citizenship or divorce first?

[Traci - Andrew 14]

I agree with the last few posts, he is wanting you to become a USC so that he does not have to support you. I might be wrong about this, but not many people are so "accomidating" when it comes to a divorce, there are some that remain friends and very cordial through out the entire divorce, while most this is not the case. The choice is yours on what you choose to do, if I were in your shoes I would wait and not get teh USC, this is just a security blanket incase something were to happen to you where you could not work, or even go back home if that is what you choose to do. If the problems for divorce were mainly on your part, and not mutual problems then I would let the guy off the hook just to be a good person, but what ever it is that you choose to do, remember this, if you do not look after yourself, no one will. I would contact a immigration lawyer and tell him what is going on, and voice any concerns you have with him, he can better fill you in on what your options are, and even steer you on the right path. There are many reasons that he might be offering you the USC that we do not know about, maybe he wants released from supporting you, maybe he just wants to make sure that you are a USC before the divorce goes through because he is a great guy and wants to make sure you are happy, we truly do not know and can only make suggestions based on our personal experiences, and as in opinions everyone has them, and they are not always the same. Good luck in what ever you decide, just remember look out for yourself, dont get caught up in the moment and think about your future. Jerome

Hi

Jeromebinh's & Just Bob's post has just made my one look very negative due to their correctly balanced and unbiased posts, also I jumped to the assumption that the fault of the breakdown of the marriage was down to your husband and that during this time there is a lot of friction and no love loss... However we do not have all the facts and it was wrong of me to think one sided.

Without a detailed account of the facts in your circumstances, none of us here can advise you at all, however if you read all these posts, it may open your eyes to some facts that you may or may not have been aware of allowing you to make up your own mind as to whether your husband is being kind or not.

Accept my apologies for my last one sided post, as Jeromebinh & Just Bob have shown me a fairer and nicer way to give you these facts.

Take care and good luck

Andrew

[thongd4me 69]

I missed that detail before.

You have been a Green Card holder (not only married!) for 5 years or longer?

Then you can become a citizen anytime, now, next month, before your divorce, during your divorce, or after your divorce. The divorce has no bearing on your citizenship process.

You don't really want to become a US citizen? No problem, you don't have to.

What other posters have said it correct, but it's a wrong assumption in practice: your husband *might* want you to become a citizen now, as he is financially responsible for you should you become a public charge until you have accumulated 40 units of Social Security payments (usually 10 years), become a US citizen, die, or lose your status and move away from the US.

The thing is, during the divorce the financial responsibility will be made an issue anyway, USC or LPR.

If you work now, you won't become a public charge, and if you don't work, your husband will have to pay spousal support, so you won't become a public charge either.

All that said, if you are from a country that allows dual citizenship, and your husband wants you to become a USC and is willing to pay for it, I don't see a good reason why you would not want to become one NOW.

As you have said yourself, the citizenship question may be a non-issue (in the case of divorce), and given your 5+ yr residency on a GC it definitely is.

Financial responsibility in the case of divorce is most often assigned by "equitable distribution" rather than by who is at fault.

Equitable Distribution

Check your state's laws to see how this applies (it may or may not); if your state is a community property state it will be 50/50.

Either way immigration status (as long as you have 5+ yrs residence on a valid GC) has NO bearing on this process.

:time:

[justashooter 430]

Hi Biter

He does not want you to stay on the Green Card for the remainder of the 10 years as he would be financially responsible for you as you are unable to seek social security for 10 years or 40 quarters of work life.. So his interest in getting you your US Citizenship is purely selfish on his part, as it will free him from being bound to the Immigration form that he signed to say that he will support you for 10 years.

In fact if you did not become a USC he would have to pay you to live and support you for the next 5 years, if he failed to do so you could end up suing him for the support payments in court.

wrong on many fronts.

if you and he have both worked 5 years since green card (10 years together) and he had previously worked 10 years then the 864 is done and worthless to USCIS, the only party that can call for it's enforcement. the 864 is not a contract that a divorced spouse can enforce, and is of no use in front of a divorce master, despite the two (only 2) examples of record in which we have seen it considered. these examples are abberations, not the norm.

the 864 is a contract between the sponsor and the USCIS because there is an exchange of value between the two. the USCIS extends immigration benefits, and the sponsor promises to keep the immigrant off of means tested benefits. the immigrant is not party to the contract, and has not participated in the "exchange of value" in any way a court will recognise.

it is in your interest to apply for citizenship, as this opens more opportunity to you and gives more protection than you can understand now. if he is willing to pay for it, take it while it is free. until you are a citizen you cannnot hold certain jobs, and will not be preferred for others. also, you can be deported for a wide variety of offenses, some of which would be considered relatively minor. once you become USC you can only be deported if USCIS determines that you entered the marriage for fraudulent gain of immigration benefits, or for acts of sedition.

if your divorce master orders this guy to pay spousal support at all, it is going to be very short lived, in light of the short duration of your marriage. typically it will be for less than half the life of the marriage, and then only if you have no job at all and he is making big bux. if you have a job now and quit to try to manipulate the situation the judge will take income history into account and punish you for manipulation.