My green card is going to expire in less than three years. I have given it considerable thought, and I’m at the place now where it doesn’t really make any sense for me to keep my Canadian citizenship. I’m not going back for any reason. It isn’t of any benefit for me to keep it. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t even go back now if it was an emergency - my passport expired a long time ago.
Anyway, I am giving serious thought to becoming an American citizen. Does anybody here know what the naturalization test entails? What do I have to study? If you get any of the questions wrong, do you fail at getting citizenship? Does it cost a lot of money? I haven’t had to deal with the INS since they were called the INS. I don’t even know what they changed their name to…
I’d appreciate any information from anyone who has gone through the process, or links to anywhere I could read up on it. Thanks.
Here is a good place to start reading. However, naturalizing in the U.S. does not, AFAIK, mean you will be forced to relinquish your Canadian citizenship - check with the nearest Canadian consulate for details, but I’ve had plenty of Canadian clients over the years who have managed to maintain both citizenships. I’m sure they could renew your Canadian passport for you, for that matter, if you even need a valid passport to reenter Canada; AFAIK you just need proof of Canadian citizenship.
Even with an expired passport, you can, no doubt, return to Canada. You could also get a new passport fairly easily from a Canadian embassy or consulate.
I see where it costs more than a hundred dollars less to renew my green card than it does to apply for naturalization! And I won’t have to take any tests on the subject on which I know the least. I looked at the sample civics test, and I failed miserably before I got halfway down the page. They didn’t teach any of that stuff in Canada! They didn’t even teach that stuff about Canada in Canada!
Regarding the passport, I only know where to find two people in Canada, and the chances of my going back there to look up either of them are just about zero. I suppose I’ll have to get it renewed if I ever want to leave the US to elsewhere, though.