US outland applicants' thread :)

[IvanP]

this is apparently a reason why a lot of people are revoking citizenship, though the US is making it harder to do now. it costs substantially more and they have the ability to deny the request!

If you pay a lot every year for tax compliance, it can be a smart move financially.

What a lot of ungrateful Americans we are on this Thanksgiving Day!

 

[saria1]

Who knew there'd be such fun questions here!

Keeping your funds in the US in the way you describe would help you avoid FBAR, but you'll need to look into retirement accounts and whether you can contribute in the US while you are a resident here. The tax advantages of deferred income in retirement accounts will outweight the PITA that FBAR is.

At first glance, without doing any digging (you definitely have questions that will need professional guidance on):

Both the US and Canada tax you on your worldwide income.
The difference is that Canada will tax you on your worldwide income only when you are a resident (for tax purposes - not the same as a PR) of Canada. So when you are a resident of Canada, you declare 100% in both places. Tax credits under the US-Canada tax treaty should ensure you'll avoid double-taxation.

Depending on how the US business is set up, it will be treated in the US as either a partnership (including a pass-through entity such as an LLC) or a corporation. If it's a partnership, there's no entity level tax. If it's a corporation, then there's tax at the entity level and then tax on dividends. Canada wouldn't tax a US corporation operating in the US, but as a resident in Canada you'd pay Canadian taxes on his salary, any dividends, and capital gains if you sold part or all of the company. With a pass-through entity 50% owned, the net income is shared between the two partners and that income (the 'draw') would be taxable in Canada (I'm not 100% clear on how taxation of US LLC/partnership income works in Canada, but it should be similar (not identical) in outcome but calculated - of course - in a completely different way). LLCs are hybrid entities because they are pass-through for tax purposes while providing limited liability as separate corporate entities with a corporate veil to shield the owners.

And yes, you'll need a good accountant/US tax advisor for all of this - find someone local so they get your provincial issues right, too. There are lots more US tax experts in Canada than there are Canada experts in the US, so it shouldn't be that hard.

I've got no idea about the sales tax exemptions... that was the easy question you asked, right?

Are there a lot of write-offs up there with income limit cutoffs like we have down here?

Yes, the NS sales tax is stumping me. I think the best thing to do is call the Nova Scotia Dept of Finance to get an answer, since Google isn't too helpful.

Thank you, you must be an accountant or in a similar field, you have quite a bit of knowledge in this arena.

 

[IvanP]

Are there a lot of write-offs up there with income limit cutoffs like we have down here?

Yes, the NS sales tax is stumping me. I think the best thing to do is call the Nova Scotia Dept of Finance to get an answer, since Google isn't too helpful.

Thank you, you must be an accountant or in a similar field, you have quite a bit of knowledge in this arena.

Yup, quite a lot of US tax training and work, and getting up to speed on Canada now...

 

[msbigshot]

All this talk of taxes is making me crazy nervous and all in between!
On another note; when I emailed CIC (30+ days) they just emailed me back saying they cant give me any information about my application if it has been forwarded to the visa office in charge, then it continues to say that being said they cant give me any information. Just to clarify this means that my application for permanent residence is in fact forwarded to Ottawa? If so, this is VERY exciting as we waited forever for SA

 

[rhcohen2014]

All this talk of taxes is making me crazy nervous and all in between!
On another note; when I emailed CIC (30+ days) they just emailed me back saying they cant give me any information about my application if it has been forwarded to the visa office in charge, then it continues to say that being said they cant give me any information. Just to clarify this means that my application for permanent residence is in fact forwarded to Ottawa? If so, this is VERY exciting as we waited forever for SA

there are times that sponsors are not notified of their eligibility. the best thing to do in this situation is call the call center. they will confirm if it's been transfered. only the sponsor can call to find out.

 

[msbigshot]

there are times that sponsors are not notified of their eligibility. the best thing to do in this situation is call the call center. they will confirm if it's been transfered. only the sponsor can call to find out.

Sorry that was written vaguely, my husband called and was confirmed on Monday he did receive SA. So I guess Im being over worried and questionable, Im on my phone and cant copy and paste what was said but basically they cant give me information on my PR application if it has been transferred to my VO then said with that said they don't have any information regarding my PR.. Is that them implying it was transferred.
Does this make sense, lol

 

[rhcohen2014]

Sorry that was written vaguely, my husband called and was confirmed on Monday he did receive SA. So I guess Im being over worried and questionable, Im on my phone and cant copy and paste what was said but basically they cant give me information on my PR application if it has been transferred to my VO then said with that said they don't have any information regarding my PR.. Is that them implying it was transferred.
Does this make sense, lol

if your husband received SA, then yes, that means your application was transferred. CIC won't be able to tell you about your application because it's now sitting waiting to be opened, presumably in Ottawa. Generally, in order to get info on an applicant's application at a visa office, that office has to be contacted directly either by fax, mail, email or by a "case specific inquiry". The CIC call center should still be able to tell you the date the application was received by CIC, which is the same date the sponsor's application was received. It's also quite possible your application hasn't gotten into the system yet if SA was just confirmed. Generally, it takes days to weeks for an applicant's info to get into the ECAS system.

 

[msbigshot]

if your husband received SA, then yes, that means your application was transferred. CIC won't be able to tell you about your application because it's now sitting waiting to be opened, presumably in Ottawa. Generally, in order to get info on an applicant's application at a visa office, that office has to be contacted directly either by fax, mail, email or by a "case specific inquiry".

Thanks! Guess Im just being over worried a bit..

 

[rhcohen2014]

Thanks! Guess Im just being over worried a bit..

i would recommend your husband call the call center and confirm his UCI and the file number. that way, you'll be able to start logging into ECAS once it's been entered. the call center won't have your UCI#, and you probably won't be able to get it until Ottawa sends you a request for something.

 

[msbigshot]

i would recommend your husband call the call center and confirm his UCI and the file number. that way, you'll be able to start logging into ECAS once it's been entered. the call center won't have your UCI#, and you probably won't be able to get it until Ottawa sends you a request for something.

My husband already got his UCI # and when I called in October they gave me mine ( I threw the paper away I wrote it on..) When we log into ecase with his # it says nothing can be found but Monday it said application received. Ill have to call next week and get my UCI #, and go from there.

 

[OntarioBound]

I am not sure if this is the right place, but I have a couple of questions.

I am a US citizen, and my UK/Canada citizen hubby and I are in the process of putting together all the documents.

The US specific document says to enclose 4 photos (passport *like* photos - with neutral expression on the white background, etc) - Did you write on the back of the photos when the photo was taken? (I know it didn't tell you to do that in the document itself, but I thought that was something customarily done...? No?)

Also, did you send original boarding passes, etc as evidence of travel/seeing each other, or you send photo copies?

Any comment would be greatly appreciated. If I need to open a new topic for these, let me know also.

 

[MizAngel]

Here's a quick demonstration of how you can wind up tripped up by this:

It's payday, and it's one of those months when it comes just a few days after you've just paid your $1200 rent, so your checking account - which was on the borderline of being overdrawn - isn't empty (yay!). Together, you and your spouse got $3k net from your biweekly pay which went into your joint checking account. You're not rich, so you haven't thought about separate accounts to avoid things like FBAR.

Since 2009 you've put $500 a year in each of your two kids' RESP (education savings) accounts, and Canada matched 20%, so you've actually got $3k in each, and the assets have appreciated 15%, for $6,900 total. You've got signing authority on those, so they count towards your aggregate total.

Whoops, you just hit $10k! And you're thinking - WTF? I just got paid $3k and I have $6600 in the RESPs - that's not $10k! But your landlord didn't deposit your rent check yet because he's with his sick mother in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, so you're at $10,800.

Your last hope, of course, is the weak looney, and indeed, $10,800 Canadian is not currently worth $10k American. But on some days, it is, and you can get tripped up by exchange rates, too.

The point of this fun little exercise is a) to point out how easy it is to find yourself subject to these rules and b) how nonsensical the $10k threshold is as a policy matter. The US has created a burdensome and intrusive reporting requirement that is not widely known about, has draconian penalties, and affects people doing very normal things who are exceedingly unlikely to be engaging in the activity (financial crimes) the rules are trying to catch or prevent.

I know there are lots of young couples doing the immigrating, and $10k seems like quite a lot when you're younger (unless you've been on the receiving end of a $10k tuition bill in the US - then you're like, why so low?), but once you're just a tiny bit more established, with both of you working, you can find yourself at $10k pretty quickly, and the $10k is at any given moment in time during the year... even if it's just because your landlord deposited the rent check late...

Ivan do you know what kind of proof you might need to file the FBAR? Hubby is making a decent amount of money and while I don't think we'll hit the $10K this year, we might next year based on your example above. How do we prove that on X day of X month he had a total of over $10K in the accounts? Or do they just take your word for it?

 

[Mariac819]

I am not sure if this is the right place, but I have a couple of questions.

I am a US citizen, and my UK/Canada citizen hubby and I are in the process of putting together all the documents.

The US specific document says to enclose 4 photos (passport *like* photos - with neutral expression on the white background, etc) - Did you write on the back of the photos when the photo was taken? (I know it didn't tell you to do that in the document itself, but I thought that was something customarily done...? No?)

Also, did you send original boarding passes, etc as evidence of travel/seeing each other, or you send photo copies?

Any comment would be greatly appreciated. If I need to open a new topic for these, let me know also.

1. The location where I had the pictures taken stamped the back with the date they were taken.
2. I sent copies of my boarding passes / passport stamps and informed them that I could provided originals if need be.

 

[rhcohen2014]

The US specific document says to enclose 4 photos (passport *like* photos - with neutral expression on the white background, etc) - Did you write on the back of the photos when the photo was taken? (I know it didn't tell you to do that in the document itself, but I thought that was something customarily done...? No?)

nope, for us citizens, it's not necessary to sign or write anything on the back of the photos. i sent mine in blank, and had no requests for new ones.

 

[HDR]