N400 and absence from US

[alix 20]

Alix,

thank you so much for sharing your experience!! That makes me feel SO MUCH better! And congrats on being a citizen now - that's awesome

Can I ask why you filed under the 3 year rule? Do we have to do this, because it's marriage based? Or does it really matter, in the end? Did you send in all the documents requested based on the 3 year rule, or just the documents for the 5 year rule?

Sonja

Hi Sonja,

Sorry for the late reply!

I applied based on marriage (3-year rule) mainly because I felt that since I had lived abroad because of my husband it would be easier to explain my absence and that I didn't simply abandon my residency here in the US. I don't know if it makes a difference, but somehow in my case made more sense. In the end it really didn't hurt. Plus I didn't mind sending a couple more pieces of paper with my N-400. With my form I sent my husband's birth certificate, our marriage certificate and our tax returns (and the rest everyone has to send).

You'll likely get a yellow letter asking for extra evidence. Don't worry about it. Just be ready with all the evidence possible for the interview (joint lease or mortgage, utility bills, insurance cards, children birth certificates, also any proof that you didn't abandon your residency here) just in case they ask for it.

Good luck!

alix

[SoRot76 3]

I sent my N400 out on 12/3, and got my NOA already. I did include the IRS tax returns as well as my husband's contract for his fellowship and other proof that we were in Germany only temporarily… Waiting for my biometrics letter now

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Sonja,

short answer, it's not an issue at all. Not even by a wide shot.

I hope you have file for -- and received -- your Beibehaltungsgenehmigung from the BVA in Köln already. I don't assume you're okay with losing your German citizenship for good when naturalizing in the US.

On a more personal note, there's no dual citizenship. There would have been a dual citizen, two people in one body, named Clark Kent and Superman, but since he was an illegal alien from Krypton, guilty of false claim of citizenship and several cases of document fraud, aside from the fact that he didn't really exist, it's not a good example at all. Your kids are Krauts in Germany and Yanks in the US. No dual nuttin'.

Edited December 16, 2014 by Brother Hesekiel

[SoRot76 3]

Ye, I do have my BBG. It took the consulate in Chicago about two and a half months to send it to me, but I finally received it in November