Also, for more information. The father is a US citizen. He is non-existent in
their lives, does not pay support, no contact. He and I were never legally
married. I am told because we were never legally married I have full sole legal
custody. Yet, I cannot get a passport or get back to Canada with them. How is it
I can have full legal custody and not be allowed to leave the country with them?
--------------------------
This older question which includes Susan's story might help you understand.
"SUSAN'S STORY"
which I have extracted from an excellent book entitled:
NAFTA Trade Dependency:
The Ramifications, Solutions and Guidebook
for NAFTA Family Members -
$24.95 US
this book and another book entitled:
Job Mobility Across the 49th: the FAQs
$12.95 US
are available from author
Linda P Deck at:
www.pagemastersinc.com
(BARGAIN - buy both for only $28.90 U.S.)
or if you cannot order on the INTERNET, you can order at
(800) 986-2314.
If you are looking for a Xmas gift for your TD (Trade
Dependent) daughter who is living with her husband in Las
Vegas, or Atlanta, or Los Angeles or you are thinking of
getting one of these visas yourself, then these books are
what you want.
Get both.
The first explains the problems and the second gives the
FAQs (frequently asked questions) answers.
Any Canadian employer thinking of transferring a married
person south (or North to Alaska) should make sure the
employee"s spouse has read and initialed each and every page
BEFORE actually transferring the employee.
Every U.S. employer who is thinking of hiring a married
Canadian under the TN visa process should make sure that
the prospective employee's spouse has read and initialed
each and every page BEFORE actually signing up the
employee. It is far too expensive to hire and train someone
who you expect to work for 6 or 7 years only to have them
leave in 6 months.
Although the comments here apply to the spouse and children
of most (except H1A and G1A) visa holders, the worst
affected are the TN / TD combinations. The reason is very
simple. If you are offered one of the easy 63 jobs this
afternoon by fax and you have all your original degrees in
place, I can have you working legally in Chicago or Los
Angeles or Atlanta or New York tomorrow morning. Your
spouse will not even know what happened.
It is that easy. And because it is so easy, there is no
time for the spouse to really analyze what she is getting
into. The story I am reprinting here is from Page 14 of:
Linda Deck"s book "NAFTA TRADE DEPENDENCY:"
SUSAN'S STORY
Susan waited in the women's shelter reception area, hoping
against hope that she would be welcomed and given a place
to stay for the time being. Beside her sat two of her
children, a ten-year old daughter, Michelle, and a fourteen
year old son, Matthew. Would there be room at the shelter
tonight for the three of them? Would the shelter turn a
blind eye to them, as the three of them are NOT citizens or
permanent residents? Worst of all, what about her eldest,
fifteen year old Jonathon, who refused to come with them and
was still home with his father?
Susan came to the Women's Shelter today, even though the hot
line worker smugly informed her that basically her only
choice is to leave the kids behind and flee the country.
The shelter could only offer very temporary assistance. Yet
it was better than the first phone call Susan had made.
The other crisis line worker was so uncomfortable with the
concept of a temporary resident needing help from the
community that the worker started giggling like a school
girl. The movie, "Not Without My Daughter" took on a whole
new meaning for Susan. If Susan had guessed for a minute
two years ago that she would be playing the leading role in
her own personal saga of "Not Without My Three Kids", she
would never have opted to accompany her husband in his
quest for adventure and different employment in the United
States.
For the past year, Susan coped with progressively worsening
marital conditions in the household. Her husband, Frank,
became increasingly demanding and showed increased stress
in his daily life. Finally on Friday night, the whole
situation climaxed. Susan managed to escape with the two
younger children to seek medical attention at the hospital.
It started simply enough. The family had decided to
relocate for Frank's job and that it would be all right for
Susan not to work for a time. Susan had welcomed the
opportunity "not to work" full time and to study. She did
not realize the impact of being forcibly unemployed,
completely vulnerable and on only one income which was not
hers. They made the move from Canada to the United States.
For the first time in her adult life, Susan suddenly had
zero personal income. Gradually, Susan became aware of the
problems associated with being dependent upon another person
for the very roof over her head, the food in the pantry and
the clothes in her and the children's closets. Being an
independent woman, this was so very different from anything
she had ever experienced before.
The finances worsened, leaving Frank and Susan's family
wondering if they could afford to make all the monthly
payments and save themselves from bankruptcy. Even though
they pinched pennies, it was still not quite enough to save
them from diminishing their savings account. Susan was
forced to quit her university studies, as they could not
afford the foreign student tuition bill after the second
semester on Frank's single salary.
Now that the financial stress had resulted in physical abuse
and Susan was awaiting help from society, the news she is
about to discover is not going to make her day. She will
find out that she may remain in the shelter temporarily
with her daughter Michelle. Her son, Matthew will either
have to go home to his father or to a runaway shelter for
boys. Her son, Jonathon, will stay with his father, Frank.
Susan's legal dependent status has just become void, as she
is no longer with her bread- winning husband, Frank. She
does not qualify for any social assistance in either Canada
or the United States.
Susan appears not to have any choice but to return home to
Canada with only two of her children, fracturing the family
unit and smuggling her children out of the United States.
Even though she wants to obey the law and wait for a court
date to apply for custody and permission to take the
children out of the country, her status has become void.
She has no means of supporting herself to wait for legal
custody. As a typical mother, leaving any of her children
behind with an international border between them is not an
option. To return home to Canada, she will be forced to
make the trip look like a short and happy vacation. If the
airlines or the border patrol suspect that she is taking the
children out of the country without her abusive husband's
permission, they have the right (and duty) to deny her entry
onto the airplane or into the country (CANADA). Ironically,
she is supposed to have notarized permission from her
husband to flee the country (United States) with the
children.
Adding to the stress, she realizes that she does not even
have enough money for transportation home. She will have no
choice but to leave the family house and every material item
she has ever worked for behind as she accepts donations
from her family or the (Canadian) Embassy for bus, air or
train fare. There is no possibility for the family to work
out their differences with a trail separation (within the
community). Once Susan escapes the abuse, she is stripped
of even her legal status (i.e. her U.S. TD visa is
subservient to her husband's TN visa and does not stand
alone.).
The domestic abuse shelters vary according to the length of
time that Susan may stay. Some shelters are merely on a
daily basis where she would be forced to leave the shelter
at 6 AM. Other shelters would allow her to stay for
between fourteen to thirty days. After that, she would be
on her own in a foreign country and without legal work
authorization. She may not simply transfer from one
shelter to another one. The shelters communicate with one
another. The result would be that Susan would become
banned from all the shelters in town.
Susan accidentally discovered the suffering that many
immigrant women worldwide suffer as soon as they become
immigrants or non-immigrants. This is not a new phenomenon.
However this particular situation is happening under the guise
of free trade. The governments promoted the NAFTA as being an
alternative to waiting for permanent residency or landed immigrant status.
Susan and many others might have known some of the
challenges they were about to face if the decision had been
to relocate to a Third World overseas country (even Saudi
Arabia for instance) where females and their children enjoy
few human rights. Susan and her family merely relocated
within North America and had no idea that the hurdles
involved would be similar to moving overseas. If they had
realized the similarities of the challenges, they simply
would not have moved.
QUESTION:
I am a Canadian woman in the US. My 2 kids were born in the US from a US man. Their father and I never married and he has deserted us. I need to go back to Canada, I need help with my kids. How do I register my 2 children's Canadian citizen status so I can get them back into Canada with me?
-------------------------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
The information you need is in this old question
QUESTION: My son-in-law is a Canadian Citizen. He has residence status in the US
and has had it for about 12 years. He is married to my daughter and they have two children.
My question are twofold: I know that Canada recognizes dual citizenship.
Doe the US recognize dual citizenship?
Second question: My son-in-law had been working in the USA for some time.
He is well educated and has a very good job. He pays US taxes, files a tax return every tear. He also pays into the social security system.
Can he / or will here receive Social Security benefits when he reaches the age of 65.
He was told he could not.
There must be some treaty agreement between the Us and Canada on this.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
david ingram replies:
Goto www.centa.com and read the October 1993 newsletter in the top left
hand box for about 12 pages on dual citizenship and the history between
the US and Canada. The Canadian government position is at
http://www.ci.gc.ca/english/about/citizenship/dual-info.asp
You will see that the US does recognize dual citizenship and my
recommendation is that your s-i-l gets his US citizenship as soon as
possible.
*His two children are also Canadians* and he should register their birth
and get Canadian passports for them as soon as possible as well. See
how to at
http://www.ci.gc.ca/english/information/faq/citizenship/cit-proof-faq02.asp
He will qualify for US Social Security after paying into the US system
for 6 quarters. He has to pay in for 40 years to get the maximum and 30
years to get a proper pro-rated amount. If he pays in for less than 20
years there is a bit of a clawback under legislation called the
'WINDFALL ELIMINATION PROVISION' WHICH CAN APPLY TO A SCHOOL TEACHER
MOVING FROM FLORIDA TO OKLAHOMA as well.
he WEP applies to anyone who did not pay into US Social Security for 30
years because they were paying into another political jurisdiction's
pension.
He will also qualify for a reduced Canadian CPP if he worked in Canada
after turning 18.
---------------------------------------------------
*/*SUGGESTED PRICE GUIDELINES - Aug 5, 2008
*/* *//*
/david ingram's US / Canada Services/
US / Canada / Mexico tax, Immigration and working Visa Specialists
US / Canada Real Estate Specialists
My Home office is at:
4466 Prospect Road
North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Cell (604) 657-8451 -
*(604) 980-0321* Fax (604) 980-0325
Calls welcomed from 10 AM to 9 PM 7 days a week Vancouver (LA) time -
(please do not fax or phone outside of those hours as this is a home
office) */expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax
service help./*
email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
www.centa.com <http://www.centa.com/> www.david-ingram.com
<http://www.david-ingram.com/>
*/pert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service and help./*
David Ingram gives expert income tax service & immigration help to
non-resident Americans & Canadians from New York to California to
Mexico family, estate, income trust trusts Cross border, dual citizen -
out of country investments are all handled with competence & authority.
*Phone consultations are $450 for 15 minutes to 50 minutes (professional
hour). Please note that GST is added if product remains in Canada or is
to be returned to Canada or a phone consultation is in Canada. ($472.50
with GST for in person or if you are on the telephone in Canada)**/
/**/expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service and
help./*
This is not intended to be definitive but in general I am quoting $900
to $3,000 for a dual country tax return.
$900 would be one T4 slip one W2 slip one or two interest slips and you
lived in one country only (but were filing both countries) - no self
employment or rentals or capital gains - you did not move into or out of
the country in this year.
$1,200 would be the same with one rental
$1,300 would be the same with one business no rental
$1,300 would be the minimum with a move in or out of the country. These
are complicated because of the back and forth foreign tax credits. - The
IRS says a foreign tax credit takes 1 hour and 53 minutes.
$1,600 would be the minimum with a rental or two in the country you do
not live in or a rental and a business and foreign tax credits no move
in or out
$1,700 would be for two people with income from two countries
$3,000 would be all of the above and you moved in and out of the country.
This is just a guideline for US / Canadian returns
We will still prepare Canadian only (lives in Canada, no US connection
period) with two or three slips and no capital gains, etc. for _$200.00
up._ However, if you have a stack of 1099, or T3 or T4A or T5 or K1
reporting forms, expect to pay an average of $10.00 each with up to
$50.00 for a K1 or T5013 or T5008 or T101 --- Income trusts with amounts
in box 42 are an even larger problem and will be more expensive. - *i.e.
20 information slips will be at least $350.00 *
With a Rental for $400, two or three rentals for $550 to $700 (i.e. $150
per rental) First year Rental - plus $250.
A Business for $400 - Rental and business likely $550 to $700
And an American only (lives in the US with no Canadian income or filing
period) with about the same things in the same range with a little bit
more if there is a state return.
Moving in or out of the country or part year earnings in the US will
ALWAYS be $900 and up.
TDF 90-22.1 forms are $50 for the first and $25.00 each after that
when part of a tax return.
8891 forms are generally $50.00 to $100.00 each.
18 RRSPs would be $900.00 - (maybe amalgamate a couple)
Capital gains *sales) are likely $50.00 for the first and $20.00 each
after that.
*Catch - up returns for the US where we use the Canadian return as a
guide for seven years at a time will be from $150 to $600.00 per year
depending upon numbers of bank accounts, RRSP's, existence of rental
houses, self employment, etc. Note that these returns tend to be
informational rather than taxable. In fact, if there are children
involved, we usually get refunds of $1,000 per child per year for 3
years. We have done several catch-ups where the client has received as
much as $6,000 back for an $1,800 bill and one recently with 6 children
is resulting in over $12,000 refund.
Email and Faxed information is convenient for the sender but very time
consuming and hard to keep track of when they come in multiple files.
As of May 1, 2008, we will charge or be charging a surcharge for
information that comes in more than two files. It can take us a
valuable hour or more to try and put together the file when someone
sends 10 emails or 15 attachments, etc. We had one return with over 50
faxes and emails for instance.
*
This is a guideline not etched in stone. If you do your own TDF-90
forms, it is to your advantage. However, if we put them in the first
year, the computer carries them forward beautifully.
--*IRS Circular 230 Disclosure:* To ensure compliance with requirements
imposed by the IRS, please be advised that any U.S. tax advice contained
in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or
written to be used or relied upon, and cannot be used or relied upon,
for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue
Code, or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any
transaction or matter addressed herein.--
-Disclaimer: This question has been answered without detailed
information or consultation and is to be regarded only as general
comment. Nothing in this message is or should be construed as advice
in any particular circumstances. No contract exists between the reader
and the author and any and all non-contractual duties are expressly
denied. All readers should obtain formal advice from a competent and
appropriately qualified legal practitioner or tax specialist for expert
help, assistance, preparation, or consultation in connection with
personal or business affairs such as at www.centa.com
<http://www.centa.com/> or www.garygauvin.com. If you forward this
message, this disclaimer must be included." *//*-
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