US citizen living abroad, spouse is a permanent resident

[tim626 0]

Hi, thanks in advance for any replies, I have received a lot of great advice on this forum in the past.

 

I am a US citizen and my wife is a conditional permanent resident (citizen of India). Right now I have a job in the United Arab Emirates and I am living there pretty much full time. I intend to spend the large majority of my time here in order to avail the tax benefits of working overseas (i.e. no federal income tax if I stay outside the US for more than 335 days in a 365-day consecutive period).

 

My current job is of a temporary nature - short-term contract work. Ultimately I intend to return to live in the US, but I'm not exactly sure when. So far I've been here 9 months. Originally I thought it would last for about a year, now it's looking like it could go another full year, possibly more. I don't intend to push it beyond 2-3 years.

 

Meanwhile, we are trying to juggle my wife's residency requirements, in order to 1) maintain her status, 2) remove her conditions in July 2018 and 3) qualify for and obtain naturalization (will be eligible July 2019).

 

We already got her a re-entry permit which is valid through July 2018.

 

Our strategy is for her to periodically travel back and forth for extended stays in each country. At the time of her first exit from US in July 2017, she had already accrued 12 full months in the US. She was here with me in UAE for just under 5 months, and last week she returned to the US with no problem at immigration.

 

If she continues to alternate between the two countries, (e.g. 4 months in UAE, 2 months in US, 3 months in UAE, 3 months in US, etc.) she will have accrued well over the required 18 months in the US by the time she is eligible for citizenship in 2019.

 

Meanwhile we still have many ties in the US, including a permanent address, bank accounts, joint tax returns, etc. We are also expecting our first child.

 

That is the background of the situation. I have 3 basic questions:

 

1) Are there any holes in this general strategy, or anything we should be mindful of that maybe we haven't considered?

 

2) I have a residence visa in UAE, and I also sponsored my wife for a UAE residence visa. This was the only practical option for her to be able to stay with me in UAE for any extended period of time. Could this be a problem?

 

3) We are considering purchasing an apartment in UAE, in order to save on rent while we're here, and as a long-term investment and future rental property after we eventually return to the US. Would this potentially be an issue? In order to purchase the property, I would have to open a bank account and take a mortgage in UAE. Right now my employer is paying me through my US bank, an arrangement I had specifically made to help strengthen my/our ties to the US. One thing I am considering is asking my employer to split up my salary - send some to my US bank and some to a UAE bank. 

 

Thank you to whoever takes the time to read and reply!

 

Cheers,

Tim

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

  If your wife is a resident there she is not a resident in the US.  You reside in one place , the other you are visiting.   You may want to consider giving up the green card and  filing for a new one when you get done over there

[tim626 0]

6 minutes ago, NigeriaorBust said:

  If your wife is a resident there she is not a resident in the US.  You reside in one place , the other you are visiting.   You may want to consider giving up the green card and  filing for a new one when you get done over there

Hmm. This is not the answer I was hoping for. Giving up the green card is not an option. If she gives up her UAE residency now, would it be too late?

 

I don't quite understand though, since she had no issues going through immigration when she returned to US last week. At first the officer questioned her after seeing her UAE residency, but as soon as she showed her re-entry permit he waved her through with no problem.

[geowrian 22,337]

The continuous residence requirement may be an issue for naturalization. Having a reentry permit + foreign spouse + foreign residence visa + spending roughly half the time outside the US may be deemed as having broken continuous residence.

 

Note that this is separate from being re-admitted to the US. The CBP officer permitted her entry last time, but it's never a guarentee. The reentry permit only covers abandonment of residency purely based on the time spent abroad. If the officer thinks residency was abandoned due to other reasons (see above), then they can refer her to an immigration judge to revoke LPR status. Personally, I think this is pretty unlikely with only ~6 months out of the US per year and maintaining the US ties like you have stated, but it's not impossible.

[tim626 0]

16 minutes ago, geowrian said:

The continuous residence requirement may be an issue for naturalization. Having a reentry permit + foreign spouse + foreign residence visa + spending roughly half the time outside the US may be deemed as having broken continuous residence.

 

Note that this is separate from being re-admitted to the US. The CBP officer permitted her entry last time, but it's never a guarentee. The reentry permit only covers abandonment of residency purely based on the time spent abroad. If the officer thinks residency was abandoned due to other reasons (see above), then they can refer her to an immigration judge to revoke LPR status. Personally, I think this is pretty unlikely with only ~6 months out of the US per year and maintaining the US ties like you have stated, but it's not impossible.

 

It sounds like getting the residence visa might not have been a good idea.

 

Right now her schedule for 2018 looks something like this:

 

Early January: US to UAE

Late March: UAE to US

Early April: file application for removal of conditions

July: Re-entry permit expires and baby due

Late August/Early September: US to UAE with baby

 

Now I'm thinking maybe we can cancel her UAE residence visa when she goes back to the US in March (i.e. before the re-entry permit expires and before we apply for removal of conditions).

 

She can come to UAE on a 90-day tourist visa in August/September, then head back to the US after the 90 days are up (around November). Stay in US for ~2 months, then come back to UAE on another 90-day tourist visa from January-April 2019. Then back to US and apply for citizenship in July. With this schedule she will have been in the US for about ~22 out of 36 months since her first arrival in July 2016.

 

Granted it's a pretty hectic schedule, especially with a small infant. I'm just trying to brainstorm how to make this work.

 

As for buying the property in UAE...I'm not sure. Right now our US address is my father's house. Our long-term plan is to continue to live with my father, and ultimately purchase the house from him, which will help fund his retirement. Maybe we can do this sooner rather than later so the house will be in our name, and thus strengthen our ties further...

[Unlockable 7,314]

If she attempts to apply for citizenship with those dates you provided she will be denied. To be approved for citizenship a permanent residence must have resided IN the US for a duration of time in total. Since she is married to you, that equals 3 years. But if she has been out of the US for a total of 2 years, then she has to make up that time INSIDE the US.

[tim626 0]

1 minute ago, NuestraUnion said:

If she attempts to apply for citizenship with those dates you provided she will be denied. To be approved for citizenship a permanent residence must have resided IN the US for a duration of time in total. Since she is married to you, that equals 3 years. But if she has been out of the US for a total of 2 years, then she has to make up that time INSIDE the US.

 

I said she will have been inside the US for 22 out of 36 months. That's ~2 years in the US, ~1 year out.

[Unlockable 7,314]

And the physical presence requirements?

 

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization/continuous-residence-and-physical-presence-requirements-naturalization

Quote

Physical Presence

Applicants are required to show that they were:

• Physically present in the U.S. for thirty months within the five year period before applying, or (see legal basis)
• Physically present in the U.S. for eighteen months within the three year period before applying in the case of qualified spouses of U.S. citizens (see legal basis)

In addition, applicants are required to show they have resided for at least three months immediately preceding the filing of Form N-400 in the USCIS district or state where the applicant claims to have residency (See 8 CFR §316.2(a)(5) & §319.1(a)(5)).

 

 

[tim626 0]

Just now, NuestraUnion said:

And the physical presence requirements?

 

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization/continuous-residence-and-physical-presence-requirements-naturalization

 

 

Yes, she will be in the US for more than 18 months. She will be in the US for 22 months. 

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

  The fact she has been declared a permanent resident of another country indicates that she is no longer a resident here.   It won't come up during her travel but will when she files for citizenship.    Giving it up may be too little too late ( BTW  I am known as one that brings up the negatives to get them on the table )

[tim626 0]

30 minutes ago, NigeriaorBust said:

  The fact she has been declared a permanent resident of another country indicates that she is no longer a resident here.   It won't come up during her travel but will when she files for citizenship.    Giving it up may be too little too late ( BTW  I am known as one that brings up the negatives to get them on the table )

 

Fair point, but if she gives up the residency before the re-entry permit expires, it should be evidence that the foreign residency was intended for that period only. Any subsequent travel will be on tourist visas.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

 The issue would be is when they are looking at her travels and places lived for citizenship , and if you get a hard headed IO , they can say that she gave up her residence and not only deny citizenship but make her restart her green card.   meaning more lost time.    Being that this is only a self help forum you make want to spend a few $$ on the consult with a good lawyer for a real opinion.   My guess is they wouldn't care most of the time but do you want to take a chance ?  

[BuiQuang 95]

for citizenship, she need to live with u for 3 years.  that not gonna happen when u live in UAE and she live in US.

 

ur plan will not work.

[usmsbow 801]

5 hours ago, tim626 said:

Hmm. This is not the answer I was hoping for. Giving up the green card is not an option. If she gives up her UAE residency now, would it be too late?

 

I don't quite understand though, since she had no issues going through immigration when she returned to US last week. At first the officer questioned her after seeing her UAE residency, but as soon as she showed her re-entry permit he waved her through with no problem.

 

Just wondering: why is giving up the green card not an option? Would be be difficult for her to get a tourist visa for the US? Does she have to be in the US for some other reason beyond maintaining her residency status? Just asking since it seems the easiest & least stressful route to take is for you two to live in the UAE, then for her to apply for a marriage visa (and new green card) when you're ready to move back to the USA. Sure, it ain't cheap, but neither is flying between the UAE and USA so often. 

 

 

[Ontarkie 14,218]

~~Non conductive post removed. Stick to answering the OP or do not post.~~