Naturalization- approaching three years but...

[adlitem 0]

Hello all,

My wife and I were married on 04/25/09 and the "Resident Since" date on her GC is 08/06/09. We are planning to do some extensive travelling starting in September so we'll be putting all of our things in storage and using my parent's house for our address. We expect to be out of the US for probably 9 continuous months but could be more or less depending on how things go. We do not intend to leave the country permanently and it will be our home when we get back.

Since it's less than 90 days before her three year anniversary, we can start the naturalization application process now but have some questions.

1. Should we wait to get back before applying or should we start the process now? In my mind all of the requirements are clearly satisfied at this point but my concern would be trying to accompany the process while being out of the country. It looks like it takes at least three months but in person interviews are required. After looking at some other time lines I think that if we had applied right after 90 days we could've been done by September...

2. How will the trip affect the continuous resident requirement? I understand that as long as she's gone less than a year and we can prove we never intended to give up our permanent residence here we should be ok. Is that accurate?

Thanks in advance,

All the best

Edited July 13, 2012 by adlitem

[adlitem 0]

Does anyone have any thoughts/input/opinions to share about our situation?

Thanks again

[Dave&Roza 748]

I would go on the trip and then come back and file for Naturalization. To determine how the trip will affect your Naturaliztion please check out the Naturalization Eligibility Worksheet which starts on page 5. You will be closer to 4 years when you return from your trip and you will not have any questions about residing in the jurisdiction for 3 months if you wait 3 months to file after your return. I would not want the uncertainity of h eprocess screwing up my trip plans. Go enjoy your trip and then worry about naturalization. There is nothing that says you MUST file when eligible, just that you can. You can even wait for 5 years and then the proof of the marriage goes away and it just becomes about residency and meeting all of those requirement.

Good luck,

Dave

Edited July 31, 2012 by Dave&Roza