently unemployed in both countries).

I would like to have the option in the future to move back to Canada to live and of course when finances permit, I plan on visiting my parents in Canada, as frequently as I can.

I would truly appreciate any suggestions or pointers on how I can maintain both citizenships for both countries. Do I need to do anything in particular with my Canadian citizenship or do I automatically remain a canadian citizen regardless of location.

I realize this is a somewhat long post but this has been a pressing question for me that i just cant quite find an answer to. Thank you in advance for any help you folks can offer.

[agnelson]

You have no need to "maintain" anything in canada. You are permanently a Cdn citizen, and can return there anytime you wish now or in the future. Nothing you do with regard to any other citizenship or residency status will affect this.

Once you left Canada for US, you should have simply filed a departure return, as shown in the CRA Emigrants guide. This ends Cdn taxation on any non-Cdn income sources. If this was prior to 2009, you should do this now, backfiling for whatever year it was. If it was in 2009, you should do this in the spring of 2010.

In about 3 years you can pick up your third citizenship.

[aussiegem]

Thanks alot for your quick response! Id like to state that, I entered the US under a visitor visa status with the intent of a short visit at the time. So there was no departure return form to complete.

Now that the situation has changed, I apparently need to notify canada of my adjustment of status here in the US. Do you suggest that I simply contact immigration canada via phone? I just dont want to get misinformed or sidetracked by them since in the past their customer service people have been less than knowledgeable.

My canadian accountant was the one who suggestion I need not do anything with my taxes since there was nothing to file. Also, I assume I am no longer eligible for provincial health care either? I think I read somewhere that I need to be in Canada for 6 or 8 months out of year to maintain my health care assistance. Are you able to comment on this?

Thanks again for helping me answer these questions!

[agnelson]

The departure form I'm talking about is for taxation not exit control.

You do NOT contact immigration canada for any reason. You are a citizen. Period. No wonder they didn't know what you were talking about before.

What you do need to do is become a non-resident for tax purposes, which is done by following the Emigrants Guide from CRA, which you can find on the CRA website:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/t4056/t4056-08e.pdf

If you have no income and no existing investments, then you don't have to file a return, but it is good practice. I suspect that your Cdn tax accountant is not very well versed on cross-border issues.

Your Healthcare has lapsed. And you should not be collecting any GST rebates either. What date did you leave canada?

[Reba]

Once a Canadian, always a Canadian. You don't lose citizenship just by moving to the US.

You really should file an exit return with the CRA, if not for this tax year, at least for next tax year. As a resident of the US, you don't want to become liable for any back taxes that Revenue Canada may dream up that you owe them just for having active bank accounts in the country or something.

Once your adjustment of status is completed in the US and you have your PR card, you can come and go from Canada freely. If you plan to fly, you need to keep your Canadian passport current. Which is easy enough to do from the US.