Is it possible to retire to the USA?

[Bevdeforges]

Re your parents: they had you as a "sponsor" living in the US.

Lots of folks I know who have retired to the US are married to US citizens or have other family there (parents, children, brothers and sisters), which gives them a certain priority.

The most interesting (and possibly frustrating) cases are career diplomats - assigned perhaps to the UN or other international body which allows them a visa with relatively no hassle. If THEY want to stay in the US for retirement, things can get very tricky as they may not qualify for any other sort of visa after their diplomatic employment ends!

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Re your parents: they had you as a "sponsor" living in the US.

Lots of folks I know who have retired to the US are married to US citizens or have other family there (parents, children, brothers and sisters), which gives them a certain priority.

The most interesting (and possibly frustrating) cases are career diplomats - assigned perhaps to the UN or other international body which allows them a visa with relatively no hassle. If THEY want to stay in the US for retirement, things can get very tricky as they may not qualify for any other sort of visa after their diplomatic employment ends!

That is not true. I was NOT a sponsor. I chose not to be a sponsor as it was not necessary nor of any benefit to them. Being a sponsor would have required me to divulge a lot of personal and financial information to the government which I was not about to do for something that had no value to begin with. They qualified on their own without me.

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by JohnSoCal

They qualified on their own without me.

OK, but do you know what type of visa they managed to qualify for?

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

OK, but do you know what type of visa they managed to qualify for?

As I said earlier, they received a resident visa ( aka "Green Card" ).

[Bevdeforges]

Sorry, John, I misunderstood. They were fortunate. I know lots of folks who apply for green cards (permanent resident visas) and have considerable trouble getting them. I suppose it depends on where you're coming from and what sort of situation you're in

[synthia]

Are there different rules for Canadians under NAFTA? And when did your parents get the green card? Before the lottery system was introduced?

I'm sort of surprised that a Canadian would retire permanently to the US, since national health benefits can be lost if a Canadian stays out of the country too long.

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by synthia

Are there different rules for Canadians under NAFTA? And when did your parents get the green card? Before the lottery system was introduced?

I'm sort of surprised that a Canadian would retire permanently to the US, since national health benefits can be lost if a Canadian stays out of the country too long.

They moved here prior to NAFTA and yes, the lottery system was in place. They did have to wait a couple of years for the process to complete.

They acquired their own medical insurance in the US which was better than what they had in Canada. The cost of the insurance was more than offset by the lower income taxes in the US.

Because they were retiring to the US, they did not have to deal with the labor requirements which made the process of acquiring their Green Cards much easiier than somebody that is going to work here.

[synthia]

Originally Posted by JohnSoCal

They did have to wait a couple of years for the process to complete.

So it's a really long process, I gather? Are there different kinds of green cards? Are they allowed to work, or were they old enough that there was an assumption that they wouldn't?

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by synthia

So it's a really long process, I gather? Are there different kinds of green cards? Are they allowed to work, or were they old enough that there was an assumption that they wouldn't?

A "Green Card" is the same for everybody. They could work or do pretty well anything that a US citizen could do except vote. The main thing economically was that they had to demonstrate that they had sufficient income from pensions etc. to support themselves. They have both passed away.

[synthia]

Interesting.