Differences between citizenship and permanent residence

Many people in Florida were born in the U.S. and have been citizens since the time of their birth. However, as most people are aware there are also many people in Florida who have come to the U.S. at some point in time in their life. Some have temporary visas which allow them to be in the U.S. for a short period of time, but there are many others who can live in the country permanently.

There are two main ways that people can do this legally. They could have their Green Card and be a permanent resident or they could have citizenship. Both allow people to live in the U.S. permanently and leave the country and still come back legally, but there are differences between them as well.

One of the differences is that those with a Green Card need to renew it every 10 years. Also, people can lose their permanent resident status for various reasons such as committing certain crimes or if they reside outside of the U.S. for too long of a period of time. In contrast people with citizenship can never lose that status and cannot lose their legal status to be in the country. Another big difference between the two is that people with Green Cards are not allowed to vote or partake in civic life. People with citizenship also can sponsor a broader range of family members trying to enter the country.

There are many people in Florida who are permanent residents with a Green Card. While this allows people the ability to live and work in the country, there are still a number of privileges that they cannot realize until they obtain citizenship. There is a process that one must go through in order to obtain citizenship and experienced attorneys may be able to guide one through it.

Source: uscitizenship.info, “What is the difference between U.S. citizenship and Permanent Residence?,” accessed on July 31, 2017