Who plans on living outside the USA?

[belize 0]

I was just wondering if anyone else here has considered and/or will be living in their non-US-citizen spouse's country in the future...just curious....my husband and i plan on moving back to belize and starting a family in about 5 yrs--we are in the US to save money and further our educations so we can lead successful lives in a third-world country. We also wanted the visa so we could travel back and forth to visit family, whereas before, Steven would have never been able to even take a vacation with me in the US. If the US is only temporary for you, why?

We have chosen to live in Belize for many reasons...we are environmentalists for one, and have land down there and secondly, want to raise our kids in a less-materialistic place, in the hopes that they will grow up valuing different things in life...my husband's country is such a beautiful place, with so much diversity, and we are both so in love with it....has anyone else chosen this path?

[lucyrich 20]

We're not moving to Venezuela any time soon, due to the current political situation and crime rate, but we've discussed the possibility of moving to another Latin American country. So far, it's in the "wouldn't it be nice someday..." phase, with no definite plans.

If you do go, consider having the non-USC spouse obtain US Citizenship first, assuming the other country doesn't prohibit dual citizenship. With only a green card, time spent outside the US could constitute abandonment of permanent resident status, but the marriage to a US Citizen could make it hard to enter as a tourist, so it might be difficult to enter the US again. You'd might have to go through the whole visa process once more to return to the US even for a visit. However, once a person has US Citizenship, they can leave the US for as long as they want, and come back at any time.

[bora bora 1]

My fiance and I have spoken about this as well. We met while I was living in Brazil and he wanted me to stay but I was not ready for that - being a recent college graduate at the time and missing my family and friends.

I went back to stay with him twice and I SERIOUSLY considered staying there but we decided that the K1 visa is a better choice for us now.

For the same reasons you stated, belize, my fiance is moving here. He will have many more opportunities here in the U.S., will be able to study, work, and learn English.

However, we talk about returning to Brazil to live. He loves his country (as do I) and I think we'll go back one day - hopefully not too far from now.

It's hard though because my family and friends are here. My fiance has lost his parents and his grandma who raised him [] within the last year and a half. It's been very hard for him, yet it makes it easier to leave Brazil behind now.

My fiance is from the Amazon and besides the EXTREME HEAT & HUMIDITY it's a great place to live. We'll see...only time will tell.

[raymaga 25]

My husband (U.S. citizen) and I (Canadian citizen, soon to be applying for U.S. citizenship) would like to move to Canada sometime in the future.

Even though most things are a lot cheaper here in the U.S., health insurance is NOT. At the moment, my husband has great health insurance with his employer, so we're okay for now. But he plans to retire at 62 (10 years from now) and we won't be eligible for Medicare until 65. So, we are hoping to move to Canada at that time and to get my husband Canadian citizenship.

I have 2 adult sons in Canada, and my daughter is here in the U.S. with us going to college. My husband has 1 adult daughter here in the U.S., so no matter where we live, we won't be near some of our children.

I've already started looking into what is involved, even though in 10 years the whole process could change.

Edited February 28, 2007 by raymaga

[belize 0]

wow i didn't realize one could lose ones' permanent resident status...hmm....how long does citizenship take again? 4 yrs after you get the green card or something like that? we plan on birthing our children in the US, for obvious immigration reasons, so we will be in the US for some time (because babies are in the fuuuuuture for us...) so maybe we'll still be here for the citizenship...thanks for bringing that up....

[lucyrich 20]

how long does citizenship take again? 4 yrs after you get the green card or something like that? we plan on birthing our children in the US, for obvious immigration reasons, so we will be in the US for some time

As long as you stay married and living together, you're eligible for citizenship 3 years after getting the Green Card. And you can usually start the paperwork 90 days before that three year period finishes. It'll typically take them 6-9 months or so to process things (but by the time you're ready, the processing timelines will have changed), so four years total isn't far from the mark, though it's probably a bit quicker. See the US Citizenship forum here on VJ for more details.

Note that, as long as one parent is a US Citizen and has lived in the US for the required time (five years total, at least two of which must have been after age 14), the child will automatically be a US Citizen at birth regardless of where the child is born. So there may not be a huge immigration reason for having your children born in the US. There may be plenty of other reasons you would choose to do so, though.

[Nessa 23]

We talked about moving to Brazil after we retire. Probably to a beach where we can sit all day, drink coconut water and enjoy doing nothing

[GabachaYucateca 0]

I even want to move back to Mexico right now even while waiting for my NOA2! He's never been here before, and I don't know how he'll feel about living here. I'd like to think that we can stick it out long enough for him to get his citizenship, but only time will tell.

I also need some time to finish my Master's and get to a point where I can freelance from home to make money, because I can't go back to working for a Mexican company. We'd never be able to afford a car, house, and kids on what we'd earn. So, the plan is to save money, build some capital and move back.

[Misis 0]

My husband is retiring in 4 years and we are going to settle down in my country, Philippines. We... ok HE already bought a beach front property just last year... of course there's no way in h-ll we can afford something like that here in the US... it doesn't cost much to start a business there, so he is more than willing to try life back there. And since he is still young by the time he retires (38 yo), he might look for a job in the US embassy there in case he gets bored sitting on his a_s. He is now working in the US Emb - in Moscow for the last 2 yrs and Czech starting July for 3-4yr assignment, so hopefully that would be an edge for him. So, I can't wait to move back home... yes it's a third world country, but there is no place like home.

[belize 0]

Gabacha--it sounds like we have a lot in common....like you, i randomly chose to do my undergrad field work for my thesis in Belize and again randomly, met my now husband. My thesis was about a student's guide to social change-work with NGOs in developing countries...what was yours about? i agree with you, in that if i could move to belize right now i would...and the thing is, we potentially "could"...but, we have a bunch of random goals that require money so we wouldn't have to say, take out a loan, to open up a dancehall...such is life....even if you guys don't last long in the US and end up moving back to Mexico sooner than you might like, i do think the move to the US is an important cultural experience for the non-US spouse, especially in getting to understand where you came from...my husband and i were raised in incredibly different environments, economically, religiously, etc. so i think even though the move and transition is tough, it is well rewarding...i imagine you're young too if you were in school at the time, i'm 21 and steven is 25...just wanted to say hi

[olafgypsy 0]

This is an interesting thread -- it's made me think a lot about the future (which is a little bit scary, but good). My fiance and I have a LOT to do that requires us to be in the US. I have to finish an English Lit ph.d, which I can't do in Colombia. He wants to be in the animal care industry, for which the U.S. has a MUCH larger market. And like Lucyrich, I worry about the political stability and overall safety of my fiance's country.

On the other hand, I love Colombia. I can imagine myself some day retiring happily to or summering frequently in Cartagena. And I know he loves Colombia with all his heart, so I cannot rule out the possibility of living there for a long period of time -- it would make him so happy.

[GabachaYucateca 0]

Hi Belize! Believe it or not, I never even thought about your reasoning behind the non-USC spouse moving to the States, but it makes a whole lot of sense. His wanting to move is for two reasons: 1)I was getting to feel unhappy living in Mexico and 2) we're both sick of the treatment workers get in Mexico with no job stability and working like a dog for little to no money. And anything that we'd like to do in Mexico (even as simple as having his own taco cart) requires money that he'll never be able to get from working in Mexico.

In an incomplete nutshell, my thesis examined Yucatec Mayans' perceptions of Cancun and how migration to Cancun for work changed the village. My personal life merged with my academic life when I fell for a Yucatec Maya who decided to move to Cancun for work because he had no options in his village! But our courtship and the first six months of our relationship took place in his village, and we later moved to Cancun, where I spent five years.

[Melyssa 0]

We are planning on living in the U.S. for the first few years probably but haven't decided yet about whether we will move to Canada but it may be an option in the future (we'll have to wait and see.) My family is here!

[NatyLaloPeru 0]

We are planning on living in the States for now to save money and finish school, pay off debts stuff like that for a few years and then move back to Peru.

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

We haven't planned it. It has been more of a "retirement" thing.

It all kind of dependes. If we have children. How things go economically. etc...

Ideally, we would move back and forth. But that is just not realistic for us.

bleah, did I say anything?

Daniel

:energetic: