Question:
Could anyone give me some advices on my situation? I got my green card
almost three years ago. I just got married but my wife is in China.
Since it is hard for her to get non immigration visa and come to the
US, we will go to Europe next year and stay a few years. My question
is, should we try to apply green card for her right now based on my
green card or should we wait until I apply for citizenship first.
Since we will live abroad, there is a risk that my citizenship
application may not get approved, that is why we are thinking of
applying now. Otherwise it doesn't seem necessary to apply now since
green card based application will take much longer than citizenship
based application. Is that right? Can someone share your opinion?
Answer:
unless you got your green card through marriage, you'll have to wait
another 2 years at least in order to apply for citizenship.
if you live abroad for a couple of years, chances are, you'll lose your
green card for not fulfilling the residency terms.
I'd wait to move until you have a US Passport.
More importantly if you leave the US for a few years, you might lose
your green card.
I have asked attorney and the answer was, if I come back regularly,
maintaining green card is easier than getting approved for
citizenship. In other words, I could be denied citizenship application
but still maintain my green card.
I would wait until I get citizenship then apply green card for my
wife, but getting citizenship is less certain than maintaining green
card.
I think your plan is risky, even if that's what your attorney suggested.
As you've already been told, if you take up residence in another
country, you risk losing your green card altogether. So trying to get
your wife to the US based on your green card status won't work if you
lose that status.
Secondly, if you apply for her now, based on your green card, she will
be waiting A LONG TIME to get here. Here are the receipt dates that
USCIS is processing now for I-130 Petition for Alien Relative with a
permanent resident sponsor:
April 2000 - California Service Center
Sept 1999 - Vermont Service Center
Jan 1999 - Texas Service Center
April 2001 - Nebraska Service Center
Now, I don't know which service center you'd be using, but look at those
dates! Those couples have been waiting at least 4 years to be together,
and it's only NOW that their applications are even being processed!
On the other hand, you're eligible to apply for citizenship in only 2
years. So why would you want to 1) risk losing your green card by
residing outside the United States; and 2) wait LONGER to get your wife
a spousal visa by sponsoring her as a PR instead of as a USC?
I understand that you want to be with your wife and not separated from
her -- that's only natural. But I think it's a bad move to risk losing
your green card, because then where does that leave you? They call it
"permanent RESIDENCY" for a reason -- in other words, you have to RESIDE
in the US to maintain your green card status, not just visit from time
to time. I think the short-term payoff of living together in another
country may ruin your long-term goals of living in the States
permanently with your wife.
But the reality is,
me and my wife can not leave apart until I get my citizenship, which
is about 3 years away. We would rather live together in Europe or
China.
Because I still have a shot of becoming US citizen even living in
Europe, it doesn't hurt for me to try. If I sponsor my wife based on
my PR now, I can always change it later if I become citizen. The only
problem is, we still hope during these years, we can visit US
together. But if she has an immigration application pending, it will
be very difficult for her to get non-immigration visa for short trip.
Is that correct?
You might want to read the Guide to Naturalization available on the
USCIS web site and discuss this with your attorney again. Qualifying
for citizenship requires both a certain amount of time as an LPR and a
certain amount of time spent physically present in the USA. If you live
elsewhere you may be able to maintain your LPR status, but that time may
not count towards qualifying for citizenship.
Of course, the Internet also tells us that hot naked women want to befriend us, so we can't be 100% sure about everything we read there.
This is not an easy one to decide. I would either go back to China with
her or in Euro for 6 months and come back to live in the US for the rest
of the year each year until you get you US passport. Meanwhile do not
apply immigration visa for her since that's for sure gonna be longer
than when you are a USC. This is the best I could think of.
site. I did it and it seems I will meet all
requirements as long as I return to the US every 6 month. during the
year and half abroad.
But of course the interpretation of the law and my situation will be
more important deciding factors. So I think I have a shot but also
risk losing all the "continuous residence" time I have accumulated.
The question I now have is, there are quite a few suggestions that I
do not apply for my wife base on my PR status because citizenship
based application will be much quicker. But can't I file the PR based
application now and file another citizenship based application later
if I get my citizenship? Can someone explain?
