Residence permit, permanent residence permit, citizenship: what is the difference and what advantages do they offer?
When you legalizing in another country, one way or another you will encounter such concepts as "residence permit", "permanent residence permit", "citizenship". Let's try to understand what is the difference between these migration statuses and what advantages they provide to the holder. In this article we propose to deal with migration statuses. What they mean, what they have in common, what is the difference and what advantages each of them gives. All these statuses grant the right of their holder to legally stay on the territory of the country. At the same time, they differ in terms of the set of rights and obligations, the duration of residence in the country and the procedure for extending or confirming this status.
Residence Permit — a document (status) granting the right to reside in the territory of the country for a limited period of time. |
Residence Permit
- possibility to stay in the country without a visa within the validity period of residence permit,
- visa-free travel between EU countries (if you have an EU residence permit),
- enter and leave the country an unlimited number of times,
- access to opening bank accounts (banks are often not ready to provide their services at all or reduce the opportunities for individuals who do not live in the country),
- the possibility of purchasing real estate (in some countries there are restrictions for foreigners without status),
- obtaining a residence permit for minor children at the same time as the main applicant,
- the right to legally work in the country (depending on the type of residence permit),
- applying for visa support to foreign embassies in the country.
Main risk
Non-renewal of the residence permit after its expiration, even if the applicant formally complies with the established requirements, or its early termination. Also, you need to have legal grounds to extend the status for another term.
Granting a residence permit is always a right of the country, but not an obligation.
Thus, in 2022-2023 citizens of some countries often faced the problem, when European countries did not extend the residence permit, even if the applicants have the right to work in the country, and Turkey did not extend the residence permit issued earlier on the basis of rental of residential real estate. As can be seen, such risks are exacerbated when the global political environment changes, so it should be taken into account.
Permanent residence permit
In addition to the rights available with a residence permit, the status of a permanent residence permit gives the following:
- one can work without restrictions in companies (often there are restrictions on holding public positions),
- access to benefits and social infrastructure often on an equal footing with citizens,
- the possibility to obtain the status of a citizen in the future (many countries provide for such an option),
- no periodic renewal procedures are required and therefore no permanent compliance with requirements.
Without the desire of the individual, it is possible to lose the permanent residence permit on statutory grounds. Often such grounds are, for example, repeated and (or) malicious violation of the legislation of the country (e.g., violation of traffic rules or failure to fulfill tax obligations) that issued the permanent residence permit or, for example, it turns out that the permanent residence permit was obtained on the basis of forged documents.
Citizenship
This status provides an individual full set of rights, but it is important not to forget that it also imposes a number of obligations.
If you have the status, you get political rights (the right to vote and be elected to the state authorities), the possibility acquire the citizenship for spouses, dependents and minor children.
The main thing is that citizenship can be revoked only in extreme cases or it is not possible at all.
Access to public service is also usually linked to citizenship.
It should not be forgotten that citizenship status gives access to a full range of rights, but also entails responsibilities. In many foreign legal orders, military duty is based on a contractual (contractual) basis. However, some countries (Israel, Greece, Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan and Cyprus) provide for universal military duty on the basis of citizenship. There are also peculiarities. The law of the Kyrgyz Republic on universal military duty states that citizens who have completed military service in the armed forces of other states before obtaining citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic are exempted from conscription.
Belonging to one or another citizenship will have an impact in the framework of criminal prosecution and decision on extradition of a person to one or another country.
Termination of status
Since residence permits and permanent residence permits essentially only provide additional rights to a person, the issue of voluntarily depriving oneself of these rights is not particularly relevant. At the same time, it should be noted that the termination of such status is usually a simple procedure.
This is not the case with the termination of citizenship. Often the state establishes a number of procedures for renouncing citizenship, which may take a long time or may not be feasible at all. There may also be tax consequences - for example, when terminating US citizenship, there is an expatriation tax (exit tax) - when the tax is calculated based on the amount an individual would have received if he or she had sold all of his or her assets at market value the day before renouncing citizenship. Failure to perform military service in Belarus may be an obstacle to renouncing citizenship if you are of conscription age and fit to perform military service. Unfulfilled tax obligations may also put a cross on renunciation of citizenship. Analyzing this issue will help you to avoid difficulties in the future.
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