The question is basically - where would you live and work - US or Switzerland.

I have been living in Switzerland (Zurich & Geneva) for 12 years and really consider it my second home (it is actually time to apply for a passport). About 4 years ago I have also won a Greencard via diversity lottery and until now maintained it by coming from time to time to the US, applying for "travel documents" and filing taxes. I was tempted to move at one point to South CA. Now maintaining GC becomes a real pain taxwise and I just almost at the point to give it up. What would you do? Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

Unless you really plan to live and work in the US, I'd give it up. The taxation hassle is only going to increase and jobs are difficult enough to come by in the States. The American Dream draws many, but if the reality is that 47% of the population are so poor they can't pay income then the country is in a very sad state and that Dream will be hard to fulfill. If you're happy here, commit.

I speak as an American who spent her formative years in the heart of the country. I am also going to renounce my citizenship. I have few ties to the States, having spent many years in the UK and now Switzerland. I love the US dearly and in many ways it will always be "home", but I would not go back there to live.

Crazy how things have changed in just a few years. People used to be willing to do anything for a green card....

Not sure about your financial situation but if your tax bill is not dramatically higher by retaining the green card, i would keep it for a few years longer to see which way the wind blows in the US. I am still hesitant to write the US off.

Good news is Obama only needs 4% to win

Obama will probably suffer voter apathy to a much greater extent than Romney, his people are motivated to get off their asses and vote.

im in the process of getting mine now. the American dream is very much alive.

cannot wait to get out of here ( I lived 5 years in the USA ) and never return.

Man what would I give for a green card ... ! And you want to toss it away just like that.

Having a good job here in CH and nothing yet set in US does not make this choice easy. Green card holders are also required to pay US taxes on top of Swiss ones ...

If you don't have it in you to move to the US, I would give it up. A US Passport or Green Card is only an asset inside the US; outside it becomes a toxic liability (banks and onerous reporting requirements that if even 99.9% compliant could lead to life altering penalties). Don't believe the pep talk that you are entitled to the protection of the US government while abroad; the US can't even protect its own diplomatic missions (Iran 1979, Libya 2012, etc...).

The US will be facing some really rough years ahead and the tax system will only become a heavier burden (more confiscatory and penalizing) for non-resident US persons. Last time the US had an analogous fiscal situation was in the late 1940s; super high taxes (up to 95% of income above certain high bracket thresholds) were in place throughout the 1950s to restore the country's fiscal health (the fact that global economic competition was absent helped maintain such super high taxes as all the other major industrial powers were bombed out of existence a decade prior). The current global competitive environment is completely different than the one that existed in the 1950s.

I hold a US passport and I intend to relinquish it once my Swiss arrives, unless Congress decides to finally rationalize the US Tax Code (in other words, make a US passport an asset for non-residents; chances of that are almost nil I believe). I lived in the US for almost a decade, no way I would voluntarily leave CH for the US.

There are a lot of reasons other than "being poor" to not pay income taxes, one of them being a full-time student or being a pensioner. The US isn't quite as bad as the media you rely upon would have you believe. The one thing the US will always have is optimism, no matter how poorly placed, in the future. Read "leaves of grass"

My advice to the OP is that if you aren't happy enough in Switzerland to live there forever, hang on to that greencard. Taxes are tough, but unless you are making more than 120k CHF, it's probably not much of a burden aside from the hassle of filing.

That optimism is a big reason why the US got itself in its current mess (and will probably make things worse).

What I fear is that the US will start developing a "lost empire complex" in the coming decades as it is forced to scale back its unaffordable superpower status and "share turf" with other emerging powers (same with Britain in the 1950s-1960s and Russia in the 1990s).

Since you arent a native, you won't understand how optimism is the defining force in what it is to be American. It took me 20 years of being an expat and being an American to truly get what Ralph Waldo was getting at. The US isn't so much an empire, as a country in a position to try and corner the last of the petroleum reserves....I dont like the conflicts, but I can understand wanting to corner the last of the energy rich oil while it's cheap to get. The EU can be as disapproving as it wants but when oil gets scarce, disapproval and 100 deutsche marks will get you a cup of coffee.

Define "native", I've held a US passport since birth, have visited almost all 50 states, have lived (spent at least 5 consecutive months) in 8 states (both coasts, Midwest and South) and have even served in the US Armed Forces for a few years. I believe I understand the country and society pretty darn well (I would argue better than most "natives").

The romanticism and idealism of "being an American" gets shattered pretty quickly when you scratch the surface. You really want to understand the country? Join the US Armed Forces; its the perfect portrayal of American society, mixing its best and worst elements in one single location. I've learned more about the country and people there than anywhere else.

The "America being an Empire" point is always taboo; many people are still blinded by the country's exceptionalism and uniqueness to even consider the possibility that if something looks and acts like an elephant, it should probably be an elephant.

And if the US is trying to corner the last remnants of cheap oil, it is doing an unbelievably lousy job. Invading Iraq and pressuring Iran during the past 10 years hasn't done much in bringing the price down (neither has debasing the US dollar due to poor fiscal and economic management, which forces other countries to also debase, making oil more expensive for everyone).

If anything, I think 100 German Marks (if it ever returns) will probably go much further than 100 US Dollars.

You may not have an option one day - my husband had to give his up last year because he was told by USCIS "you can't do this anymore" (come in and out every few months and expect to maintain residency).
I would say it is worth keeping while you can, even if the filing taxes is a pain in the rear. Good luck!!

I, too, can't let this statement go by without comment - you keep bringing this up in threads about the US...and as has been pointed out, not paying taxes does not mean you are too poor to do so. That is 1 group of the 47%, which also includes some military personnel, seniors, people who put kids through college and can use tuition fees as a deduction, and even people like me...

If you don't intend on moving to the US, I wouldn't keep the green card as there are too many hassles, and then maybe someone who does want to go can use it...

I think you wrote the answer to your question unless you consider US as your first home....

As much as I am dismayed by the current state of affairs in the US, and despite the ulcer building up while trying to make heads or tails out of my tax forms...

If the tax/reporting situation and any FATCA fallout is manageable for you, I'd hang on to the greencard. For one simple reason:

You never know where life might lead you. Why close off a route if you don't have to?

I'm looking back from the perspective of my advanced years. Twenty-five years ago I though I had life mapped out, knew where the path was headed. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I'd end up on the expat merry-go-round. That we were able to take advantage of opportunies as they arose has made all the difference.

As we all know, immigration is getting more and more difficult today - and today many miss a key opportunity because of permit barriers. If the greencard has proven too costly a luxury, understandable that one would want to give it up. But as long as carrying the 'baggage' the greencard entails isn't too onerous, why give up a potential advantage?

'Cause life has a funny way of pulling surprises...

Yep, the rigamarole of trying to get my hubby to the US nearly 5yrs ago tells me that if you've already GOT a Greencard, unless you are totally sure you are never going to move, keep it until they make you give it up. (I came here because it was far more simple, and less costly for us - we're hoping one day to move back, but waiting to see what happens with immigration policies and health care in the coming years.)

Of course, as others have said, if the burden is too great, give it up now, if you can bear it though, hang onto it.

Good luck with your decision, whatever it may be.

Amercian Dream = Girl meets boy during WWII and marries him. Comes to US, they have two kids. The kids marry nice American guys and have two kids each. They all live comfortably and enjoy their lives. Sounds great doesn't it. The reality is that now neither of the kids or their husbands have a job and the senior's pension is having to help support two because the unemployment for her younger child (who lives at home because she can't afford a place of her own) ran out long ago. Of the 4 grandchildren, 1 has a well paying job, 1 is retraining as a nurse having had his business go under, 1 has training but can't find a job and the other has a severely disabled child to look after. Personal example, but I expect it's replicated in many parts of the US.

People see the glitz and glamour of places like New York, Washington, Los Angeles, etc, but forget those places are a very small part of America. They also forget that even in those places many people are working two or sometimes three jobs to make ends meet.

If the OP truly wants to take the step and use his Green Card then yes, he should keep it. But if not, why bother?

Nobody in America has a "complex". Other countries have a complex about America.