Opinions!

[Jack & Anne 26]

Hello everyone. I am far away from the naturalisation process. But I must take an important decision in the next 6 months which might effect my naturalisation process. I'd be grateful for your inputs here. Right now I am adjusting status from K1 visa. 

 

1) I am applying to go to law school from 2022 - 2025. I will be doing my JD which is for 3 years. I live in the NYC metropolitan area. There are good schools here but I have my heart set on a couple of schools which are not in NJ or NY. Which would mean that for the 3 years I'm in law school, I'll not be living with my husband, even though my husband's address will remain my permanent address on bank accounts and credit cards etc. 

 

2) The eligibility criteria for naturalisation says - If you are at least 18 years old and: Are currently married to and living with a U.S. citizen; and Have been married to and living with that same U.S. citizen for the past 3 years; and Your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the past 3 years.

 

I want to naturalise at the earliest because there are some jobs which is only open to USC and I can't apply for them if I'm older than 37 at the time. So my question is how is the part I underlined above interpreted? Are there any exceptions for this living together part? 

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

Read the following:

"(C) Involuntary separation. In the event that the applicant and spouse live apart because of circumstances beyond their control, such as military service in the Armed Forces of the United States or essential business or occupational demands, rather than because of voluntary legal or informal separation, the resulting separation, even if prolonged, will not preclude naturalization under this part."

 

Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-319/section-319.1

[Ontarkie 14,267]

Living apart for school is voluntary not involuntary and yes it will cause issues. 

[Jack & Anne 26]

1 hour ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

Read the following:

"(C) Involuntary separation. In the event that the applicant and spouse live apart because of circumstances beyond their control, such as military service in the Armed Forces of the United States or essential business or occupational demands, rather than because of voluntary legal or informal separation, the resulting separation, even if prolonged, will not preclude naturalization under this part."

 

Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-319/section-319.1

Thank you for this link. Would you say my choosing to go to law school in a different state qualify under "beyond their control for essential occupational demands?" 

[Jack & Anne 26]

39 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

Living apart for school is voluntary not involuntary and yes it will cause issues. 

Thank you for your reply and this definitely make sense. Do you think the involuntary separation might work in case I choose to go to school elsewhere, my husband puts in for a transfer and gets denied? 

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

10 minutes ago, Jack & Anne said:

Thank you for this link. Would you say my choosing to go to law school in a different state qualify under "beyond their control for essential occupational demands?" 

I think it depends on how you present your circumstances and how the USCIS agent interprets the situation.

[Adventine 3,201]

It sounds like a voluntary separation to me. Your choice of school is entirely up to you and is entirely within your control.

[Barbara99 3]

100% voluntary. You want to go to a school, a school that is located in another place.

[carmel34 3,638]

There are many online JD programs in the USA.  If you do not like the in-person JD programs close to your current residence, you can choose from lots of fully-online, accredited, and ABA recognized JD programs in most US states:

 

https://www.lawstudies.com/Juris-Doctor/USA/Online/

 

Good luck!

[Jack & Anne 26]

14 hours ago, Adventine said:

It sounds like a voluntary separation to me. Your choice of school is entirely up to you and is entirely within your control.

Thank you. I am leaning towards this as well. Looks like I should just focus on schools within commuting distance. Thankfully there are quite a few. 

12 hours ago, Barbara99 said:

100% voluntary. You want to go to a school, a school that is located in another place.

Yes! It does look and sound like that to me even. 

[Jack & Anne 26]

5 hours ago, carmel34 said:

There are many online JD programs in the USA.  If you do not like the in-person JD programs close to your current residence, you can choose from lots of fully-online, accredited, and ABA recognized JD programs in most US states:

 

https://www.lawstudies.com/Juris-Doctor/USA/Online/

 

Good luck!

Thank you for this link! I appreciate it. Will definitely look into it but I'm not much of an online learner...  

[Adventine 3,201]

Alternatively, your husband could move with you to where your school is.

[JeanneAdil 6,539]

weigh into the cost of law school when u are not a resident of the state

its expensive enough without adding the our of state tuition 

and even if u made the move to  become a resident of a different state , colleges don't consider u a permanent resident until u have lived there (6 months or a year-college dependent)

[Jack & Anne 26]

19 hours ago, Adventine said:

Alternatively, your husband could move with you to where your school is.

My husband works for the G-man and transfers have been rather difficult for the past few years. But yes I think he can at least put in for a transfer and get denied and then I can come up with an "involuntary separation" sob. 

[Jack & Anne 26]

19 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

weigh into the cost of law school when u are not a resident of the state

its expensive enough without adding the our of state tuition 

and even if u made the move to  become a resident of a different state , colleges don't consider u a permanent resident until u have lived there (6 months or a year-college dependent)

I understand yes! Thank you for your input. Achieving the optimum combination of a better ranked school and the cost of the school is one of my top priorities.