A - As a green card holder (permanent resident) in the United States you receive most of the rights and privileges of a U.S. citizen, and your day-to-day life in the U.S. is not much different than that of U.S. citizen. Like U.S. citizens, green card holders can live and work in the U.S. for as long as they want, and travel in and out of the country as often as they like. So, why bother with becoming a U.S. citizen? There are a number of good reasons to consider doing so.

While green card holders may reside in the U.S. permanently, they are at risk of losing their green cards if they spend long periods of time outside the U.S. Trips abroad of more than six months result in higher scrutiny of a returning LPR at the port of entry, while trips abroad for over one year may result in a loss of residency status upon return on the grounds that the green card holder abandoned his or her permanent residency in the U.S. U.S. citizens, on the other hand, are free to travel or live abroad for any period of time and for any purpose.

Similarly, the green card holder is at risk of being deported if he or she is convicted of a crime. Many crimes, including serious and some minor offenses, may carry deportation consequences. If you are a citizen, however, criminal problems (with few rare exceptions) will not put you at risk of deportation.

Many political rights, such as voting, jury service, and employment with government agencies are only available to U.S. citizens. Similarly, only citizens can qualify for various political offices.

U.S. citizens receive priority treatment when it comes to immigrating their family members. For example, a U.S. citizen may sponsor their spouse, and except for a brief processing time of a few months, he or she immediately obtains permanent residence status. The same is true for minor children of citizens (under age 21), and parents of adult citizens. U.S. citizens can also sponsor adult children and siblings, though the wait for permanent residency status in these cases may be several years. Green card holders, on the other hand, cannot sponsor parents or siblings, and the wait to bring in spouses and children is much longer than for citizens.

Other important differences in the rights and privileges of U.S. citizens versus green card holders include, access to certain public benefits and federal grants, and certain federally-issued commercial licenses.

Finally, it is worth noting that there is no prohibition under U.S. laws against U.S. citizens holding dual citizenship. Whether or not an individual can hold dual citizenship in both, the United States and their home country is determined based on the home country's own laws respecting who is or is not a citizen. Israel, along with many other countries, including Canada, U.K. and France, permit their citizens to obtain U.S. citizenship without giving up their citizenship.