Question

[freefreefree]

Nobody I know seems to know the answer to this, so I hope you can answer my question.
My question is if you are a Canadian working in the US and only have a green card, what happens when you retire?
Do they kick you out of US after you retire? or?

[brunt]

Note - I am not a lawyer, but this is an issue near and dear to my heart. This is my opinion, and should not be taken blindly as fact. Please do your own due diligence.

The answer depends on the class of Green Card. Those under the "extraordinary ability" (typically high priced athletes, actors, singers and those of high academic standing) are not tied to an employer to allow residence. Other classes have their green cards tied to their employer. In short, you stop working for your sponsoring employer, then your Green Card goes too.

http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/em...-employer.html

My reading of this is that "extraordinary ability" holders would have no issues, but regular Green Card holders would not be allowed to stay in the US after retiring.

There are other options, of course. Remain part-time for your former employer in order to keep your status. Either that, or you could go to via one of the "retirement" based Green Cards:

http://www.breakthroughusa.com/b2-vi...ent-in-the-us/

This all makes sense to me. The underlying purpose of a Green Card is not to just work in the US, but rather to allow you to work and reside there while you work your way toward citizenship. Ultimately, it may be easiest if you just became a citizen. Despite what people say, dual US/Canada citizenship is indeed possible.

[Darth Penguin]

From what I remember when we looked at moving to the states being sponsored by Mr P's company, @brunt is correct in his last point re working towards citizenship.

We ultimately decided to remain in Canada.

[brunt]

From what I remember when we looked at moving to the states being sponsored by Mr P's company, @brunt is correct in his last point re working towards citizenship.

We ultimately decided to remain in Canada.

I was in the US for a few years on a TN permit. This only allows for a temporary stay in the US.

We looked into getting a Green Card and ran into a few stumbling blocks, starting with the issue that we had to pay for it ourselves. It is expensive and takes a while to get. This is one of the reasons that I get hot under the collar whenever US politicians talk about an amnesty for illegals. Doing it legally and properly is very expensive. Those who do not do it legally should not be rewarded. But that's a different issue.

Ultimately, what got us was the fact that the Green Card was tied to the employer. I have a shot at an "extraordinary ability" Green Card, but the lawyers to whom I spoke had little experience there, so they wanted to go the regular route. We were house shopping at the time, and were horrified by the fact that if I were to lose my job, I either had to get another one within 30 days and try to get my Green Card transferred to them, or sell the house and leave the country.

[freefreefree]

Thank you Brunt and Darth Penguin for the info. My niece is thinking of going to medical school in the US and my sister has been asking me if it is a good idea and I have been asking other people, so I ended up here. I think my niece should stay here in Canada and get use to the Canadian system and practice here, but my sister thinking US might be better. But then if you are tight to a Green Card, then it is kind of risky, what if you cannot work? Like what if she marries a Canadian and wants to start a family, can she even get one year mat leave without having to leave? I don't know. Or what if you open your own practice? Anyway, I would suggest her to stay, but it is up to them to decide.