Timeframe and general questions about I-400

[Ready to do it 101]

Hi!  My wife came to the US on a K1 Visa in 2011.  We were married within the 90 day timeframe, in Feb 2012.  My wife's greencard says Resident since 08/11/14, expires 8/11/24.

We were debating applying for her Citizenship soon, however, I have read the USCIS website and it appears the I-400 process takes longer than I had anticipated.  Someone in Houston, TX had told me they did it 2-3 years ago and the timeframe from application to Oath Ceremony was roughly 3 months.  

 

Our situation.... 

1) Once wife arrived in 2011, we lived in Houston, TX for 2-3 years and then moved to Austin, TX, where we have lived for 4 years. 

2) Our lease expires in April 2018

3) I am self-employed and can do my work from anywhere in the world.  Just need a computer and high speed internet.  

4) My wife does not work, we're basically at home 24 hours/day.  Although we do like to travel a lot

5) The majority of my family lives in Houston, TX.  The majority of her family lives in Colombia

6) We reside in Austin.  The only things that show we live in Austin are our lease, electricity bill, and health insurance.  Everything else... my business filing, my business address, all both of our credit cards, driver's license, tax returns, bank accounts, etc all show my Houston business address (which is just a mailing location, like a UPS store where I have all my mail sent to).  I've done it like this for 15 years.

7) We are debating either a) moving to Houston when our lease expires at the end of April or b) putting all our stuff in storage and spend a lot of the next year or two in Colombia.  Last year we spent 3 months at a 5 star hotel in Colombia for a great price.  I am thinking about talking to the hotel in Colombia about a "One year or maybe even two year rate."  If we do so, we will come back to Houston and/or Austin for a week or so, periodically.  We plan to have a child this year and most likely we will want the birth to occur in either Houston or Austin, most likely Austin, as that is where our health insurance is "in network."  Yes, I recognize that if we do this I will have to go through the Permanent resident process to be able to stay in Colombia more than 6 months out of the year.

 

My questions...

1) Is it possible to apply for my wife's US citizenship right now and be done and have the Oath Ceremony by the end of April 2018?... so 3 1/2 months or less.  Assume Austin, TX (so I think San Antonio would be the service center) or Houston, TX.  Do San Antonio or Houston get these I-400 applications done and Oath Ceremony all done within 3 1/2 months?

2) If the answer to #1 above is NO, they do not.  Is there anything I need to know about for my wife to apply for US citizenship in the future?  I have read that the person must be in the US 18 months out of the 3 years immediately preceding filing date.  I have also read that she must be in the filing state or USCIS district for the 3 months prior to the filing.  Lastly, I have read that she must continuously reside within the US from the date of filing the application until the Naturalization date. Is there anything else I need to know?  If we were to move forward with our plans to be in Colombia for a year or two, are there any rules that would prohibit her re-entry into the US? I.e. Are permanent residents required to be in the US a certain number of months out of a year in order to keep permanent residency status?  As long as we come back to the US every 4-5 months for a week or so, would that suffice?

 

Objectives...

1) Get wife's US Citizenship done within 3 1/2 months if possible

2) Live in Colombia for a year or two, but come back to US for a week or so every 4-5 months 

3) Not lose wife's US Permanent Residency status if we are unable to get US Citizenship process completed in less than 3 1/2 months

 

Any feedback/advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[Going through 5,671]

14 hours ago, Ready to do it said:

1) Is it possible to apply for my wife's US citizenship right now and be done and have the Oath Ceremony by the end of April 2018?

Is it *possible*---yes, anything's possible. 

 

Is it *probable*----not when you consider the time between biometrics clearing, and the interview being scheduled...my naturalization process took 96 days from filing date to oath ceremony.  Generally, it's much longer.

 

14 hours ago, Ready to do it said:

Are permanent residents required to be in the US a certain number of months out of a year in order to keep permanent residency status?  As long as we come back to the US every 4-5 months for a week or so, would that suffice?

Permanent residents are required to RESIDE in the US.  Coming back to the US every 5 months for just a week puts her at great risk of losing her status, as she will not be actually residing in the US.  The common rule of thumb is that more than 50% of any 12-month period should be spent within the US.

 

If you want to live in Colombia for a couple of years----your wife should apply for a Re-Entry Permit before leaving the US, which will allow her to live outside of the US for a specific amount of time AND allow her re-entry back into the US without losing her residency status.

 

Read this for more info on re-entry permits:  https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/B5en.pdf

[Ready to do it 101]

8 hours ago, Going through said:

Excellent suggestion!  I will look into the 1-131 Re-entry Permit.  I have gone onto USCIS and read through it looked at the fees, etc.   Any idea the time-frame on how long it takes to actually receive the I-131 Re-entry Permit from the date we send in all the paperwork?  Thank you so much for the suggestion!

A

8 hours ago, Going through said:

 

If you want to live in Colombia for a couple of years----your wife should apply for a Re-Entry Permit before leaving the US, which will allow her to live outside of the US for a specific amount of time AND allow her re-entry back into the US without losing her residency status.

 

Read this for more info on re-entry permits:  https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/B5en.pdf

 

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, Ready to do it said:

Excellent suggestion!  I will look into the 1-131 Re-entry Permit.  I have gone onto USCIS and read through it looked at the fees, etc.   Any idea the time-frame on how long it takes to actually receive the I-131 Re-entry Permit from the date we send in all the paperwork?  Thank you so much for the suggestion!

Generally, it can take 1-2 months from the time of applying to the biometrics appointment plus  an additional 3-4 months for the permit to be produced and mailed out.

[Ready to do it 101]

18 hours ago, Going through said:

Generally, it can take 1-2 months from the time of applying to the biometrics appointment plus  an additional 3-4 months for the permit to be produced and mailed out.

Oh wow! I was thinking maybe a month to two months max.  So you are saying 5-6 months potentially for an I-131?  That seems longer than Citizenship process possibly.

[MiraW 58]

1 hour ago, Ready to do it said:

Oh wow! I was thinking maybe a month to two months max.  So you are saying 5-6 months potentially for an I-131?  That seems longer than Citizenship process possibly.

From my experience, I-131 takes about 3 months to obtain (85 days in my case in 2014). Naturalization application takes 5-6 months on average, some field offices move faster than others. 

If you check on VisaJourney, it seems a lot of Houston filers are still waiting for an interview date after 5-6 months of application. It can indicate that Houston field office is moving slowly at the moment.

(A few got an interview already at 5-6 mark)

Edited January 17, 2018 by MiraW

[NikeS 49]

Interesting challenge you have there but here is my take on it:- 

3 months is a little short to complete the citizenship process (5-6 months more likely) but MAY BE enough for the re-entry permit.

There is the attendant hassle of ensuring she accumulates enough time here in the US before applying for citizenship later if a 1-2 yr stay in Colombia stretches out to 3-4 years. Don’t worry you can renew the re-entry permit. 

You have to file taxes for the preceding 5 years before applying and with income from abroad that has to be tidied up also.  

 

Why not -

1. Apply for citizenship and wait the required number of months now. Then you can truly come and go as you please. 

2. Work on making that baby, you still have health insurance now - you’ll have a little one on the way at the least. Or you just may be a family of 3 by the time you travel if things change 😀

 

[Orangefish2017 5]

anything is possible. you know once you are in colombia its tough to leave. life is different there and food is great. you know the visa journey is a tough one. your wife has a chance of being naturalized. why not get the naturalization done first. she can have dual citizenship colombia and us that way she does not loose her colombian rights and have to pay taxes as a foreigner.