Which state to apply for citizenship

H

HAWAII

Registered Users (C)
I have a question for the gurus. My husband and I are up for citizenship in July 2009. My husband will apply from Chicago, IL. I have to go to Houston, TX temporarily for work because I have found a one year consulting project there which will last until december 2010. In the meantime I have to apply for citizenship. Since my husband is here and we own a house here, I was going to apply from Chicago, IL but someone told me I should apply from Houston, Texas since I will be there for a year and half it will be easier for me to follow up. ( I will need to file AR-11 and also new Texas ID if I apply from texas). Is there a right or wrong here or is it just a matter of choice?

The question is should I apply from TEXAS or ILLINOIS?
Thanks.
 
HAWAII said:
I have a question for the gurus. My husband and I are up for citizenship in July 2009. My husband will apply from Chicago, IL. I have to go to Houston, TX temporarily for work because I have found a one year consulting project there which will last until december 2010. In the meantime I have to apply for citizenship. Since my husband is here and we own a house here, I was going to apply from Chicago, IL but someone told me I should apply from Houston, Texas since I will be there for a year and half it will be easier for me to follow up. ( I will need to file AR-11 and also new Texas ID if I apply from texas). Is there a right or wrong here or is it just a matter of choice?

The question is should I apply from TEXAS or ILLINOIS?
Thanks.
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I think you should apply from Illinois because it is more permanent
and more stable and your husband can take care of all mails from USCIS
and you can take a few days off from yoru consulkting in Texas when
needed for interview in Chicago.

There is onething you may need to take care of. Whereever you apply,
when doing fingerpirting, they may not allow you to do it if you
show a out-of-state driver license. So make sure your DL is DL issuded
from the state where you file N-400
 
You should apply from Illinois. Since you are going to Houston for a temp. work assignment, but maintaining your permanent resident in Illinois...that is where you apply from. IMO no need to file AR-11 or texas ID.
 
harvydonald said:
IMO no need to file AR-11 or texas ID.
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Better to check out Texas law to see if they enforce the law
that requires one-year resident to have a TX drive license or not.
Certain states are kind of strict on this issue like VA.
 
Question about job in interview?

Thanks for the responses! I think I will go ahead and apply from Illinois as planned then. Wondering if they will question why I am working in Houston and applying from Illinois. What should I respond?
 
HAWAII said:
Thanks for the responses! I think I will go ahead and apply from Illinois as planned then. Wondering if they will question why I am working in Houston and applying from Illinois. What should I respond?
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If you work in Houton, you have to apply from Texas because Houton is your main residence, even you consider the 1-plus year job is temporary. What your intent is is not the issue, but where your main residence is is the key deciding from where to apply.

Besides where to apply, you probably want to consider your application is based on 5yr regular or 3-yr marriage. The later might have an impact on your application that requires a diversion.
 
I would say apply in TX, like Calvillager said. Same thing to the people who have several houses in several states, apply where you currently live, not where you've been.
 
Residence

I guess what you are saying then is apply where residence is. I will be staying at my sister's home in Houston. I will not be renting or buying my own place. She will be watching my kids while I work which is why I chose to find a project in Houston. My actual home which we purchased 5 years ago is still in Chicago and my husband will stay back and work at his full time job here. That is why he is still applying from Chicago. Confusing:confused:
 
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calvillager said:
Besides where to apply, you probably want to consider your application is based on 5yr regular or 3-yr marriage. The later might have an impact on your application that requires a diversion.
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Since her husband is not a US citizen, the 3-year time frame does not apply.
 
I had the same dillemma when I was applying. We had a house in illinois, but I was in TX fro work. Based on the research I did, my understanding was that I should apply in the state I actually LIVE (e.g., they have a requirement that you should have lived in that state for at least 3 months before you could apply.) Also, for N400, you have to fill in ur employer history and addresses.

Apply from Texas. For one thing they are soo fast now a days. I have seen so many people getting naturalized @ Houston in less than 4 months.
 
I would apply from Illinois since that is where your house and husband is and you have indicated that work in Texas is temporary. In the end the decision on where to file depends on how well you are able to demonstrate that you were a resident. If you apply from Illinois you already have residency ties, whereas if you apply from Texas you must first establish those residency ties for 3 months (Texas DL, utility bills, rent etc..)
 
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AAZZ said:
I had the same dillemma when I was applying. We had a house in illinois, but I was in TX fro work. Based on the research I did, my understanding was that I should apply in the state I actually LIVE (e.g., they have a requirement that you should have lived in that state for at least 3 months before you could apply.) Also, for N400, you have to fill in ur employer history and addresses.

Apply from Texas. For one thing they are soo fast now a days. I have seen so many people getting naturalized @ Houston in less than 4 months.
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Very interesting...Did you apply from Texas then or Illinois? I saw the USCIS website and both chicago and houston have 5.1 time frame for processing N400. I will have to file state taxes in Texas not sure if they question that as well.
 
1. I applied from Texas.

2. Texas does not have any state Tax. So you do not have to worry about it.
 
HAWAII said:
I saw the USCIS website and both chicago and houston have 5.1 time frame for processing N400. I will have to file state taxes in Texas not sure if they question that as well.
Click to expand...

Since you confirmed Chicago and Houston have same posted processing time, it would be quicker for you to apply from Chicago since you don't have to first establish residency. Of course, if time is not an issue then by all means establish residency for 3 months in Houston and apply from there.
 
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