Green Card and Moving Overseas

[MichelleRenee 14]

Hi there,

I'm looking way ahead (like I always do!) as my fiancé just got here on his K1 last week.. However I am a bit worried about him keeping his green card if we are wanting to move abroad. We have always talked about living in Wales/England for a few years (down the road, maybe 2-3 years from now) but I was reading that it would revoke his permanent resident status. I have also read that it can be difficult for him to move back if we decided to come back (which we will). What would happen if we moved to the UK and didn't plan on coming back for a few years? Would we have to apply for a different type of visa when we decided to come back? From what I've gathered, he can apply for naturalization after 3 years of living here on the green card, but does this process take a while? Would it look bad if we left right after and then came back in a few years? I am worried we went through all this trouble to get here him and then if we leave, we will be penalized, but we are not hoping to live outside of the US permanently, which is why we decided to bring him here as opposed to me there. Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!!

Edited August 2, 2014 by MichelleRenee

[Tina and Johan 206]

we have also discussed this (just today in fact). I'll be interested to see what the experts here say. I thought on a K1, citizenship could be done after 3 years.

[Lainie B 465]

He can get citizenship in 3 years of holding a green card, not 5, if he remains married to you during that time.

If his green card was revoked it would be time-consuming but not difficult to get it back via an IR-1

How long would you be planning to live outside the US?

[MichelleRenee 14]

we have also discussed this (just today in fact). I'll be interested to see what the experts here say. I thought on a K1, citizenship could be done after 3 years.

I don't know why I wasn't thinking about it earlier!! Just one more thing to obsess and stress over now

He can get citizenship in 3 years of holding a green card, not 5, if he remains married to you during that time.

If his green card was revoked it would be time-consuming but not difficult to get it back via an IR-1

How long would you be planning to live outside the US?

Thanks for your response. We hadn't really laid out a set timeline for how long we would stay. We just thought it would be nice to spend a few years here, and then go there for a few years/undetermined amount of time. If he filed for naturalization and it was approved, are we required to stay in the states for a certain amount of time afterwards? Or would we be free to come and go as we please?

[MichelleRenee 14]

Also (pardon my ignorance I've been googling and haven't found a direct answer!) if he did decide to go the naturalization route.. Is this the same as dual citizenship? I have read that only his birth country would recognize the dual citizenship, but in the US, he would be considered a US citizen. Am I way off here??

[Hypnos 6,576]

The US would consider him a US citizen, the UK would consider him a British citizen, and other countries would consider him whichever he wished to tell them he was.

[Boiler 45,672]

The logical solution would be to acquire US Citizenship first, then you can go for as long as you want.

Moving to the UK may be the tricky but, how do you intend to do that?

[Hypnos 6,576]

Also bear in mind that you can apply 90 days before you become eligible, so if filing under being married to a US citizen for three years, you can apply 2 years and 9 months after the "Resident Since" date on your green card.

[Tina and Johan 206]

Does time out of the country come into play at all when applying for citizenship? Like for vacations? Or is it a straight 2 years and 9 months to apply?

[bubblebubble 16]

Yes, we have the same problem as my husband is sent to Singapore to kick start the APEC branch for his company for 2-3 year. 1) if I don't go with him, we probably will experience some problems during removing conditions cos we will have been separated for 2 years. 2) if I do go with him, how can I keep my conditional pr and, or come back with him anytime during the 2-3 year? We have lots of friends here.

I feel that it is really silly that we obtained our pr through marriage and it makes perfect sense to leave the country for a temporary couple of years with our petitioner and still be able to come back to the U.S. as the legal spouse who obtained the pr through the USC.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Does time out of the country come into play at all when applying for citizenship? Like for vacations? Or is it a straight 2 years and 9 months to apply?

Provided no single trip was over six months, and you have been physically present in the US for at least 18 of the previous 36 months, then you should meet the physical presence requirements.

http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization/continuous-residence-and-physical-presence-requirements-naturalization

Edited August 3, 2014 by Hypnos

[MichelleRenee 14]

The logical solution would be to acquire US Citizenship first, then you can go for as long as you want.

Moving to the UK may be the tricky but, how do you intend to do that?

I guess I assumed I could move there (on a visa) since I was married to him. I haven't found much information on being married here and then moving over there down the line. They really like to make things complicated don't they?!

Also bear in mind that you can apply 90 days before you become eligible, so if filing under being married to a US citizen for three years, you can apply 2 years and 9 months after the "Resident Since" date on your green card.

Thank you, I did not know that!

[Boiler 45,672]

To sponsor someone to the UK has a much higher threshold and co sponsors are not allowed.

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...take my advice and the advice of others here. IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, get citizenship FIRST, before you move out of the country. While its not any harder to apply a second time around, its an added expense and stress down the road when you want to come back. You will never had to worry about a sponsor or income guidelines in the US again! Just remember, once you have citizenship, even when you aren't living in the US, it is your responsibility to file a tax return every year (even though you most likely will not owe any tax). ALSO months before you plan on attempting a move to the UK, research the procedure. While it is normally a quicker process, it is a lot harder. They have pretty steep income guidelines and as someone mentioned, no co sponsors allowed.You also need to have had that income for a certain amount of time to use it as money to sponsor. So, unless you have A LOT of money saved up or a good income that will continue after your move the UK, then you and your spouse will probably be apart for a good length of time so he can go over, get a steady job, and show a steady income for whatever time length it is they require. If you wish to stay with family at the beginning they also require proof of adequate housing.They have made it very difficult to immigrate into the UK, and the laws change just about every year...so always good to keep an eye on it.

[MichelleRenee 14]

Thank you for all of your help! At first I was worried about filing taxes abroad and worried we'd end up owing a lot, but I'm happy to see that's not usually the case. Say we were both working in the US and held steady jobs and he had a job lined up when we moved, would he have to go work there for a while beforehand or is simply having a job waiting for you enough?

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...take my advice and the advice of others here. IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, get citizenship FIRST, before you move out of the country. While its not any harder to apply a second time around, its an added expense and stress down the road when you want to come back. You will never had to worry about a sponsor or income guidelines in the US again! Just remember, once you have citizenship, even when you aren't living in the US, it is your responsibility to file a tax return every year (even though you most likely will not owe any tax). ALSO months before you plan on attempting a move to the UK, research the procedure. While it is normally a quicker process, it is a lot harder. They have pretty steep income guidelines and as someone mentioned, no co sponsors allowed.You also need to have had that income for a certain amount of time to use it as money to sponsor. So, unless you have A LOT of money saved up or a good income that will continue after your move the UK, then you and your spouse will probably be apart for a good length of time so he can go over, get a steady job, and show a steady income for whatever time length it is they require. If you wish to stay with family at the beginning they also require proof of adequate housing.They have made it very difficult to immigrate into the UK, and the laws change just about every year...so always good to keep an eye on it.