Indian couple: US citizenship for both?

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cbamidimarri

Registered Users (C)
I and my wife are currently indian citizens and us Permanant residents. We are ready to file N-400. Question I have is should we both apply and get US citizenship or only one of us get the US citizenship (i will have US citizenship andmy wife will have Indian citizenship).
Has any one in the past done this? What are the pros & cons of this?
 
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Citizenship for both?

I and my wife are currently indian citizens and us Permanant residents. We are ready to file N-400. Question I have is should we both apply and get US citizenship or only one of us get the US citizenship (i will have US citizenship andmy wife will have Indian citizenship).

Has any one in the past done this? What are the pros & cons of this?
 
cbamidimarri said:
I and my wife are currently indian citizens and us Permanant residents. We are ready to file N-400. Question I have is should we both apply and get US citizenship or only one of us get the US citizenship (i will have US citizenship andmy wife will have Indian citizenship).

Has any one in the past done this? What are the pros & cons of this?
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I am not Indian, but I wonder what is the problem with your have with both of you acquiring US citizenship? I have read many stories on this board, in which both the spouses applied for US citizen together concurrently and upon naturalizing, applying for OCI. If you want to obtain US citizenship, then you can apply and your wife can remain on her Indian citizenship, but she should never be in trouble with US law, which can jeopardize her green card.
 
Al Southner said:
I am not Indian, but I wonder what is the problem with your have with both of you acquiring US citizenship? I have read many stories on this board, in which both the spouses applied for US citizen together concurrently and upon naturalizing, applying for OCI. If you want to obtain US citizenship, then you can apply and your wife can remain on her Indian citizenship, but she should never be in trouble with US law, which can jeopardize her green card.
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Maybe they want to save money!?
 
We pondered over this question before applying, but then decided to apply together anyway. Barring any major issues with your case, I think it makes sense to apply together. If your case is complicated, that is, if you think that there is reason to believe that if denied, USCIS will take away your GC because of fraud etc., then either ways you are in trouble. Even if one of you applied and the method of obtaining of GC was considered illegal, the other one comes in to question as well. If not, then why worry? Worst case, citizenship is denied and you will continue of GC. My two cents :)
 
Let me ask this question differently -
We plan to live in India for next say 10 to 15 years and come back to USA when we are about 60 years and ready to retire and want to apply for retirement benefits. I get my citizenship now and my wife gives back her GC. We will then apply for my wife's & Kids visitor visa's when we plan to come back to USA. This way one of us have Indian citizenship and one has US citizenship.

What is the issue with this approach? any pros / cons with this approach?
 
What benefits do you see if your wife retains Indian citizenship? How do you expect your wife to retire in the US with a visitor visa? What is the guarantee that your wife and kid will even receive visitor visas to US since they are potential immigrants?
Are you planning to re-apply for their immgrant visas again? It now costs over $1400 for each person to immigrate to US. Are you willing to spend upwards of 2 x $1400 later or spend 600 now for citizenship?
 
Issues with what I read (just nit-picking):
#1. Assumption that USA will provide retirement benefits in 15 years time. Or will be a place worth retiring. I am not casting any aspersions on US economy or politics, but 15 years is a long time.
#2. Sorry to be an*l, but what if one of you passes on ... the order in which you pass on will matter. 15 years is a long time to plan getting a dependent visa or GC.
#3. And then the second person has to go through 3 years of GC to get USC + count the processing time in getting GC and N400. And remember all the travel restrictions that come along with that.
#4. What benefit do you derive with one person retaining Indian citizenship? Taxation wise, together you are one unit. If you need to travel, one person has one kind of visa (or waiver) and the other person has to arrange a different kind.
#5. If you are going to live in India on OCI, you can always get back Indian citizenship in 5 years time. Taking USC is not end of the world (contrary to something I posted recently).

Yes, your plan works fine ... but it is a solution in search of a problem. What is the problem we are trying to solve here?

You can live in India for 15 years on OCI and in US thereafter as USC. One taking and other not taking sounds much more complex.
 
cbamidimarri said:
Let me ask this question differently -
We plan to live in India for next say 10 to 15 years and come back to USA when we are about 60 years and ready to retire and want to apply for retirement benefits.
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If you're referring to Social Security, it's not worth coming back to the USA for it. On average it's only about $1000/month, and will probably be less in the future. And if you are a US citizen, you can collect it while living in India. $1000/month gives you a very poor lifestyle in the US, but you can live well in India for that amount.
 
cbamidimarri said:
We plan to live in India for next say 10 to 15 years and come back to USA when we are about 60 years and ready to retire and want to apply for retirement benefits. I get my citizenship now
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You do realize that as a USC you must declare your world income yearly to the IRS, even if you live in India.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=97324,00.html

Also, your US retirement benefits (social security) are based on an earned credit system. Don't assume you'll automatically receive a set amount if you haven't earned enough credits.

http://www.ssa.gov/planners/calculators.htm
 
With both of you taking US citizenship and getting OCI approved for both of you would mean same; one of you can apply for Indian citizenship after living in India for 5 years. I am not sure how much of social security/medicare would remain in next 10-15 years (if at all any benefits will be available). In the event they do have SS benefits available 10-15 years from today, you should be able to get them regardless where you live at that time. From other thread, I understand that you have enough credits available for SS benefits. There are no benefits to keeping Indian citizenship if you plan to return to US eventually. if you are concerned about agriculture/plantation land (inherited or self bought); what you have now will not be impacted with both of you taking US citizenship, though you or your spouse will not be able to acquire additional agriculture/plantation lands.
From process perspective, it would make your life easier with both of you getting US citizenship.
 
olddude said:
With both of you taking US citizenship and getting OCI approved for both of you would mean same; one of you can apply for Indian citizenship after living in India for 5 years. I am not sure how much of social security/medicare would remain in next 10-15 years (if at all any benefits will be available). In the event they do have SS benefits available 10-15 years from today, you should be able to get them regardless where you live at that time. From other thread, I understand that you have enough credits available for SS benefits. There are no benefits to keeping Indian citizenship if you plan to return to US eventually. if you are concerned about agriculture/plantation land (inherited or self bought); what you have now will not be impacted with both of you taking US citizenship, though you or your spouse will not be able to acquire additional agriculture/plantation lands.
From process perspective, it would make your life easier with both of you getting US citizenship.
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Thanks Guys for your replies - Main concern I have is my wife's ability to clear the tests - has very bad memory and her english is very poor. I got hold of these 96 civic questions on the net (i assume they ask 6 out of these 96 only - correct me if this assumption is wrong) + I have been training her for the last 2 months or so and she gets confused the moment i change the question slightly and ask her - she gives different answers. I am really concerned on her ability to clear the test on her own. Added to this there is reall urgency for us to be in India for atleast next 2 /3 years -sooner the better and i can't afford to delay any longer.
So please let me know the best way to handle this issue? and any inputs on how the interview is conducted also will help.
 
Try this if it OK for your situation ONLY.
There are so many test practices on line and in some communities help for this.Check or google in your area.
What if she goes for interview?
If she fails after all she will be given a chances and even if she loses further what happens?
She will not NATZ. but will retain her green card and continue your plans on that.
Or she can apply later again if she wants too.
---Of course any decision depends on your confidence and situation further.
 
cbamidimarri said:
(i assume they ask 6 out of these 96 only - correct me if this assumption is wrong)
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They ask ten questions*, and the applicant must get 6 correct. In practice has she been able to consistently get at least 60% correct? Have you bought any of the audio CDs so she can listen to the questions and answers over and over while driving, cooking, relaxing, etc.?


*if 6 are answered correctly before the 10th question, they'll usually stop without asking the whole 10.
 
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cbamidimarri, you will get booklet with 100 questions and an audio CD (with same 100 questions, in audio format) when you go for fingerprints for citizenship.
Many communities offer training for citizenship including spoken/written english; this is free service in most communities. This may be an option you should consider. After sending N-400, you will have couple of months to prepare and your spouse can get help from community centers. You may spend about $685 on N-400 fees but, if your spouse can get citizenship that would help you both in long term.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Make sure you are studying for the correct questions since the old exam had 96 questions, whereas the new one has 100 questions.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.749cabd81f5ffc8fba713d10526e0aa0/?vgnextoid=5efcebb7d4ff8210VgnVCM10000025e6a00aRCRD&vgnextchannel=5efcebb7d4ff8210VgnVCM10000025e6a00aRCRD
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Thanks Bobby - this is a great help - we were going through the old list of 96 questions - good that you sent this new link. Really appreciate the help. Also I found one self test which generates 4 questions from this list of 100 questions with 4 multiple options - this is how it is going to be even in the interview or is it different?

Thanks in advance
 
cbamidimarri said:
Also I found one self test which generates 4 questions from this list of 100 questions with 4 multiple options - this is how it is going to be even in the interview or is it different?

Thanks in advance
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At the interview the IO will ask you a maximum of 10 questions from the 100. Some questions have more than one acceptable answer, but you won't be given a choice of answers at interview like the self test you mentioned.
 
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