is it only two more years for citizenship

[bufalo 0]

Thanks for any help. I hope to be hanging around here more often and helping others too.

My wife is Colombian I am from the US, our daughter was born in Colombia, but has a born abroad cert. My wife also has had her US residency for about 5 years now, we got it at the consulate in Bogota. We maintained it by visiting the US once a year. One year ago we moved to the US permanently.

From what I get, she can apply for her citizenship in 2 more years (total of 3 consecutive living in US and married to a citizen). Or is it that she can apply earlier to actually get the citizenship on the 3rd year anniversary?

Since we've moved here we have filed taxes (one year), but previously didn't because we didn't make any money (literally). Will this count against us and is it possible to still file them to make USCIS happy?

Yes, I'm checking this info out, but thought to ask here also for real people's experiences.

Thanks again!

[Chica Yeyé 41]

As long as she maintained her permanent residency; she can file for citizenship starting 90 days b efore the third year anniversary of when she initially became a permanent resident.

[bufalo 0]

but we were out of the states almost the whole time. Only have been here consistently starting one year ago - so I believe I read (gotta find it) that it would start all over again from last year...

Oh, but thanks! 90 days before - will do!

Edited June 29, 2009 by bufalo

[Chica Yeyé 41]

but we were out of the states almost the whole time. Only have been here consistently starting one year ago - so I believe I read (gotta find it) that it would start all over again from last year...

Oh, but thanks! 90 days before - will do!

Google "maintaining permanent residence". If your wife has not complied with the times provided by law and did not get a Re-entry Permit for extended absences, she might have lost her residency. I say might because i am not sure. Again, google that and

[Stella08 0]

I think you're confusing two things.

Residency - This means, you're a resident of the United States. Usually you're a resident if you spent the majority of the year (more than six months) in the U.S. Of course there are exceptions. Travelling back to the U.S. once a year doesn't necessarily conserve your residency. It only means that you don't have to file for reentry permit. But if an IO doubts that you spent the majority of your time in the U.S. and therefore gave up your residency, you might have to relinquish your greencard. This didn't happen in this case.

Physical Presence - This is the time you actually spent in the U.S. For example, you can have residency in the U.S. but still spent three months out of the year outside of the U.S. Your residency is 12 months, your physical presence is only nine months.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

Residence and Physical Presence

An applicant is eligible to file if, immediately preceding the filing of the application, he or she:

has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (see preceding section);

has resided continuously as a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. for at least 5 years prior to filing with no single absence from the United States of more than one year;

has been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the previous five years (absences of more than six months but less than one year shall disrupt the applicant's continuity of residence unless the applicant can establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period)

has resided within a state or district for at least three months

Also, here is a guide about taxes. I wonder how you can live as a family if you have NO income whatsoever.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf

Edited June 30, 2009 by Stella08

[bufalo 0]

Living off of savings basically. I had saved up enough money because I always wanted to take off the first year that my child was born to be there constantly. Since we mostly stayed out of the US - it turned into almost SIX years...

- unoficial wedding in Cuba

- lived in the old quarter of Barcelona

- Center of Montevideo

- 6 months on the Amazon River where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil meet

- a few years in the coffee region of Colombia

- and a few stops in NY

not too shabby!

I noticed you had "5 years" from the guides... isn't it 3 if one is married to a US citicen?

[Stella08 0]

Yes, if you're married to a U.S. citizen, you must have been a permanent resident for at least three years and spent at least half of those three years (18 months) in the U.S. with no absences longer than six months.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00048f3d6a1RCRD

[NickD 202]

Yes, if you're married to a U.S. citizen, you must have been a permanent resident for at least three years and spent at least half of those three years (18 months) in the U.S. with no absences longer than six months.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00048f3d6a1RCRD

It's all in the M-476 manual, under eligibility requirements, also some sites that can be found with google that ask you a series of simple questions and give you a yes or a no, but prefer dealing directly with the USCIS publication on this subject www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf

Would think just supplying the original IRS label showing you have filed a joint return would be sufficient, but wife's IO wanted to see everything, so it was a good thing we brought those along. I consider that personal information, but what in the hell are you suppose to do?

Yeah, we could move in with my mother-in-law, she would love that in Bogota, and live dirt cheap. Regarding maintaining LPR while out of the country is a foreign subject to me, somebody else would have to help.

[warlord 72]

but we were out of the states almost the whole time. Only have been here consistently starting one year ago - so I believe I read (gotta find it) that it would start all over again from last year...

Oh, but thanks! 90 days before - will do!

Google "maintaining permanent residence". If your wife has not complied with the times provided by law and did not get a Re-entry Permit for extended absences, she might have lost her residency. I say might because i am not sure. Again, google that and

This is a very valid point. Living out of the US without any permits for most the time, with no big ties to the US. Your wife very easily has broken all continous residency and is at risk of having her status revoked as she has clearly not maintained any US residency.

Right now applying for Citizenship is the least of your worries. And yes it's all clearly stated in many of the INS forms and documents about being out of the US, time lines and things you should know, paper work you need to fill out (under certain circumstances etc).

Bascially anything over 6 months you will need to prove to the IO you maintained US residency, so you will have to do all the work. Over a year is in most cases certain denial. In your case it seems your wife never even lived here. So you could very well have to start from the begining again, and re-import your wife...

[AusCal 3]

From what I get, she can apply for her citizenship in 2 more years (total of 3 consecutive living in US and married to a citizen). Or is it that she can apply earlier to actually get the citizenship on the 3rd year anniversary?

In your case, I would apply in three years after the date you permanently returned to the US. Whilst you are actually eligible to apply 90days before that date, I wouldn't - simply to avoid having to list any of those lenghty "trips" overseas.

I agree with others that whether your wife actually maintained residency is "shaky" - but, waiting out the three years now will make them "disppear" for the purposes of N-400 application.

Lil disclaimer here - i am not a lawyer - etc, this is just my opinion for m reading these boards.....

[bufalo 0]

I think so too. I'm not a lawyer at all, but know lots of people who have gone through this. Once we wait out the three years, I don't think the previous stuff is going to matter. One year we spent up to 4 months in the US, but we spent as little as 3 weeks others.