retiree looking to potentially move to USA?

danno15058
New Member



Joined: 26 May 2008
Posts: 5
Location: calgary

Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 9:14 am

 

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I quickly scanned the various posts, and have not seen my current situation posted, so here goes.

I am a young retiree who has taken advantage of the strong real estate markets here and sold out on a high note. On the other side of the coin, I am looking at buying in a "depressed" mkt, and the USA looks appealing as such.

Can someone outline the sequence of events one needs to have occur to make sucha move happen? Kind of a chicken-egg question.wondering what comes 1st I guess. Also, with assets being left in CDA (such as my trading/investment accts), how would the tax situation work? I am told that I'd have to pay taxes in both countries, with CDA's taxes having credits applied to whatever USA tax has been paid?

Thx
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Steven
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Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1676
Location: Calgary

Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 9:27 pm

 

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You can't live in the US permanently as an ordinary visitor, you'd need something more sophisticated. B-2 for visitors is only valid for six months in a calendar year (with some limited exceptions in special circumstances which wouldn't apply in your situation).

Read this for the tax issues: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p151/README.html

My advice on tax, especially if you're going in as a visitor, is to keep your tax home in Canada and simply carry on filing a 1040NR in the US as outlined in that pamphlet. Otherwise it messes up your RRSPs, healthcare and a whole crapload of other things, depending on how complex your investments are.

Lot of Canadians in your situation are moving to places like Belize because the US is so awkward about residency.
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Steve.

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danno15058
New Member



Joined: 26 May 2008
Posts: 5
Location: calgary

Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 5:00 am

 

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Thank you for the reply Steve.

I didn't know it was such an issue for the USA.

I have heard of Belize as such, and have met many CDN's with property in Mexico. Again though, all of them are not permanent, just avoiding the winter.

Nevertheless, I do wonder about contract law in those countries, despite meeting some Americans (during my travels last winter) who did buy property in Mexico, to live there permanently (they were in the process of getting their FM3 when I met them). Hence my interest in buying in the SW USA.

Thx again
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Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1676
Location: Calgary

Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:18 am

 

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Yeah, I have mixed feelings about Mexico, everything is in Spanish and their legal system is less than stellar. Belize and many of the Caribbean countries use a legal system based on the British system though.
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Steve.

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danno15058
New Member



Joined: 26 May 2008
Posts: 5
Location: calgary

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:05 am

 

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Is this a possibility for a retired CDN interested in making the USA a permanent address? According to the immigration website "Dual citizenship is not something that can be applied for. It is a process that happens when a person becomes a citizen of another country, in addition to his or her country of birth."

Is it possible to buy a US property and just move there? Or does one stand the chance of being "kicked out"?

Thx
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Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1676
Location: Calgary

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:04 am

 

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Like I said above, B-2 entry for visitors is six months maximum, so you cannot reside permanently in the US in that immigration category.

I'm sure there are retirees who do overstay B-2s, in fact I know some, which is why I don't recommend it. I knew a Belgian couple who went in on B-2, stayed in Florida for several years, and had to go to Belgium to attend a funeral. When they came back, they were refused entry.

You also have to be careful about the tax situation: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p151/README.html

With Canadians it's harder to be caught because there is no I-94 for Canadians, so a Canadian could lie about when they left the US. However given all the new WHTI criteria coming in over the next couple of years, I wouldn't advise it as CBSA and USCIS are going to be working more closely together.
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Steve.

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danno15058
New Member



Joined: 26 May 2008
Posts: 5
Location: calgary

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:10 am

 

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Thx a bunch Steve.

I'm sure with ongoing computer integration between jurisdictions, that squeeking by will be more and more a thing of the past too.
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