Getting new green card through marriage after giving it up

claspalmaritas

New Member
Hi,

I have a green card through employment (actually my old employer) and am considering leaving the country for family reasons (aging parents need help).

I am trying to apply for double citizenship to allow me to go back/forth without the hassle of coming back to the US every 6 months. My home country (Austria) does NOT allow for double citizenship by default, you have to apply and get approved on a case-by-case basis, so this may not work.

Applying for a re-entry permit is probably my next option if the double citizenship doesn't go through. However, the reason I need to go back is to help with aging parents, so I would rather have a more flexible timeline than a re-entry permit may allow.

I am married to a US Citizen and we have a child who is also US citizen. We we were married after I received my green card. Is it possible for me to give up my green card (which I received through work) now and then reapply for a green card through marriage when we come back to the US? If yes, would the new green card take approximately 3-6 months that is typical for getting a green card through marriage.

Any advice or other options/ideas is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
 
What is double citizenship? As a green card holder, you're a citizen of Austria, and not of the US. Applying for US citizenship is another process.

You can formally surrender the green card using form i407 if you intend to live overseas for a lengthy period of time. But that means applying for a visa (or ESTA?) if you want to visit the US on occasion. Once ready to move to the US for good, your US spouse can repetition you for a green card. You have to stay out of the US during that time, and takes about a year for an IR1 visa interview, which leads to a green card after US entry.

Or apply for a re-entry permit valid for 2 years and you're eligible stay out of the US while maintaining the green card. The permit can be renewed twice for an additional 2+1 years. The drawback is that you have to wait longer to become eligible for US citizenship, if that is your eventual goal.
 
Maybe I’m missing something but I don’t see the sense of surrendering a green card planning to reapply for one later. The re-entry permit makes more sense to me. It’s more flexible, it’s cheaper, you’re not subject to arbitrarily changing timelines, and you don’t have to go through the hassle of new petitions, affidavits of support etc. You can come back as you wish but don’t risk losing the green card for an extended absence as long as it is under 2 years and as pointed out above, a renewal is possible.
 
What is double citizenship? As a green card holder, you're a citizen of Austria, and not of the US. Applying for US citizenship is another process.

Double citizenship is being a dual citizen in both US and Austria. US allows double citizenship. Austria does not.
Thank you for advice.
 
Double citizenship is being a dual citizen in both US and Austria. US allows double citizenship. Austria does not.
Thank you for advice.

Have you applied for US citizenship? How long have you had your employment-based green card?

Technically the term is dual citizenship.
 
Double citizenship is being a dual citizen in both US and Austria. US allows double citizenship. Austria does not.
Thank you for advice.
Us doesn't allow Dual Citizenship but it isn't enforced either. When you take the oath of allegiance required to get US citizenship. You swear fealty to the USA only . It's a thin line . So to flat out say they allow dual citizenship isn't entirely a true statement.

Eg my brother is in the Airforce and had to get documentation proving he Renounced citizenship to our home country .
 
Maybe I’m missing something but I don’t see the sense of surrendering a green card planning to reapply for one later. The re-entry permit makes more sense to me. It’s more flexible, it’s cheaper, you’re not subject to arbitrarily changing timelines, and you don’t have to go through the hassle of new petitions, affidavits of support etc. You can come back as you wish but don’t risk losing the green card for an extended absence as long as it is under 2 years and as pointed out above, a renewal is possible.
OP this would be best ^
 
Have you applied for US citizenship? How long have you had your employment-based green card?

Technically the term is dual citizenship.

Thanks for clarifying the term. I haven't applied for US citizenship because I'm awaiting for approval on the Austrian side that I'm allowed to have dual citizenship. If I get US citizenship w/o prior approval, I would lose my Austrian which I don't want. Currently, I'm waiting for this approval on the Austrian side but if it doesn't work then a re-entry permit is probably the next step. But it's been taking a long time on the Austrian side and the re-entry permit could take awhile to get approved (from what I read) and in the meantime traveling back to Austria to help with family affairs has been difficult as we have a young child. So a friend suggested looking into giving up my current employment-based green card, going to Austria and taking care of family as needed and then re-applying for a green card through marriage when we're ready to come back to the US for good.

From the advice above, this idea opens up it's own can of worms that could be much more complicated than a re-entry permit.

I've had my employment-based green card for 4 years, I've lived in the US for 14 year and it took me 10+ years to get it so I really don't want to give it up if I don't have to.
 
Thanks for clarifying the term. I haven't applied for US citizenship because I'm awaiting for approval on the Austrian side that I'm allowed to have dual citizenship. If I get US citizenship w/o prior approval, I would lose my Austrian which I don't want. Currently, I'm waiting for this approval on the Austrian side but if it doesn't work then a re-entry permit is probably the next step. But it's been taking a long time on the Austrian side and the re-entry permit could take awhile to get approved (from what I read) and in the meantime traveling back to Austria to help with family affairs has been difficult as we have a young child. So a friend suggested looking into giving up my current employment-based green card, going to Austria and taking care of family as needed and then re-applying for a green card through marriage when we're ready to come back to the US for good.

From the advice above, this idea opens up it's own can of worms that could be much more complicated than a re-entry permit.

I've had my employment-based green card for 4 years, I've lived in the US for 14 year and it took me 10+ years to get it so I really don't want to give it up if I don't have to.

If your husband would move with you then the new spouse visa route becomes even more complicated as he’d need to show intent to re-establish domicile & what US source of earnings he’d use to sponsor you. Depending on your circumstances this might be easy enough, but it might not be.
 
Also you don’t need to wait until the re-entry permit is approved before leaving, only till biometrics which is usually a few weeks after filing. Once that’s done you can ask them to send the permit to the closest consulate to where you’d be.
 
Would the USC spouse (and/or the son) also move overseas with you?

These things do get complicated. Immigration is never easy. Is the wait time for Austrian approval of dual citizenship routine, or is there a complexity such as you being born in another country and Naturalized in Austria?
 
If your husband would move with you then the new spouse visa route becomes even more complicated as he’d need to show intent to re-establish domicile & what US source of earnings he’d use to sponsor you. Depending on your circumstances this might be easy enough, but it might not be.

My husband would move with me. We didn't think about the complications of him having to show intent to re-establish domicile. I assume that only applies if I give up the green card, not if we go the re-entry visa route.

While he should be able to show source/earning to sponsor me, going through that process sounds like a nightmare. And with the immigration politics and policies in both countries changing so rapidly, it sounds like giving up the green card is more risky move. We want to avoid us being "trapped" over there because I can't come back to live/work in the US.
 
Would the USC spouse (and/or the son) also move overseas with you?
These things do get complicated. Immigration is never easy. Is the wait time for Austrian approval of dual citizenship routine, or is there a complexity such as you being born in another country and Naturalized in Austria?

Yes my spouse and daughter would come with me, so as SusieQQQ, that could actually complicate the matter. I assume there's no easy path for getting a green card or re-establishing residency in the US as the mother to my US-citizen daughter?

Regarding Austria wait time. The complexity is because it's a case-by-case basis that one has to apply for dual citizenship. Our attorney says that the immigration policies over there have been tightening the last year also so these things have taken longer. Hopefully we're getting to the end of the process so we can decide next options.
 
My husband would move with me. We didn't think about the complications of him having to show intent to re-establish domicile. I assume that only applies if I give up the green card, not if we go the re-entry visa route.

While he should be able to show source/earning to sponsor me, going through that process sounds like a nightmare. And with the immigration politics and policies in both countries changing so rapidly, it sounds like giving up the green card is more risky move. We want to avoid us being "trapped" over there because I can't come back to live/work in the US.

Correct about only needing to show that for a new immigrant visa (and bear in mind the public charge rules are tightening up).
 
Yes my spouse and daughter would come with me, so as SusieQQQ, that could actually complicate the matter. I assume there's no easy path for getting a green card or re-establishing residency in the US as the mother to my US-citizen daughter?

Getting an IR1 visa is not as much a matter of complexity as it's a matter of re-establishing domicile and processing time. But that would all be moot by going the reentry permit route.
 
The permit can be renewed twice for an additional 2+1 years. The drawback is that you have to wait longer to become eligible for US citizenship, if that is your eventual goal.

What does "2+1" mean?

Does the time outside of the country add to the required wait time? For example, if I needed 3 years after marriage to apply for US citizenship, and I was out of the country on a re-entry permit for 1 year. That 1 year would push back my eligibility date to 4 years total correct? Or does being out of the country reset the clock in some way I'm not familiar with?

Thank you so much for your advice.
 
What does "2+1" mean?

Does the time outside of the country add to the required wait time? For example, if I needed 3 years after marriage to apply for US citizenship, and I was out of the country on a re-entry permit for 1 year. That 1 year would push back my eligibility date to 4 years total correct? Or does being out of the country reset the clock in some way I'm not familiar with?

Thank you so much for your advice.
2 +1 as in the 3rd time you apply for the entry permit you're likely to get 1 year instead 2 years . Yes being out of the country on a re reentry permit resets your citizenship eligibility clock . Only thing the re entry permit does is preserve your GC. As without it you would've abandoned your GC after being out for over a year !!
 
What does "2+1" mean?

Does the time outside of the country add to the required wait time? For example, if I needed 3 years after marriage to apply for US citizenship, and I was out of the country on a re-entry permit for 1 year. That 1 year would push back my eligibility date to 4 years total correct? Or does being out of the country reset the clock in some way I'm not familiar with?

Thank you so much for your advice.

The total time you can get on a reentry permit is 5 years. The 2+1 referred above is the allowed renewals, after the first 2 year one.

Yes, being out of the country for longer than 6 months normally resets your continuous residence clock. So for a married spouse, you’d start all over again with the 3 year countdown from the date you re-enter the US on your return from living overseas. So no, it wouldn’t just add one year because you’d have to start again, no matter how long you had resided with a green card before. You need to meet both continuous residence and physical presence requirements to apply for naturalization. Brief version: https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenshi...physical-presence-requirements-naturalization
 
What does "2+1" mean?

Well explained in both posts above.

Re-entry permit preserves your green card, initially for 2 years, but extendable for an additional 2 years and once more for a year after that. Once back in the US for good, the clock starts anew towards US citizenship eligibility. All reentry permit applications must be submitted and biometrics completed while in the US.
 
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