Working Part Time Abroad With Pending Nationalization Application

[tq999 1]

Thank you all for your support of one another. While I haven’t had a need to ask any questions I have been monitoring the forums for years and have picked up a number of useful tips.

 

Our situation is like this: my wife is eligible to apply for naturalization later this year but the company I work for and she used to work for has asked us if we are interested in temporarily moving to India for a few years for what could be an amazing job opportunity for the both of us. We are in the early stages of exploring the opportunity, but we are considering it and trying to figure out how it could work while still applying for her naturalization.

 

Quick Background: My wife is on an IR1 Green Card and has only been outside of the US for a couple of over night trips to Canada and a two week trip to China since she has moved to the USA. We both would be working at the request of our American employer while India but paid in USD with all benefits ect and will likely keep our home in the USA and do our best to keep our residency intact.

 

Questions:

• If we apply in September (or late August) for her naturalization, is she allowed to travel outside of the USA during the application process?
• Could we come back to the USA for the various in person components of the process and to submit the actual application but otherwise stay outside of the USA during this time? We would be coming back to the USA anyway every few months but would this cause any problems in the naturalization process?
• Is it worth applying for a re-entry permit in case even though we will not be abroad for longer than 3 months at a time? My wife and I have a family rule of being cautious when it comes to visas and immigration so we want to be on the safe side.
• Any other advice? Thank you all. 

[Going through 5,668]

16 minutes ago, tq999 said:

If we apply in September (or late August) for her naturalization, is she allowed to travel outside of the USA during the application process?

Yes.  Just keep records of exit/entry dates as the IO will need to be updated on them at her interview.  Also keep in mind that travel during her application process will "bump up" the number of physical days spent outside of the US so you'll want to be careful with this if taking extended trips.  She needs to meet the continuous AND physical presence requirements for the N400.

 

16 minutes ago, tq999 said:

Could we come back to the USA for the various in person components of the process and to submit the actual application but otherwise stay outside of the USA during this time? We would be coming back to the USA anyway every few months but would this cause any problems in the naturalization process

It can cause issues for two reasons:  Remember that your wife is a LPR...which means she is expected to reside in the US.  Frequent travel out of the US for months at a time will cause her some issues at the border each time most likely, and she runs the risk of her LPR status being deemed abandoned even more less-than-6-month trips (again, normally depends on frequency of trips in a given year plus time spent abroad).   And again, it can cause considerable problems with the N400 physical presence requirements if the total number of days outside the US surpasses the maximum allowed.

 

 

Better for her to remain in the US more often than not during the N400 process....Perhaps you can go back and forth visiting her while she remains in the US?  Easier for you to travel back to the US to visit her.

Edited March 11, 2018 by Going through