It's a good try, but I don't think it will get very far. Back when S.1352 was around they were planning to reduce the waiting period by a year for those fluent in the english language. That may be a more promising avenue of approach.
However, allowing the entire 5 years before permanent residence to be counted is too generous for them to grant it.
I'm open to suggestions. Do you mind explaining why you feel that this is too generous?
Don't ask to relax the requirement; ask for the counting of pre-GC time to be limited to people who have filed taxes as residents, including paying SS and Medicare. That appeals to their sense of justice; more will be inclined to see the unfairness of paying taxes for years as residents without having any of that time of residence counted towards citizenship.The only thing I can think of that legal non-immigrants can do that LPRs can not, is file taxes as non-residents, in some cases. However the petition doesn't ask to relax this requirement. Should it be amended to state this explicitly?
Title: Count LEGAL presence before green card towards the 5-year term for naturalization
Currently, legal permanent residents of 5 years are eligible to become U.S. citizens. However, the time an immigrant may have spent in the U.S. legally, studying or working, prior to becoming a permanent resident does not count.
For example, someone who spent 7 years getting a doctorate degree on a student visa, another 6 years working legally, and another 3 years as a green card holder is not yet eligible to become a U.S. citizen, while someone who came to the U.S. as a family-sponsored or a diversity immigrant 5 years ago can already become naturalized. Moreover, marriage-based immigrants can become U.S. citizens after 3 years in the country.
We propose changing the law so that up to 2 years of legal presence before green card could be counted towards the 5-year term, assuming the immigrant complied with what was required of green card holders during that time, such as filing taxes as residents, including paying Social Security and Medicare taxes.
Otimm - Your intention seems to be to advertise this petition on this forum as though you are starting a discussion about the petition. Can I ask why you are advertising it in this forum where it is not relevant.
It is hard to define continuous residence before green card. By defnition of NON-permanency, every trip outside
USA will re-set residence back to zero.
Thanks for the suggestions. You're probably right. Here's an updated version.
No, they normally file as nonresidents and are exempt from paying Medicare and Social Security.I wanted to point out that most F-1 and J-1 holders have to file as residents for tax purposes.
But that's a different issue from giving them quick citizenship.The new bill is supposed to "staple GCs" to certain qualified new graduates, so it's probably not in the spirit of the reform to exclude students and scholars.
So what? This is about making a persuasive argument to the politicians and the American people they answer to. So many times over the years when I try to explain my status and situation to an American, they'll say something like "You've been living here legally and paying taxes for that many years, and they still won't let you become a citizen? They should have made you a citizen long ago!" The wording of the petition should aim to tap into that sentiment.By the way, it's my understanding that the law does not explicitly say anything about tax returns with regard to naturalization. The USCIS simply takes the position that not filing taxes as a resident declares one a non-resident.
Be careful with that. Under certain tax treaties, citizens of those countries can file a 1040 as a resident without ever having entered the United States.