Moving back to Canada - after 14 years

Hello All!

Thank goodness I found this site. I am pondering the idea of moving back to Canada after 14 year in the US. To put things into perspective, I have spend my entire adult life in the US having left Canada at 14 (28 now). Most of my family remain there, and I have friends that I visit several times a year. I just feel like it's time to move back. (I have dual citizenship).

Luckily, I work for a global company and think transferring will be easy enough. However, having left so long ago I have some questions:

how do I start getting credit?
how do I reinstate residency?
I have a leased car - can I bring it with me?

I have done some due diligence and understand that my health coverage will take a while to reinstate. I also have the drivers license covered. Luckily, my mom has a huge house so I can live there while I re-acclimate.

Issue #2:

My boyfriend would come with me. If so, we'd get married (had planned to anyway). He also works for a large company and could get an assignment in Canada.

But - would it be better for me to sponsor him, before the transfer? And how long do I have be a resident again before I can do all this? Or, is it better for him to get the work Visa and then have me sponsor him?

Any input would be helpful.

Thanks! Kate

PS - I would plan to make the move official around New Years.

For information on spousal sponsorship to Canada see http://roadtocanada.com/ Which ever type of visa you choose depends on your situation. If he can get a transfer with work, they could sponsor him even for a NAFTA type visa if he qualifies. Or you can sponsor him, you have no requirements to move back to Canada to establish residency first. Just send in the sponsorship forms and immigration application, wait a few months, and you're good to go. In a nutshell.

If you have an American Express credit or charge card, you can switch that to a Canadian dollar AMEX card. To reinstate residency, you just move back. You're a citizen, there's not really much to do other than go to the provincial health administration to reapply for your health card.

As for your leased car, you would have to speak with the company you have the lease with. It probably will not be cost effective to take it with you, as you'd have to have it modified for Canadian market, like dash board guages and day time running lights.

The tax issue is important here because you're both US citizens. Under US law, citizens must file 1040s forever. That is just annoying, however the US foreign tax credit is only $80,000 and something, so anything you earn over that limit can be subject to dual taxation in the US and Canada. If that presents a problem for you, it is likely to be repealed I reckon in the next two or three years, so you may want to take that into account when making your plans.

You can sponsor your spouse for entry and permanent residency, it's relatively straightforward, have a look at the CIC website. Probably simpler to get married in the US first from an application standpoint.

Simplest way to establish credit is via a secured credit card (i.e. a bank account with the bank that issues the card), however as Reba pointed out, if you have certain types of credit in the US you can transfer them to Canada. You don't need to wait, open a Canadian bank account now, declare non-residency. This way when you enter Canada and apply for a card they will see you have had money on account with them for awhile and they will give you credit. Just be sure to get them to change your residency status to Canada when you change your address (for reasons that blow my mind they don't do that automatically).

You can't bring a leased car into Canada permanently, you need to have the title in order to re-register it and the US company will almost certainly not release it to you. If they are willing to sell it to you, one thing you can do is get a bank loan to cover the cost.

"Residency" means different things. The US and Canada use different definitions for tax purposes. Assuming you do nothing else (such as changing your DL, establishing a home, etc.) you become resident in Canada after 90 days of presence in a calendar year.

Check on the IRS website for how the US defines "non-residency". You need it in order to be able to claim the foreign tax credit otherwise you will have to pay taxes twice.

Also you will need CBSA forms B4 and B4A. This is a list of the personal effects you will be importing.

why move back? The weather is brutal here

Thank you to everyone for your info, it's been helpful. I have a trip planned in June for my brothers grad, and I will add open bank account to my laundry list. It's a bummer about the car. I've only had it for a few months. Maybe I can just leave the US plates and insurance (although it's illegal) for a time being until I make up my mind.

The dual taxation over 80k stinks! I totally fall into that category (well, if my potential Canadian salary is on par with my US one I will).

Also, thanks for the Amex tip. I don't have one right now, but have excellent credit and will open one shortly so I can swap it.

Thanks! Kate

PS - to the comment about the weather, I've lived in Chicago and Boston, so the weather is pretty much the same as Toronto. Wet and cold.

Also - really quick. Do you know how long you have to file 1040's? I think my dad told me it was 10 years or so. But honestly - how does the IRS even know? I guess if I wanted to move back at some point it's better to dot my i's and cross my t's; but if I have no income in the US would they know?

Also - really quick. Do you know how long you have to file 1040's? I think my dad told me it was 10 years or so. But honestly - how does the IRS even know? I guess if I wanted to move back at some point it's better to dot my i's and cross my t's; but if I have no income in the US would they know?

Like I said above - forever. This is probably the biggest downside of US citizenship. It's an obligation of US citizens and permanent residents to declare their worldwide income to the IRS for the rest of their lives (or until they give up PR status or renounce their citizenship). Even if you've been born abroad and incidentally got US citizenship (e.g. your parents are US citizens) and even if they never registered you, you're still a US citizen and have to file a 1040 every year.

If you stop filing you will be subject to late filing fees and penalties too (which could be pretty significant if you do earn over $80k).

If you're never planning on going back then meh, as long as you're not superwealthy it's unlikely the IRS will ever come after you, but bear in mind not filing can affect your social security benefits when you come to claim them. I.e. until you pay the fines you're going to find it difficult to get them.

The IRS generally requires returning US citizens to go back several years when they re-enter if they haven't filed. Reba said a friend of hers had to file seven years, however the IRS does have the power to go back 20 years if they think it's necessary.

If you don't declare any income, and suddenly your address changes back to the US and your income goes up, your chances of getting audited will also have just gone up!

There is a form to fill out to tell Canada that you're back. After a two year stint in the US a while back, we went back to Canada, set up residency, went to work, got our DLs and OHIP etc., and paid and filed taxes. But, when we returned to the US a few years later, and filed the NR73 for non-resident status, Rev Can said that they lost track of us in 1999 and had us file the form then to resinstate residency retroactively for those years. We thought that seeing imigration at the border when we returned would have let them know, but apparently it didn't.

Also, for the OHIP, get your name put on a utility or something like that to get the 3 month clock ticking. If you'll be at your mom's you won't have a lease, but even a cell phone bill will do to establish residency.

Also, moving back on Jan 01 doesn't hurt either!