Moving in September to USA

Hi All,

I've managed to get my affairs in order and secure a TN visa and apartment to move in september from Toronto to Philadelphia.

I have some questions, because I hope to never have to come back to canada.

1) What do I do about my drivers license and plates? Do I transfer them to american versions right away? or should I wait?

2) How to taxes work? I am going to have my paycheck switched to my new american bank account - should I get an accountant to handle my canadian taxes? do I actually have to pay full taxes in both countries? Any advice here?

3) How long before I can apply for my green card? should I do it right away? any advice on this part of the process?

4) once I have my greencard, can I keep my canadian passport? or do I give up all of my rights as a canadian once that happens?

Thanks for these answers and any other thoughts you may have on this

Mitch

1) First of all you have to get your car into the US. If it's leased, this is pretty much impossible because the lease company won't release the title to you. If you've owned the car for at least a year there is no duty or tax whatsoever regardless of what the CBP officer might think, it's classed as personal effects. However, you need to check the DOT regs to make sure it's legal in the US (you might have to make minor alterations to it) and also you must have the EPA test done at a local test centre (and by "local" that usually means the nearest place by a port where cars are usually imported in bulk, although some garages can do it, but not many). Once you've got the CBP release/EPA paperwork you can transfer the title and get a new registration.

2) Read this: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p151/README.html

If you're on a TN-1 it is generally a bad idea to move your tax home to the US for two reasons, the first is that TN-1 requires residential ties to Canada (as it's a temporary worker permit), and moving your tax home to the US means you have to cut all residential ties to avoid dual taxation, so they work against each other.

The second reason why is if you ever get refused entry you automatically become resident in Canada again, which means a ton of tax paperwork.

So you carry on filling out a T1 for wherever you lived in Canada, and file a 1040NR and 8840 or 8833 in the US to claim the tax treaty exemption. You file a copy of your W-2 with your T1 and claim the foreign tax credit in Canada to avoid paying taxes twice. The general guide for the T1 includes instructions on how to do this.

3) TN-1 is not dual-status, it confers no elgibility for LPR applications. Your employer can sponsor you for LPR status (provided you meet the qualifications, which are tough), but it is tricky if you're on a TN-1.

4) LPR status is not citizenship. After you've been resident in the US as an LPR for five years then you can apply for US citizenship, you can keep your Canadian citizenship and be a dual citizen.

Bear in mind however the obligations of being a US citizen, as soon as you become an LPR you must move your tax home to the US which means you must sever all residential ties to Canada in order to avoid dual taxation. LPRs and US citizens must file a US tax return every year during their lives unless they cease to be LPRs or renounce their citizenship, regardless of where they reside.

The US foreign tax credit maxes out at $80,000 and something (at the moment, they're talking about repealing the limit), so if you became a US citizen and then moved back to Canada, you would be subject to dual taxation on earnings over that limit.

Welcome to Philly!

Having been here just over a year, I can speak to the car issue.

If you plan to be in the US for more than a year, you should change over title and license. So here is the story. You cannot get a PA title until you have a PA license and insurance. You can get insurance, but out-of-state/country ends up costing way more. The good news is that you can surrender your ONT license to a PA license without having to take a test.

So.first get your car imported. There are forms that need to be completed at the border when you plan to cross over. Make sure you tell the customs inspector before you drive away that you are importing the car. From the people helping me last year:

As you are driving the vehicle across the border yourself, be sure to
mention to U.S. Customs that you want to clear your vehicle. At this time,
they will direct you to the U.S. Customs office. There, they will complete
a form on your behalf called an Informal Entry, (also referred to as "Form
CF 368"). This is a form that can be filled out in advance. It is provided
and completed by the U.S. Customs inspector. Once your vehicle is cleared,
they will give you a copy which you then take to the licensing office in
PA to register your vehicle.

You must present the following paperwork at U.S. Customs:

- Letter of Compliance. This can be obtained from the vehicle manufacturer
and indicates that the vehicle in question complies with all Environmental
Protection and Department of Transport requirements of the United States.


- 2, 7501 Forms

- EPA Form


- HS-7 Form

After these documents are stamped off, you can go to get your license. PA websites state you must do this within the first 20 days of establishing residency. I think I was about 2 months after. But I was rejected 3 times at the license office cause my paperwork was incorrect. DO NOT TAKE PAPER WITHOUT A SIGNATURE BY A PEN. They really don't like people with this type of document.

After you get your license, get some insurance. Plenty to choose from here. Then notify your insurance company back home to let them know to take you off their records. Before leaving Canada, make sure to get a Record of Insurance from your carrier up there. Helps prove driving record both in the US and when you want to return.

Once License and Insurance are covered, head to an auto tag company (Wiggins) with the necessary paperwork from customs and your letter of conformance to obtain a title and plate. They will get you a plate that day, and title and the sticker will arrive by mail within a few weeks. However, once you have the plate, you then have 10 days to get the car inspected for safety and emissions. This can be done anywhere that has an inspection station (gas stations, dealers, mechanics). I did it at the dealer, cause I get my car serviced there anyway. DO NOT SKIP OR DELAY THIS STEP. Police in PA do searches on the inspection stickers. I've heard of people getting tickets after they came out of a mall (police were roaming).

This plating of the car is also suppose to be done within 30 days of establishing residency. As an FYI.I had to renew my sticker in Canada 15 days before leaving. Since my license took a while to get, I kept my ONT plates on the car. I finally went in at December to check if I could still change without a problem (paperwork now 8 months old) and they were fine with it. So I went back to Canada for Christmas, came back and actually changed the plates in February. No issues and no duty having to be paid. I was back in TO for Easter, and returned the ONT plates with no issue.

feel free to PM if you need any help about the area or anything else related to the car. Steven took care of the rest of your questions and he is an excellent resource on this site.

Moving permanently to the States does NOT mean you must give up all residence in Canada. Revenue Canada has never succeeded in establishing that a vacation or summer house in Canada is equivalent to permanent residence there, and you are also free to reside for tax purposes in the US while continuing to rent out a Canadian property (though as a landlord your tax obligations to Canada become somewhat complex) If you can establish that you are legally present in the US for 180 days or more, are in line for citizenship (or have acquired it), drive and work in the States, Revenue Canada will leave you alone.

Yes, but the point I was making is that it's not a good idea to move your tax home to the US anyway if you're there as a temporary worker. It messes up all kinds of things (RRSPs, etc.) makes you subject to departure tax (if you're liable) and also it works against your immigration status as USCIS want to see residential ties to Canada if you're in TN-1 to prove you are there temporarily.

"USCIS want to see residential ties to Canada if you're in TN-1 to prove you are there temporarily."

I cannot find this information on the USCIS website with regards to TN-1 status. I see it for visitors, students and trainees, but I can't find this specific reference for NAFTA temporary workers. All that I can find is information stating that we must be able to convince the agent that we will leave the US when the stay is over. Many law websites state that TNs are not subject to foreign residence requirements, so this leaves me confused.

Would you please post a link for us so that we can review it further? Thanks in advance!

You may also want to consider the real tax difference. For me, it's going to be well over $10,000 and so it's worth any extra paperwork, or the slim chance I'll end up back in Canada in the short term.

I cannot find this information on the USCIS website with regards to TN-1 status.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/EIB11.pdf

Read the top of page 4. As has been posted by others on here, "residential ties" don't necessarily mean you have to have a house or something like that in Canada, but you need to be able to show "non-immigrant intent", so that means some sort of tie to Canada (or somewhere else).

And the CRA considers most ties as making you resident for tax purposes. But one of the things you can have as a non-resident for tax purposes is a house, provided it's not your primary residence. But then it becomes subject to capital gains tax.

Perhaps there is some fine line that satisfies both the CRA and the USCIS, but if there is, it's a pretty narrow one. Legally, "residential ties" in Canada and "non-immigrant intent" in the US are not exactly the same thing, but they sound pretty close.

Obviously it only matters when your TN-1 comes up for renewal, so if they extend the validity to three years, that takes care of it for three years, but there was someone on here who said he got turned down for a TN-1 entry because USCIS said he had renewed it so many times the FTO didn't believe he had "non-immigrant intent". So it sounds as though the more evidence you've got you don't intend to stay forever the better.