I am a greencard holder in the US and wonder what happens if I move to Sweden. From what I gather I can apply for a 2 year re-entry permit to the US if I don't like Sweden but after 6 months out of the US I've broken the 'continous stay' requirement for citizenship. Can I just request/extend the 2 year re-entry perpetually at the US Embassy in STHLM or what do I need to do to retain my greencard while living elsewhere?

Also, Americans living in Sweden, how do you keep up with taxes etc in the US, IRS says that one ought to keep filing taxes even if there's no liability as it 'keeps up the record' and 'makes it easier to come back' later? Any expatriates who can chime in on this?
What about mail? Taxforms? Owning vehicles/property in the US while living abroad, can the bills be sent to Sweden?
Are there any other things that I need to keep in mind and keep up with here in the US if I live abroad?

Carl

I don't know the exact rules regarding your green card. My wife has a green card but always travels to the US before the time limit expires regarding time spent out of the country. We both work for the airlines.

I can't stress enough telling americans living in Sweden to file your US income taxes even though you may or may not have any income. If you are planning on returning to the US, trust me, there will be a time and place where you will be asked to produce your federal and/or state income tax returns.

Case in point.

I've just recently applied for a loan from a mortgage lender in California and of course they asked for the last two years of my US income tax returns. They would have laughed at me if I said, " yes, but, I've been living and working in Sweden. "

I'm amazed at the amount of americans who don't file their US taxes. It WILL come back to haunt them.

However, be very careful what you tell the Swedish tax authorities regarding any income or assets you may have in the US. My advice is to consult a tax expert or an accountant, as I've done all these years, about these issues.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tip! A Swedish tax accountant or American? Mebbe Swedish if that's where I'll live and work. Hmm.

I was curious because I never heard of anyone who kept filing so I wanted to know.
Thanks for the info. How does one file from another country, over the internet? Simple 1040 form?

quote:

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Originally posted by majorglory:

I'm amazed at the amount of americans who don't file their US taxes. It WILL come back to haunt them.

However, be very careful what you tell the Swedish tax authorities regarding any income or assets you may have in the US. My advice is to consult a tax expert or an accountant, as I've done all these years, about these issues.

Good luck.

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Carl,
Being from Redondo Beach, you WILL be going back one day. It is not a prediction, but a fact !!! I myself am from Santa Monica, and the longing for sunshine, outdoor cafe's and good surf became way too overwhelming.

Seriously, keep your options open and don't burn any bridges.

Say hi to El Porto from me !!!

hi baroom,

i've had the same problem as a greencard holder. and I ended up getting my american citizenship because I didn't want to be bothered with having to go back every six months. According to my immigration lawyer, if they feel you are not living in the U.S. they can take away your permanent residency card (i.e. only coming back a handful of days every year).

basically this is what happened to me:

I decided to get my citizenship so in the future my Swede could come to America easier, plus I wanted to get Swedish permanent residency to get school loans or whatnot, but once you get permanent residency anywhere else other than the U.S. it automatically cancels your American permanent residency.

I applied for citizenship, which took a year to get to the interview phase, but I hadn't known that the continuous residency was still being counted even after I submitted my application. i was out of the country for 7 months in Sweden, they turned me down, but I petitioned and turned out that it's rather flexible about being out of the country 6 months to a year, over a year forget it, but I told them I didn't work more than three months continuously in a foreign country, and received my citizenship, but am waiting for my swearing in ceremony.

basically I got the gist that I could have been out for 5 months and 29 days, while waiting for my interview, so long as I didn't work in Sweden because apparently working abroad shows you're not a resident of the U.S.


joysan

Ouch, so even after applying for citizenship you still need to be around more than 6 months of the year. Strict!

I wonder if they still would cancel the permanent residency even if I got a re-entry permit valid for 2 years. Wouldn't that leave the option open or atleast prevent them from cancelling the perm. residency? Hmm.

As for Redondo, I love it even if I'm not into the beach or surfing. Just a nice little city.
We'll see. these are some hard decisions to make and it doesn't make it easier to have to weigh in the citizenship and immigration issues.

Here is some info about the re-entry permit:

http://antaoandchuang.com/reentry.html

I don't know if it is still valid or if INS has made any changes.


I also just found out that INS (correct title is "The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service" BCIS ) has a page on their web site that is called "Now That You Are A Permanent Resident". This page tells new residents about their rights and responsibilities.

http://www.bcis.gov/graphics/howdoi/permres.htm

Good luck, Linda