Last year, at my niece's baptism party, my uncle's neighbor was asking me questions about permanent residency. He is a Filipino national and has been a permanent resident for 11 years. He was considering becoming a U.S. citizen and wanted to know the differences between permanent residents and citizens or whether he could be a dual citizen. Below are my explanation provided to readers who may be contemplating U.S. citizenship.
1) U.S. Legal Permanent Resident (LPR)
      As the name suggests, a legal permanent resident (LPR) is a person who can legally reside in the U.S. indefinitely. He still remains a citizen of his country of birth because he has never given up that citizenship through the process of naturalization. With this status, a person is generally able to continue to enjoy benefits from his home country. For example, he might still have the right to vote in elections or the right to own property.
      An LPR possesses almost all the same rights of a U.S. citizen with a few exceptions. For instance, an LPR can obtain social security benefits, Medicare, Social Security Income (SSI) and own land here, just like a U.S. citizen. Some of the exceptions are ineligibility to vote in elections that require citizenship and ineligibility to serve as a juror (generally, in most states). While LPR status is like possessing a permanent visa, the word "permanent" should not be taken literally. It is important to know that the U.S. government has the ability to take this status away if it sees fit to do so. Some of the reasons the government might seek to take away residency is if a person does one of the following:
    - Moves back to her country of origin or another country to live permanently
    - Remains outside of the U.S. for more than one year without obtaining a re-entry permit or returning resident visa     - Remains outside of the U.S. for more than two years after issuance of a re-entry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa.
    - Fails to file income tax returns while living outside of the U.S. for any period.
   - Declares herself a "nonimmigrant" on tax returns
       Another minor downside of remaining an LPR concerns estate planning. Under current estate law, transfers of property at death are subject to federal estate taxes.  Transfers of property at death between spouses who are both U.S. citizens, however, are excluded from the taxable estate by virtue of a "marital deduction." The marital deduction allows unlimited transfers of property and cash between citizen spouses to be excluded from federal estate taxes.  This deduction does not apply if the surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen. (1)
      An LPR living in the U.S. is also subject to deportation (now known as "removal") if she commits an offense considered a "crime of moral turpitude" or a serious felony. Commission of such a crime does not imminently result in removal, however, given the current political climate and attitudes towards residents and immigrants, it is more likely than not this result would occur.
2) U.S. (Naturalized) Citizen
       The process of becoming a U.S. citizen is called "naturalization." It is the process whereby U.S. citizenship is conferred upon a person once the administrative process is complete. By becoming a naturalized citizen, a person must renounce allegiance to any other country and swear allegiance to the U.S. When a person becomes a U.S. citizen, immigration laws no longer apply as he is considered equivalent to a natural born citizen. Any and all restrictions and prohibitions on him as a former LPR no longer apply.
3) Dual Citizenship
      The term "dual citizenship" basically means when a person holds more than one citizenship or agrees to abide by the rules and regulations of the U.S. and another country or countries. The U.S. does not formally recognize dual citizenship, however, it also does not formally speak out against it either.
      Please note that not all countries recognize dual citizenship. For example, until 2003, the Philippines did not recognize dual citizenship. However, pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 9225, also known as the Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act of 2003, a person who was a natural-born Filipino citizen who lost her Philippine citizenship because of naturalization as a citizen of a foreign country, can now apply for the Administration of Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines. People who retain or reacquire their Philippine Citizenship under RA 9225 have full civil and political rights and are subject to all liabilities and responsibilities under existing laws of the Philippines.
      According to sources, most countries in Asia currently do not recognize dual citizenship. Burma, Indonesia, Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and  India do not recognize dual citizenship, while the Philippines and Cambodia do.  Information on Laos and other Southeast Asian countries could not be determined.
      While dual citizenship may have certain advantages, such as the ability to be a resident in multiple countries, a dual citizen may have tax obligations in more than one nation or may need to fulfill residency requirements between two (or more) countries. Generally, once a person obtains U.S. citizenship, it is difficult to lose it unless a person expressly intends to do so. Such actions might include: 1) Serving in the armed forces of a country which is engaged in hostilities against the U.S.; 2) Formally renouncing one's citizenship in front of an authorized official; or 3) Committing an act of treason against the U.S., or conspiring to overthrow the U.S. government.
      In general, it is important for a person who is thinking about becoming a U.S. citizen to determine what her long-term plans are and whether staying in the U.S. permanently is the ultimate goal.
     
      For more questions on immigration issues, Carmel Capati can be reached at 608.334.8826 or via e-mail at commlegalserv@aol.com.
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(1) Please note this issue is only a concern if the couple's taxable estate is worth more than $1.5 million, because regardless, the first $1.5 million is already exempt from federal estate taxes. The amount will increase to $2 million in 2006-08, $3.5 million in 2009 with an outright appeal of the estate tax completely in 2010. 
Immigration law/Carmel Capati
On permanent residency
March 2006 Preview