Green card holder Military orders Overseas

[andrea_smb 5]

Hi!

My Background: I came on a K1 visa, adjusted status to get the green card and sent my ROC documents june last year (still pending). 

 

My husband is military and we recently got orders to England, projected travel date 02/15/19. I have done my research and all that but I wanted to know if there were any military spouses out there that went through this process.

 

 I know I can apply for naturalization based on 319b since we got orders, have any of you done that? Did the process take too long? How long? Also, My I 751 is  pending and their processing times are 18-24 months so I don't know if I will meet the projected date. Because once I get the citizenship I will need to apply for the no fee military passport. I am already preparing my naturalization paperwork but wondering too if they would expedite my process because of the orders.

 

Now, what if I apply  for naturalization once I get there and just do the process as a green card holder. Has any of you done it that way? Meaning going overseas using your country passports? My husband is currently deployed and I am freaking out because the passport/visa office on base was useless when I called   they told me I needed to be a us citizen, if not they couldn't do anything and they couldn't answer me about using a foreign passport but I am pretty sure I am not the first one on this boat, right? 

 

I have to wait until my husband comes back to get documents and more information about pcsing but I hope I can find useful answers here. 

 

Thank you so much for your help!!

 

[Roel 7,192]

7 minutes ago, andrea_smb said:

Hi!

My Background: I came on a K1 visa, adjusted status to get the green card and sent my ROC documents june last year (still pending). 

 

My husband is military and we recently got orders to England, projected travel date 02/15/19. I have done my research and all that but I wanted to know if there were any military spouses out there that went through this process.

Military spouse here!

 

7 minutes ago, andrea_smb said:

 

 I know I can apply for naturalization based on 319b since we got orders, have any of you done that? Did the process take too long? How long? Also, My I 751 is  pending and their processing times are 18-24 months so I don't know if I will meet the projected date. Because once I get the citizenship I will need to apply for the no fee military passport. I am already preparing my naturalization paperwork but wondering too if they would expedite my process because of the orders.

You  can expedite naturalization. But I'm not 100% sure how this process works, since I never tried it. Obviously you need overseas orders. I suggest go to the base legal advice office. Many of them have Immigration offices also!

Oh, I just saw you said there were useless.. ok then! I'm not surprised to be honest lol.

 

You know what is the easiest way in my opinion?  If you don't need citizenship urgently, just let the ROC process flow normally for now.

 

You can ABSOLUTELY move overseas during your pending ROC. Just REMEMBER to update your address with USCIS as soon as you move. This is very important. You will have an option (box to check on form) to say that you're on the military orders abroad.

 

Since you're on military orders, you can of course live abroad on your green card without fear of losing residency.

 

Then once you're in England and your ROC is still pending, you can just apply for the citizenship when your naturalization window opens. So just let the process go it usual route.  You can use your European passport for PCS. You don't need US military passport.

 

I PCSed right before my ROC window, moved back to Europe on my Polish passport. Just take the copy of marriage certificate to the airport!

 

As for expedite citizenship in military case - I've read about it and considered that option also, but it just looked like way too much of a headache lol.

[andrea_smb 5]

3 minutes ago, Roel said:

Military spouse here!

 

You  can expedite naturalization. But I'm not 100% sure how this process works, since I never tried it. Obviously you need overseas orders. I suggest go to the base legal advice office. Many of them have Immigration offices also!

Oh, I just saw you said there were useless.. ok then! I'm not surprised to be honest lol.

 

You know what is the easiest way in my opinion?  If you don't need citizenship urgently, just let the ROC process flow normally for now.

 

You can ABSOLUTELY move overseas during your pending ROC. Just REMEMBER to update your address with USCIS as soon as you move. This is very important. You will have an option (box to check on form) to say that you're on the military orders abroad.

 

Since you're on military orders, you can of course live abroad on your green card without fear of losing residency.

 

Then once you're in England and your ROC is still pending, you can just apply for the citizenship when your naturalization window opens. So just let the process go it usual route.  You can use your European passport for PCS. You don't need US military passport.

 

I PCSed right before my ROC window, moved back to Europe on my Polish passport. Just take the copy of marriage certificate to the airport!

 

As for expedite citizenship in military case - I've read about it and considered that option also, but it just looked like way too much of a headache lol.

Thank you! I don't have an European passport So I will need a visa. and that is another headache process too lol I am wondering which way is less stressful and less painful lol

[Roel 7,192]

2 minutes ago, andrea_smb said:

Thank you! I don't have an European passport So I will need a visa. and that is another headache process too lol I am wondering which way is less stressful and less painful lol

Oh! Sorry! Hm, I have no idea how it works when you PCS to Europe in this case...

But IMO you should NOT be applying for any visa - just like your hubby is not needing a visa in this case.

You should be able to do all that with just the passport you have + PCS orders.

 

And yeah, PCS is whole lotta stress

[andrea_smb 5]

It is my husband's first time pcsing too so we both have a bunch of questions lol 

[Roel 7,192]

https://www.militarytimes.com/pay-benefits/military-benefits/2015/06/19/pcs-to-uk-dependents-don-t-need-visa-in-advance/

 

One of the links I found..

Go again to the legal or immigration office on post. They HAVE to help you, no matter if you're US citizen or not. This is the kind of stuff they should have knowledge about...

[*Snowdrop* 604]

Can't help with the immigration stuff but I see you are going to England - which base? If you want any info re life in general in the UK etc I'm happy to help.

[CEE53147 559]

Contact the USCIS Military Helpline: https://www.uscis.gov/military/military-help-line

 

Contact the Ombudsman for your husband's unit (you should have met her/him at a family FRG meeting).  His unit command spouses are also trained to answer questions and refer people to the appropriate local resources.

[R&OC 371]

I am a military spouse, too and although I can not share any personal experience, I do personally know cases where non-European spouses were on military orders and got a visa for Germany through the US military.

[military-wife 9]

I am on the same boat as you! We recently got orders overseas but we're going to Okinawa, Japan! I sent my i-751 (removal of conditions) and I only have my foreign passport. I think it says in our welcome aboard pamphlet that I need a Japanese visa, but it says nothing about the legal services on base helping in any way. I just want this PCs to go smooth. 

[andrea_smb 5]

husband came back so hopefully he can get the right answers soon

[R&OC 371]

Hi Andrea,

 

do you have any updates or information you could share with us?

[military-wife 9]

I have a friend who recently PCS to Spain with her husband and baby. She told me that even though her case (removal of conditions on Green Card) is still pending, she was able to go Spain without any problem. She has a Filipino passport and they didn't ask her anything. You just need to be on his military order (accompanied PCS).

[andrea_smb 5]

No updates yet since we are not going until early next year. We have to do everything within the 6 months window. I went ahead and applied for citizenship while my roc is pending so hoping I can be a us citizen on time to just get a no fee passport...if not I will just use my passport and I have heard I had to get a sofa stamp but some people on base don't know what they are doing, I guess, because they don't have answers. 

[military-wife 9]

I am going to do the same. I got a letter last week from USCIS that my green card was extended for 18 months from the expiration date on my green card. I can apply for citizenship at the end of the month. Good luck to you!