Citizenship Question

[Jonny&Caitlin 0]

Hello!

My fiancé and I hit the topic of acquiring citizenship of one another’s home country. Does my fiancé have to have citizenship here? Can we travel back and forth between the US and England without either of us having citizenship of the others country? Is there a minimum/maximum that a person can live in his/her spouse’s home country without obtaining citizenship? My fiancé’s interview date is coming in early January so these sorts of questions are arising.

Also, I had a question about getting a stamp from New York airport that allows my fiance to work? Does he have to fly into New York to get this? How can he start work once he arrives in the US?

These may be ludicrous questions but we are curious for answers! Anything would be helpful! Thank you!

Edited December 14, 2009 by Jonny&Caitlin

[Jewel-8 21]

Hello!

My fiancé and I hit the topic of acquiring citizenship of one another's home country. Does my fiancé have to have citizenship here? Can we travel back and forth between the US and England without either of us having citizenship of the others country? Is there a minimum/maximum that a person can live in his/her spouse's home country without obtaining citizenship? My fiancé's interview date is coming in early January so these sorts of questions are arising.

Also, I had a question about getting a stamp from New York airport that allows my fiance to work? Does he have to fly into New York to get this? How can he start work once he arrives in the US?

These may be ludicrous questions but we are curious for answers! Anything would be helpful! Thank you!

The stamp has become obsolete. File for AOS, EAD, and AP as soon as possible after marrying.

The UKC will be issued a greencard and must not be out of the country for a specific length of time or they will lose Permanent Resident status. Sorry I can't help more! We haven't gotten to that stage of the game yet and my fiance has somehow succeeded in convincing me to stop asking the What If questions. Damn.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Once your fiance (at that point husband) gets his PR, he need never become a USC unless he wants to (and wants to take advantage of the privileges afforded a citizen). He must renew his GC every 10 years and, as mentioned above, cannot be out of the US for more than 6 months without a re-entry permit, or more than two years if he has such a permit.

I lived in the UK for 12 years as the equivalent of a permanent resident and I had no restrictions on how long I could be there, and I did not need to become a citizen (though I am kicking myself now for not doing so). You will need to file for a spousal visa though if you intend on living and working there. Lots of good info on http://www.uk-yankee.com/ on how to do this. However, once you leave the UK and make your home elsewhere, you may be deemed to have abandoned your residency there. I was back in London in September and I was told at the border I need to be making more frequent visits to keep my indefinite leave status active -- I was told after two years away you are probably going to lose status. I need to be in Maastricht in February so I will route through London for a few days to help this. I doubt I'll ever move back but since I work for a UK-based organisation, it helps.

If it's just travelling and not living and working, you can enter the UK for up to six months on your US passport.