Citizenship for wife

N

Niral Modi

Registered Users (C)
I am a U.S. Citizen and I filed for my wife an Indian Citizen in March 2004. She got her conditional greencard in January 2005. She has been in the U.S. for 6 years now (F-1 and H1 visa before we got married.)

Now we are planning to go back to India in March of 2007 which is 26 months after getting her conditional greencard. So she will meet her 18 months requirements.

The questions I have are the following
1) When can we file for her citizenship (can we count her f1/h1 visa days count towards the 18 months from the 3 years)
2) If we cant use the f1/h1 visa days towards her residence days when and how can we ensure that she gets her citizenship.

Do we have to come back to the U.S. in October 07 and file for her citizenship -

How long does the process take,

and do we have to stay in the country throughout the citizenship waiting process. We are open to coming to the U.S. multiple times to ensure that we meet the citizenship requirements
 
Niral Modi said:
I am a U.S. Citizen and I filed for my wife an Indian Citizen in March 2004. She got her conditional greencard in January 2005. She has been in the U.S. for 6 years now (F-1 and H1 visa before we got married.)

Now we are planning to go back to India in March of 2007 which is 26 months after getting her conditional greencard. So she will meet her 18 months requirements.

The questions I have are the following
1) When can we file for her citizenship (can we count her f1/h1 visa days count towards the 18 months from the 3 years)
2) If we cant use the f1/h1 visa days towards her residence days when and how can we ensure that she gets her citizenship.

Do we have to come back to the U.S. in October 07 and file for her citizenship -

How long does the process take,

and do we have to stay in the country throughout the citizenship waiting process. We are open to coming to the U.S. multiple times to ensure that we meet the citizenship requirements
Click to expand...


First i do not think her days as h1/f1 counts.
Second be careful with your travel plans,if you are out of the country for more than 6 months you break the continuous residency,which means you wil have to wait for a longer period...

hope this helps
 
The 3 years starts from the date her GC was granted - normally the same as whats printed on the card itself. Sounds like Jan 2008, provided you don't break continuous residency with any trips longer than 6 months.
 
So as long as we dont stay out of the country for more than 6 months then we will be ok correct.
We are based in chicago do you know how long is the application/ fingerprinting/ oath process.

Also once we apply for the citizenship do we have to stay in the U.S. and wait for the paperwork to be approved.
 
Niral Modi said:
So as long as we dont stay out of the country for more than 6 months then we will be ok correct.
We are based in chicago do you know how long is the application/ fingerprinting/ oath process.

Also once we apply for the citizenship do we have to stay in the U.S. and wait for the paperwork to be approved.
Click to expand...
niral bhai,
just make sure even if u have to go to india,you come back within like 5 months..apply for the citizenship.You can go out once u apply for citizenship,However it is highly advisable that you stay back atleast till your wife is done with her fp.Else just make sure you have some strong ties with u.s.a on your visit to india.
 
In addition to whats already been said, its probably worth mentioning that you will need to be able to demonstrate your wife's continued residence in the US and that the trips to India are temporary in nature. Possessions in storage, vehicles, bank accounts, property etc can all be used to show where you intend to reside in the future.

Also, don't forget there is a requirement for minimum 3 months residency in the district to which you apply for N-400. This is easily satisfied providing your US address hasn't changed recently, and/or you hold drivers license or state id with that address on it.

Check the Chicago Tracker thread for info on processing times in that region.

good luck
boatbod
 
Before I make any final moves I wanted your opinion,

I am a US Citizen, my wife has finished 31 months of continous residence in the US as a GC holder. My wife who works for a big 5 it consulting company has an opportunity to work for the company in India (we are saying its 6 months but we might never come back).
I do want her to become a US Citizen so planning to file her citizenship application in October (GC recd jan 11 2005) and I had a few questions.

1) If we do leave for india in september 2007, can we file the application either remotely or a month early as in on 32nd month.
2) When should we expect to get her fingerprinting
3) Is fingerprinting possible in Mumbai consulate
4) What is the process after fingerprinting
5) She will get a US $ salary (though it might be lower based on Indian salaries) will that help to prove US residence
6) Is this a reasonably safe approach, assmuing we continue to have our us bank accounts, 401k, etc.
 
desiR2I said:
Before I make any final moves I wanted your opinion,

I am a US Citizen, my wife has finished 31 months of continous residence in the US as a GC holder. My wife who works for a big 5 it consulting company has an opportunity to work for the company in India (we are saying its 6 months but we might never come back).
I do want her to become a US Citizen so planning to file her citizenship application in October (GC recd jan 11 2005) and I had a few questions.

1) If we do leave for india in september 2007, can we file the application either remotely or a month early as in on 32nd month.
2) When should we expect to get her fingerprinting
3) Is fingerprinting possible in Mumbai consulate
4) What is the process after fingerprinting
5) She will get a US $ salary (though it might be lower based on Indian salaries) will that help to prove US residence
6) Is this a reasonably safe approach, assmuing we continue to have our us bank accounts, 401k, etc.
Click to expand...

People you must realize you must LIVE in the US to file for US Citizenship. You can't just do it remotely. If you plan on leaving the US, just cancel the N-400 and don't bother with the citizenship, or wait till after it is done which can take several months to over a year depending on many issues.

Anyone not residing in the US will have to prove and demonstrate that they are still living and residing in the US (comming back for a short period as a visit does not count).

When you file for the N-400 you will eventually get your FP notice to show up at the specific place. So if you're in India you need to fly back for that exact date at that exact office.

$401k and salary does nothing to show you are residing in the US. You physically must live here. So either decline the job until she gets the citizenship or decline the N-400 and risk abandoning the current green card as well...
 
DesiR2I,
Since "we may never come back" is also an option is your plans, best thing would be to stay put in the US until your wife becomes a citizen. You can leave these shores forever the next day.
 
You have to maintain continuous residence in the US from the date of applying for citizenship right up until being granted citizenship. This is in addition to the 5-year or 3-year requirement prior to submitting the application.

Leaving the US for one single trip of 6 months doesn't break continuous residence for citizenship purposes, but multiple trips of less than 6 months each can break the continuous residence.
 
This thread demonstrates that sometimes one cannot have the cake and eat it too. Either one is willing to make sacrifices/accommodations to naturalize or naturalization becomes difficult. I think the subtext of most of these questions is "can I get away with this?" The answer is we don't know, you're welcome to give it a try and come back and tell us. If I were a IO and were suspicious I would ask to see the passport. The stamps are going to be very telling about where one is living. Next step is asking for documents to prove residence and then the N-400 is really in jeopardy. On the other hand the IO perhaps doesn't see anything fishy and doesn't check the passport, or perhaps one can get away by saying that it is a temporary stay out of the country but the intention is to come back to the U.S. One way or another it seems to me it is just complicating one's life a bit too much.

My 2 cents.
 
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Huracan said:
This thread demonstrates that sometimes one cannot have the cake and eat it too. Either one is willing to make sacrifices/accommodations to naturalize or naturalization becomes difficult. I think the subtext of most of these questions is "can I get away with this?" The answer is we don't know, you're welcome to give it a try and come back and tell us. If I were a IO and were suspicious I would ask to see the passport. The stamps are going to be very telling about where one is leaving. Next step is asking for documents to prove residence and then the N-400 is really in jeopardy. On the other hand the IO perhaps doesn't see anything fishy and doesn't check the passport, or perhaps one can get away by saying that it is a temporary stay out of the country but the intention is to come back to the U.S. One way or another it seems to me it is just complicating one's life a bit too much.
Click to expand...
It is getting amusing to see all these questions that have the same theme "I want to do all things that are against the rules or very questionable and make my case very complicated. Is it OK for me to do it and still get a student visa/green card/citizenship/whatever for myself/my spouse/children/parents?"
 
I just talked to an immigration lawyer and he clarified that if my move to India is for a short time (less then 6 months) there is no breakage of residency and hence no reason why filing for citizenship will be an issue. As long as you work for a us company and they send you to India to work you are covered.

Here is a question that comes in my mind. If I have filed for citizenship and my company wants me to go to UK for 2 months to work on a project would I have to cancel my application or If my family is sick and I have to move back to the home country to take care of family would that mean I am giving up my citizenship application.
 
You can make a single trip UP TO six months duration with little impact to a citizenship application. Where things get complicated is if your trip extends beyond the six month time frame, or if you try to circumvent the continuous residence rules by segmenting a longer trip with short return "visits" to the US.
 
boatbod said:
You can make a single trip UP TO six months duration with little impact to a citizenship application. Where things get complicated is if your trip extends beyond the six month time frame, or if you try to circumvent the continuous residence rules by segmenting a longer trip with short return "visits" to the US.
Click to expand...

my wife will be a citizen in 6 months if the current chicago timeline of 3-4 months still works.
 
desiR2I said:
my wife will be a citizen in 6 months if the current chicago timeline of 3-4 months still works.
Click to expand...

Maybe so, but it really wouldn't be a good idea to be living abroad when your wife is called for interview. IOs have an uncanny way of zeroing in on problem areas and asking all sorts of awkward questions.

Also, delays due to namecheck or misrouted files are becoming increasingly common, so you cannot guarantee someone will be naturalized within a certain timeframe.
 
Working for a US company does not preserve your residency necessarily. Yes some IO's could agree that it does while others may not. The entire thing depending on if you are permenently living overseas for good with the US job then you are not being a resident. Many Canadians for example work in the US but reside in Canada, they work for US companies but are not preserving or doing any US residency. So that working for a US company and not comming back will not apply to you.

Either forfiet the N-400 and move, or wait here till she becomes a US Citizen. You have to make the decision which would benefit you in the future. Yes you can try, but with what you've shown, I have strong bets it will be declined and you just wasted the money and time...
 
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