Residing outside the US trying to get Residency Visa

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spazlon

Registered Users (C)
Hello -

I am currently living in Kuwait as a DoD contractor. My wife is Korean and we are trying to get her US citizenship.

Can we get a residency visa, then after that is approved get a re-entry visa so that her 3 years (for citizenship) starts even though we are living in Kuwait?

Is there another way to accomplish this if the above is not possible?

Thank you.

- Ryan
 
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Triple Citizen said:
You are jumping the gun. First you need to work on getting your wife a green card. Citizenship comes later.
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I think the OP understands that, as he was asking whether the 3-year residence requirement leading to citizenship could be fulfilled while she is living in Kuwait.
 
That was my first reaction after reading the post. Specially seeing that he does work for DoD, I thought his query was with regards to 319(b). However upon reading his post the second time the words "Can we get a residency visa" threw me off. I thought he is referring to a GC here. I have lived in Kuwait and I know that the local term of "Iqama" lwhen oosely translated stands for residency permit". I guess we have to wait for the OP to chime in :)

Jackolantern said:
I think the OP understands that, as he was asking whether the 3-year residence requirement leading to citizenship could be fulfilled while she is living in Kuwait.
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spazlon said:
Can we get a residency visa, then after that is approved get a re-entry visa so that her 3 years (for citizenship) starts even though we are living in Kuwait?
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It may be possible for her to obtain expedited citizenship under section INA 319(b), while living in Kuwait (but she probably would still have to go to the US for the interview oath).

INA 319(b) said:
(b) Any person,

(1) whose spouse is

(A) a citizen of the United States,

(B) in the employment of the Government of the United States, or of an American institution of research recognized as such by the Attorney General, or of an American firm or corporation engaged in whole or in part in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the United States, or a subsidiary thereof, or of a public international organization in which the United States participates by treaty or statute, or is authorized to perform the ministerial or priestly functions of a religious denomin ation having a bona fide organization within the United States, or is engaged solely as a missionary by a religious denomination or by an interdenominational mission organization having a bona fide organization within the United States, and


(C) regularly stationed abroad in such employment, and

(2) who is in the United States at the time of naturalization, and


(3) who declares before the Attorney General in good faith an intention to take up residence within the United States immediately upon the termination of such employment abroad of the citizen spouse, may be naturalized upon compliance with all the requirements of the naturalization laws, except that no prior residence or specified period of physical presence within the United States or within a State or a district of the Service in the United States or proof thereof shall be required.
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This is what we were thinking about doing.

We already had our first interview. We will have our second interview shortly and see no problems coming from this.

Within 6 months we will take a vacation to the US and at that point she should receive her conditional residency visa (temporary GC?). This starts the 3 year timeframe before she can apply for citizenship.

Once she gets her conditional residency visa we would like to apply for a re-entry visa. From my understanding this will allow her to leave the US without voiding her conditional residency visa (she can leave for up to 2 years).

I would like to remain working in Kuwait with my wife and have her time counting while she is here. I work for a US company in support of military missions in the middle east.

Thanks for so many quick replies!
 
spazlon said:
Within 6 months we will take a vacation to the US and at that point she should receive her conditional residency visa (temporary GC?). This starts the 3 year timeframe before she can apply for citizenship.

Once she gets her conditional residency visa we would like to apply for a re-entry visa. From my understanding this will allow her to leave the US without voiding her conditional residency visa (she can leave for up to 2 years).
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You are correct, but you are throwing some people off with your unusual choice of terminology. The "Residency visa" you mentioned is normally referred to as a "green card", and the "reentry visa" is normally called a "reentry permit".
 
Ok, thank you. This is all new to us.

So we want to get a GC, then a reentry permit... and our time will keep counting as long as the reentry permit is valid, correct?

- Ryan
 
spazlon said:
So we want to get a GC, then a reentry permit... and our time will keep counting as long as the reentry permit is valid, correct?
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Her green card would be preserved while the reentry permit is valid, but we can't say whether she can qualify for 319(b). If you were a member of the US military itself and not a contractor, it would be almost a sure thing, but as a contractor there will be various ifs and buts involved regarding who your employer is and the nature of your employment and deployment with them, etc. You should consult an immigration attorney who can look over all the details of your situation to establish whether 319(b) is applicable, and if it is applicable you may also need their assistance to prepare your case to convince USCIS of the same. But continue to work on the green card first ... USCIS isn't going to entertain any 319(b) requests while your spouse does not even have a green card yet.
 
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