Just So I Know

[Khal_Drogo 50]

Alright, I've had the tough questions answered, let me see if I got this straight, please correct me by use of force (hammers are okay) if I am wrong:

1. She comes here, gains conditional LPR status.

2. I apply for an assignment in England and it gets accepted (with a RNLT December '13/January '14).

3. We put in a request for expedited naturalization.

4. I get orders and she naturalizes before we leave.

Or is that not how it works?

[ecg19 7]

Correct- it's what we are doing right now.

Edited to add- you can only apply for expedited naturalization once you have HARD orders - and only 90 days out from the date you are booked to leave the USA. We got our tickets on the rotator before we got hard orders, so that wasn't an issue.

Time will tell whether we get everything done in time, but just incase, we have put aside money for me to fly back for oath/testing, applied for Fairfax Virginia to be the office I do the testing & oath in, which they do same day, and also it's close enough to apply for an expedited passport in Washington DC. You can't leave the country once you're a citizen without a US passport (even if you are a dual citizen) so you need to have enough time to get a passport too, which you can do in a 2 day service in a passport office.

Edited February 25, 2013 by ecg19

[Khal_Drogo 50]

So say something happens and we can't do all that before we leave.

Obviously I can't go AWOL and stay behind.

What would happen then?

Since she is on my orders, I believe this was answered before, even though she will be a conditional LPR, she can still come with me to England and would simply need to fly back for the testing/oath?

[ecg19 7]

Yup- exactly.

We've saved on the basis that I may have to fly back for the testing/oath if it's not through before we have to fly out on the rotator. That's why I have requested Fairfax, VA, as the office in the cover letter, as they do same day oath and are near enough to Baltimore which is the rotator point as you would know. Always pays to have a back up plan for these things anyway!

The most important point is that once you have the oath you are then a US citizen and you must leave with a US passport - so if she does need to fly back here, allowing enough time to get a passport before the return flight to the UK.

[Deb+Steve 13]

Yup- exactly.

We've saved on the basis that I may have to fly back for the testing/oath if it's not through before we have to fly out on the rotator. That's why I have requested Fairfax, VA, as the office in the cover letter, as they do same day oath and are near enough to Baltimore which is the rotator point as you would know. Always pays to have a back up plan for these things anyway!

The most important point is that once you have the oath you are then a US citizen and you must leave with a US passport - so if she does need to fly back here, allowing enough time to get a passport before the return flight to the UK.

I thought you could do the oath ceremony overseas (I swear there is someone on this board that did it) ... didn't realise you would have to fly all the way back to the US for that!

[ecg19 7]

I thought you could do the oath ceremony overseas (I swear there is someone on this board that did it) ... didn't realise you would have to fly all the way back to the US for that!

Under section 319(b) (Expedited naturalization section of the Immigration Naturalization Act) - the applicant MUST be present in the USA for the oath.

I guess it is the trade off for not requiring any specific physical residence. To be honest, flying back to the USA is not much that they are asking for considering I have only had my green card for 2 months!

Of course, I'm sure there are oaths overseas for people not under that section!

[SweetDelish 38]

Emma, upon reading the fact sheet on the USCIS site, I thought that you could only qualify for expedited naturalisation if you have been married for 3 years ? I'm checking to see if I might qualify since we are (most likely) going to Korea in 8 weeks, my AOS is pending, orders with command sponsorship is due this week or next. But from what I'm reading, I won't qualify as we need to be married for 3 years first.. can you point me in the direction of the information you found??

[SweetDelish 38]

never mind, I think I found the answer I'm looking for, basically, to apply I need to be here in the US, not to worry, if by some miracle I get it next week or something, I might do just that, otherwise I'm ok with taking the long road.

[ecg19 7]

never mind, I think I found the answer I'm looking for, basically, to apply I need to be here in the US, not to worry, if by some miracle I get it next week or something, I might do just that, otherwise I'm ok with taking the long road.

Hey,

This is an excerpt from the updated USCIS rule book (you can find it on the USCIS website, I've just kept the little cut out for my own purposes):

__________

Residence, Physical Presence, and Overseas Naturalization

for Spouses of Members of the U.S. Armed Forces

319(b)

Must be LPR but no specified period of residence or physical presence is required

Must complete interview and oath in United States

The law permits expedited naturalization in the United States for eligible spouses of U.S. citizen service members who are or will be stationed or deployed abroad.[11] This provision does not require any prior period of residence or specified period of physical presence within the United States for any LPR spouse of a U.S. citizen who is an employee of the United States Government (including a member of the U.S. armed forces) or recognized nonprofit organization who is stationed abroad in such employment for at least one year.[12]

__________

So, you could actually apply for expedited citizenship while in Korea (another member here, Shellz, applied from overseas) as long as your hubby ends up with a two year tour, not a one year.

The only thing is, as stated above, you'd have to fly back to Hawaii or somewhere that does same day interview/oath. Could be worth it for more job options though, which is why I'm doing it!

If you have any other questions, feel free to Facebook me

[SweetDelish 38]

Thanks Emma! That's really helpful.

[Khal_Drogo 50]

So, basically, we're forgoing the entire I-751 process, is that correct?

Because her second anniversary of being granted conditional status will be March of 2015, ninety days before that will be December '14/January '15, and if I do in fact get these orders, that means we'll have been gone a full year.

By the way; interview went great, she just got her visa today and I just got done paying the $165 processing fee.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Khal_Drogo