[cca]

Hi All,

Long story short, I was married to US Citizen. Arrived on Fiance visa, got CGC but then divorced. I applied and received my Permanent Green Card last summer.
My question is, because of this divorce I understand that I have to wait 5 years now to apply for my citizenship. However, my father passed away recently and I want to move back for a while to be closer to my mum. However because this is such a big move, I dont know if I want to be restrianed to the 2 year leniency that the US give for leaving the country. Is there anyway I can speed up my process under particular circumstances to waiver this 5 years? Anyone heard of anyone doing that? I would just move back to UK for good but I have a fiance (who will also move back to UK with me) and I need to be sensible and considerate to him and get citizenship so we are able to move freely in the future and not be restrained to one country for rest of our lives ( i know I can reapply again for green card but its such a long process and seems silly if im pretty close to getting US citizenship.

Thanks

[sciencenerd]

Hi All,

Long story short, I was married to US Citizen. Arrived on Fiance visa, got CGC but then divorced. I applied and received my Permanent Green Card last summer.
My question is, because of this divorce I understand that I have to wait 5 years now to apply for my citizenship. However, my father passed away recently and I want to move back for a while to be closer to my mum. However because this is such a big move, I dont know if I want to be restrianed to the 2 year leniency that the US give for leaving the country. Is there anyway I can speed up my process under particular circumstances to waiver this 5 years? Anyone heard of anyone doing that? I would just move back to UK for good but I have a fiance (who will also move back to UK with me) and I need to be sensible and considerate to him and get citizenship so we are able to move freely in the future and not be restrained to one country for rest of our lives ( i know I can reapply again for green card but its such a long process and seems silly if im pretty close to getting US citizenship.

Thanks

First of all, I'm sorry for your loss. This can't be an easy situation for you, but there's no way that you will be able to get the 5 year requirement waived unless perhaps you've done military service. It's a firm requirement and US citizenship isn't given so that you can leave the door to the US open while you move out of the country so even if there was some waiver available, your circumstances wouldn't be very compelling. You're going to have to decide what is more important to you at this point in your life. It sounds like you just have a year or so left before you hit 5 years? Maybe you can visit your mom frequently, but maintain residence here and then move over there after you are naturalized. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[ConcordUser]

Hi All,

Long story short, I was married to US Citizen. Arrived on Fiance visa, got CGC but then divorced. I applied and received my Permanent Green Card last summer.
My question is, because of this divorce I understand that I have to wait 5 years now to apply for my citizenship. However, my father passed away recently and I want to move back for a while to be closer to my mum. However because this is such a big move, I dont know if I want to be restrianed to the 2 year leniency that the US give for leaving the country. Is there anyway I can speed up my process under particular circumstances to waiver this 5 years? Anyone heard of anyone doing that? I would just move back to UK for good but I have a fiance (who will also move back to UK with me) and I need to be sensible and considerate to him and get citizenship so we are able to move freely in the future and not be restrained to one country for rest of our lives ( i know I can reapply again for green card but its such a long process and seems silly if im pretty close to getting US citizenship.

Thanks

I really doubt if you can have any shortcuts for USC at this time. If you are away from US for more than 1 year then your 5 year clock resets and you have to wait 5 more years of continuous residency before you can apply for USC. You are better off discussing with an Atty and find out more choices. In your case since you have a GC you could travel often between US and UK and does not exceed the allowed out of country stay and then apply for USC.

[cca]

I really doubt if you can have any shortcuts for USC at this time. If you are away from US for more than 1 year then your 5 year clock resets and you have to wait 5 more years of continuous residency before you can apply for USC. You are better off discussing with an Atty and find out more choices. In your case since you have a GC you could travel often between US and UK and does not exceed the allowed out of country stay and then apply for USC.

Thanks for your responses! I appreciated it. However, re-setting the clock again for 5 years is not correct. You are able to leave US for 2 years but must return before or when these 2 years run out. As long as you have done everything legally, abided by the rules and have kept some sort of connection with us eg house, taxes, you will still be able to continue on to getting your citizenship without restarting the whole process.

I have 4 years left! So long away Not quite sure what to do...urgh

Thanks

[milimelo]

Thanks for your responses! I appreciated it. However, re-setting the clock again for 5 years is not correct. You are able to leave US for 2 years but must return before or when these 2 years run out. As long as you have done everything legally, abided by the rules and have kept some sort of connection with us eg house, taxes, you will still be able to continue on to getting your citizenship without restarting the whole process.

I have 4 years left! So long away Not quite sure what to do...urgh

Thanks

May want to read the manual for citizenship - M-476

www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf
The fact you may have a re-entry permit good for 2 yrs does NOT mean your clock for citizenship is not reset once you're gone for one year or more.

What if I was outside the United States
for 1 year or longer? In almost all cases,
if you leave the United States for 1 year or
more, you have disrupted your continuous
residence. This is true even if you have a
Re-entry Permit.
If you leave the country for 1 year or
longer, you may be eligible to re-enter as a
Permanent Resident if you have a Re-entry
Permit. But none of the time you were in
the United States before you left the country
counts toward your time in continuous
residence.
If you return within 2 years, some of your
time out of the country does count. In
fact, the last 364 days of your time out of
the country (1 year minus 1 day) counts
toward meeting your continuous residence
requirement.
You may file Form N-400 ninety (90) calendar days before you complete your permanent residence requirement if your eligibility

Edited by milimelo, 13 August 2012 - 01:39 PM.

[Harsh_77]

Thanks for your responses! I appreciated it. However, re-setting the clock again for 5 years is not correct. You are able to leave US for 2 years but must return before or when these 2 years run out. As long as you have done everything legally, abided by the rules and have kept some sort of connection with us eg house, taxes, you will still be able to continue on to getting your citizenship without restarting the whole process.

I have 4 years left! So long away Not quite sure what to do...urgh

Thanks

I could be wrong and someone can correct me but if one stays out of country for 2 years than those 2 years are not considered as part of the 5 year requirement and this person would have to wait another 2 years in the country in order to receive the citizenship.

[cca]

wow , OK thanks. Thats annoying

[milimelo]

Since you received your 10-year card last summer (2011?) you may only need another year and a half or even less time before you can apply for citizenship. It's based on when you first received your green card, not when you received the 10-yr one.

[cca]

Seriously???????? Thats changes EVERYTHING! I received my Conditional green card end of 2009, so I may be able to get citizenship in 2014???

[sciencenerd]

Seriously???????? Thats changes EVERYTHING! I received my Conditional green card end of 2009, so I may be able to get citizenship in 2014???

Yep - that's why I thought you only had a year or so left. Take the date you got your conditional residence (or the "resident since" date on your current green card) and add 5 years to know your eligibility (assuming, of course, that you meet the other requirements). You can apply 90 days prior to that.

Seriously???????? Thats changes EVERYTHING! I received my Conditional green card end of 2009, so I may be able to get citizenship in 2014???

Just looked at your timeline and it looks like your approval date was 12/31/2009. You will be eligible for citizenship 12/31/2014 and can submit your application 90 days prior to that. So, you have probably about 2 1/2 years before everything goes through if you go this route. Good luck.

[cca]

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep - that's why I thought you only had a year or so left. Take the date you got your conditional residence (or the "resident since" date on your current green card) and add 5 years to know your eligibility (assuming, of course, that you meet the other requirements). You can apply 90 days prior to that.



Just looked at your timeline and it looks like your approval date was 12/31/2009. You will be eligible for citizenship 12/31/2014 and can submit your application 90 days prior to that. So, you have probably about 2 1/2 years before everything goes through if you go this route. Good luck.

[ManuFred]

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess you have to thank the US government for this rule

[cca]

I guess you have to thank the US government for this rule

For once, I am grateful

[bigdog]

Looks like you are more than half way there. Go home and visit, just review the rules regarding applying for citizenship, good luck.