Citizenship Question

[Corey-Mariya 14]

Hey everyone

I have a question. My wife and I just sent the petition for removal of conditions to get her ten year greencard. I understand you can apply for citizenship after being married for three years which will be next may. I assume she should recieve her 10 year greencard by then but if not can she apply for her citezenship come may? Or do you have to recieve your 10 year greencard first. Also I am curious to what reasons people think is an advantage over being a citizen vs being a permenant resident? The only things I can think of is social security and being able to vote.

Thanks

Corey

Edited October 13, 2010 by Corey-Mariya

[newlyweds2010 208]

Hey everyone

I have a question. My wife and I just sent the petition for removal of conditions to get her ten year greencard. I understand you can apply for citizenship after being married for three years which will be next may. I assume she should recieve her 10 year greencard by then but if not can she apply for her citezenship come may? Or do you have to recieve your 10 year greencard first. Also I am curious to what reasons people think is an advantage over being a citizen vs being a permenant resident? The only things I can think of is social security and being able to vote.

Thanks

Corey

you can apply for citizenship after being a resident (=green card holder) for 3 years based on marriage to a USC. From your timeline I see that your wife received her green card in Jan. 2009: check the exact date on the card, that's when you start counting the 3 years from. if she applies too early, she will be ineligible and the fee will not be reimbursed.

As of becoming a USC vs remaining a LPR: as a USC you can leave the country for as long as you want and you can come back whenever you want, you won't have to deal with USCIS ever again, you can vote and be voted, you can apply to jobs for the Govt (from school teacher to CIA agent), BUT you have to pay federal taxes no matter where in the world you live.

[NickD 203]

Ha, what about ending your relationship with the USCIS as a darn good reason to go for US citizenship? That also ends your I-864 contract you were forced to sign to bring that person here. Then you have to report your location or be in deep trouble, not only the immigrant but the sponsoring US citizen as well. It was because of extreme delays in the I-751 processing and the frustration of not getting any straight answers that led us apply at the earliest possible date. And all we could send in at the time was a copy of an expired green card and that crazy one year extension notice.

Why even bother sending that when they could have just as well sent the new green card. If anything was missing, and there wasn't anything missing in our application, even a lot of extras, just call for a meeting and they could get that too. But that never happened, it was just wait, wait, and wait.

And exactly who wants to see your green card besides other governmental agencies? Answer is simple. Nobody! They certainly knew what a green card was, knew how to read, barely, but could read to see it what expired. So you had to show that one year extension, what in the hell is a one year extension we were told! That alone was extremely frustrating in having to justify why the damned USCIS is so slow and no other agency knows anything about how they operate.

Thanks to our leadership of the last 30 years, we are no longer a US economy, but a world economy instead. With a green card, and our own rotten economy due to these terrible changes, you are extremely limited in either getting a job or studying abroad, can lose that green card. You want a reason, well, this is another reason to get your US citizenship.

Use be in this country, you were either an immigrant or a US citizen, really couldn't find when they started this lawful permanent resident stuff, but do know the conditional lawful permanent resident stuff, a complete contradiction of words, was started in 1988. Guess they figure if you and your spouse pay your taxes and bills together, you have a happy marriage and the sponsoring US citizen didn't just bring that person here for cash or for whatever reason. Ha, cash, if I were to try that with the prison term and fine, would want at least two million bucks to make the risk worthwhile. But if a person has that kind of money, can come and go here whenever they please. And then if that marriage does not work out, all kinds of loopholes given to work around it, like my US citizen sponsor, tapped me on my butt.

And then there is that hardship clause, you already faced a severe hardship in bringing that person over here with exorbitant legal, fees, and moving costs. Then to have to face it again in trying to return to one's home country. Most are already deep in debt.

And if fraud were present, does the USCIS protect the sponsoring US citizen? Answer to that is very simple, hell no. US citizenship is the only way, both you, the sponsoring US citizen, and your spouse, can be free to live your life happily ever after.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

There Green Card holders, who are married for 50 years to their US citizen spouse and live together in harmony in the US, yet they are not eligible for naturalization yet.

Try to figure out how and why.

[R&W 5]

Aside from voting and a chance to get a federal job, your wife will also be a U.S. Passport carrier, which the only passport in the world that doesn't need a visa to enter any country. Now staying in that country is a different story. But to just pack and bring your passport without thinking about getting a visa is wonderful.

[hhN400 3]

... U.S. Passport ..., which the only passport in the world that doesn't need a visa to enter any country.

Not true.

See http://travel.state....s/cis_1765.html

[Corey-Mariya 14]

Thanks everyone for your advice and input. You have convinced us that there are advantages of being a citizen

[NickD 203]

Thanks everyone for your advice and input. You have convinced us that there are advantages of being a citizen

One thing I do not know, does the USCIS sent you a reminder to renew your ten year card? Or do they just deport you if you forget? Do you have to send in more evidence or just money? But can bet it would be another long trip for biometrics. Use to be a permanent resident card until about 20 years ago, but now, just a ten year card. So why don't they just call it a lawful resident card, it sure ain't permanent.

[canadian_wife 1,827]

U.S. Passport carrier, which the only passport in the world that doesn't need a visa to enter any country...

Totally not true. You need one for Afghanistan, China, El Salvador, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Venezuala, Bolivia, Brazil..... to name a few off the top of my head

[sachinky 465]

USCs need a visa to enter India as well.

[mamaSue 38]

, your wife will also be a U.S. Passport carrier, which the only passport in the world that doesn't need a visa to enter any country. Now staying in that country is a different story. But to just pack and bring your passport without thinking about getting a visa is wonderful.

I hope you don't try and visit Vietnam... and many other countries without getting a visa first.....

A US passport doesn't give you any automatic rights to visit countries that require visas!

[newlyweds2010 208]

for the purpose of tourism, an EU passport is much better because you can go w/o a visa to countries that require a visa to US citizens.

[NickD 203]

Totally not true. You need one for Afghanistan, China, El Salvador, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Venezuala, Bolivia, Brazil..... to name a few off the top of my head

Not for Venezuela, or did they just change that since last year?

[canadian_wife 1,827]

ENTRY / EXIT REQUIREMENTS: A valid passport and a visa or tourist card are required.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1059.html#entry_requirements

I always thought you did for Venezuela but just pulled this off of the travel.state.gov website

[NickD 203]

ENTRY / EXIT REQUIREMENTS: A valid passport and a visa or tourist card are required.

http://travel.state....ry_requirements

I always thought you did for Venezuela but just pulled this off of the travel.state.gov website

Think you are correct, "Tourist cards are issued on flights from the U.S. to Venezuela for persons staying less than ninety days." Just a tiny slip of paper I let my wife fill out, takes a couple of seconds on the plane, because she can write in Spanish. Fly through the POE, just flips open my passport and stamps it anywhere, have an x-ray machine for checking your luggage, but no one even looks at it. Major problem is having a cab driver, many of them trying to grab your luggage for a fare, just say, no thank you and they leave you alone.

Now coming back is a different story, want to play with your underwear in your luggage. and completely check you out, take off your shoes and all that other stuff, not only in Caracas, but also wherever you land in the USA. Wife was stripped searched coming back with a green card, but never had problems with those extensive searches with her US passport.

Now if you are Venezuelan or Colombian trying to come here, that is a problem, took my mother-in-law from Colombia over a year to get a US visa to come here. Can't even get one for my stepson in Venezuela, because he is not married with a family to go back to. His family is here.

I know it tough for a US citizen to get visa's to go to China or Japan, my own sons go there mainly for business, this seems ironic to me since we are buying most of our ####### from those two countries. My oldest son hates going to China, no matter how careful he is, always seems to come home sick. Brazil also requires a visa from their US based consulates.

Just thinking about countries where we do need a visa, who wants to go their anyway. We are trying desperately to get my stepson out of Venezuela so we can forget about that country. Chavez is using AK-47's to control the outcome of elections and everyone I met in that country is living in a state of fear.

Took awhile for my wife and stepdaughter to get accustomed to drinking water directly from the tap, you don't do that in either Colombia or Venezuela. If you really want to go to Afghanistan, just sign up. I don't even want to think about Viet Nam.