Citizenship & Long-Term Status
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Sponsoring relatives, wills that actually work, and the voting and jury rules that turn on citizenship.
Sponsoring relatives — what citizens can do that residents can'tWho you can bring, and how long they wait, depends on YOUR status. Citizens can sponsor parents, married children and siblings; green-card holders are limited to spouses and unmarried children — and everyone outside 'immediate relative' waits in a preference-category queue.
Wills in the US — state law, probate, and what a will can't doDie without a will and your STATE's intestacy law decides who inherits — a formula that may look nothing like your family's expectations, especially with relatives abroad. And for many assets, the beneficiary form on the account overrides the will anyway.
Voting: a citizens-only right — and a career-ending trap for everyone elseOnly US citizens may vote in federal elections. For a green-card holder, even accidentally REGISTERING — a checkbox at the DMV — can lead to removal proceedings and permanently bar naturalization. This is the strictest bright line in settled-immigrant life.
The jury summons — what to do as a citizen, and as a green-card holderJury lists are pulled from DMV and voter rolls, so green-card holders DO get summonses. Only citizens may serve — but you can't just bin the letter. Respond and claim the noncitizen disqualification; ignoring a summons is its own offence.