Joining husband who will be stationed overseas. Is it possible to expedite naturalization while still on 2-yr conditional GC?

[Pumpkin 24]

Hello everyone! I have several questions about my situation right now.

 

So, my husband will be stationed in Korea later this year (around October) and he will be there for a full year and he'll be moved again sometime in October 2020. I just received my conditional 2-year green card on December 2018. I won't be in his orders for Korea and I'll be moving to another state to stay with a friend of mine during his time there. Our follow-on station after his tour in Korea will still be overseas, but I'll be on his orders for it and will be moving overseas to join him by that time.

 

My question is, when I move with him to the next duty station overseas around October/November 2020, is it possible to just file for naturalization and forgo the removing of conditions for a 10-year green card? I know I'm supposed to renew my current green card and remove conditions 3 months before it expires on December 2020 to get the 10-year one but if I were on my husband's orders to join him overseas, can I just file for naturalization straight away? Or am I required to still do the removal of conditions first before filing for expedited naturalization? And if so, when exactly is it okay to start filing for expedited naturalization?

 

Any advice on what I should/could do in this situation will be appreciated! Thank you! 😊

[Roel 7,192]

 

https://www.uscis.gov/military/citizenship-family-members

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

9 minutes ago, Pumpkin said:

Any advice on what I should/could do in this situation will be appreciated! Thank you! 😊

There are others you successfully done that and posted their experiences (I'm not one of those, I just read a lot). You want to search around the forum for key word "INA 319(b)"

 

One other thing is I believe one person mentioned before that not all USCIS offices is experienced in dealing with 319(b) and they seem to freak out and not know what to do. There are several offices that specifically trained in dealing with 319(b). I believe Norfolk, VA and Seattle, WA are some of those. 

 

Timing wise, if I remember correctly, after you complete the naturalization, you can only remain in the States a maximum of 45 days, since the point of the whole thing is for you to be able to join your spouse overseas, so that might needs to be factored into when do you plan to do it. 

 

Do you have the official orders for 2020 in hand yet?

[Dashinka 24,494]

The thread @Roel posted is a great resource, but keep in mind as he stated in the linked thread, the ROC stage cannot be skipped.

 

Good Luck!

[ZKT 118]

Roc can be skipped as long as you have a green card. Many of my friends i have met online also in the military has skipped and saved money by not doing roc and directly going through n400 and have gotten their citizenship. 

 

You can't file n400 under ina 319(b) if you're not on the orders/command sponsored. So you can file it though now since you will by this time have your other orders where you are included. You just have to have a copy of that hard orders and dd1278, dea (dependent approval for orders overseas), letter of intent to reside with the us citizen abroad and upon termination of that job/contract abroad to return and live in the us along with the other evidences/requirements they make you submit in usual n400's. I added my husband's navy contract and my deers application, id and tricare health insurance and my husband's page 2 and emergency contact page to show evidence that i'm his dependent. 

 

I'm a conditional gc holder. I came here on a k1 visa. We're pcsing to japan soon. I just filed for my n400 under ina 319 (b) last sept 4. 

 

Once you get your receipt number, you can also call the military hotline to request to expedite your case. Usual expedite under ina 319 b is about 1.5-3 months processing time for everything. This is based on multiple couples that have been filing under that since this january and as last as last june, july and august 2020.

 

[Pumpkin 24]

Completely forgot about this until now that the date that I'm leaving is close by. But thank you everyone who replied, I've been reading up a lot about my current issue.

 

18 hours ago, ZKT said:

Roc can be skipped as long as you have a green card. Many of my friends i have met online also in the military has skipped and saved money by not doing roc and directly going through n400 and have gotten their citizenship. 

 

You can't file n400 under ina 319(b) if you're not on the orders/command sponsored. So you can file it though now since you will by this time have your other orders where you are included. You just have to have a copy of that hard orders and dd1278, dea (dependent approval for orders overseas), letter of intent to reside with the us citizen abroad and upon termination of that job/contract abroad to return and live in the us along with the other evidences/requirements they make you submit in usual n400's. I added my husband's navy contract and my deers application, id and tricare health insurance and my husband's page 2 and emergency contact page to show evidence that i'm his dependent. 

 

I'm a conditional gc holder. I came here on a k1 visa. We're pcsing to japan soon. I just filed for my n400 under ina 319 (b) last sept 4. 

 

Once you get your receipt number, you can also call the military hotline to request to expedite your case. Usual expedite under ina 319 b is about 1.5-3 months processing time for everything. This is based on multiple couples that have been filing under that since this january and as last as last june, july and august 2020.

 

Hello and thank you for the detailed response. So am I right to assume that you filed for N400 without bothering filing for ROC?

My Conditional Green Card expires December 18 2020 and since USCIS states that I can file for ROC at least 3 months prior to expiry of my current green card, I decided to just wait by September 18 to start filing online. But now I'm planning to just file for N400 straight away. But it's definitely okay to not bother with ROC, yes? Or did you file N400 as well as for the Removal of Conditions of your current Green Card?

I got on the USCIS website earlier and answered the few questions they had there about applying for N400 and based on my answers (my husband in the military, being stationed overseas, having orders to accompany him, etc) it states that I qualify to apply for N400 now but I'm still unsure if I also have to file ROC along with it or if just filing for N400 is enough.

[Iscir 295]

6 hours ago, Pumpkin said:

Completely forgot about this until now that the date that I'm leaving is close by. But thank you everyone who replied, I've been reading up a lot about my current issue.

 

Hello and thank you for the detailed response. So am I right to assume that you filed for N400 without bothering filing for ROC?

My Conditional Green Card expires December 18 2020 and since USCIS states that I can file for ROC at least 3 months prior to expiry of my current green card, I decided to just wait by September 18 to start filing online. But now I'm planning to just file for N400 straight away. But it's definitely okay to not bother with ROC, yes? Or did you file N400 as well as for the Removal of Conditions of your current Green Card?

I got on the USCIS website earlier and answered the few questions they had there about applying for N400 and based on my answers (my husband in the military, being stationed overseas, having orders to accompany him, etc) it states that I qualify to apply for N400 now but I'm still unsure if I also have to file ROC along with it or if just filing for N400 is enough.

if you get naturalized before it’s time for you to file for ROC, then you can skip ROC. But if you are still waiting for your naturalization when your ROC window opens, then you have to file for ROC. But I don’t know if you need to have just the naturalization interview before it’s time for you to file for ROC to skip it or if you need to be naturalized.  

So you can file for naturalization now and if you’re still waiting for it when your time to file for ROC comes, then file for ROC. 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Iscir

[ZKT 118]

11 hours ago, Pumpkin said:

Completely forgot about this until now that the date that I'm leaving is close by. But thank you everyone who replied, I've been reading up a lot about my current issue.

 

Hello and thank you for the detailed response. So am I right to assume that you filed for N400 without bothering filing for ROC?

My Conditional Green Card expires December 18 2020 and since USCIS states that I can file for ROC at least 3 months prior to expiry of my current green card, I decided to just wait by September 18 to start filing online. But now I'm planning to just file for N400 straight away. But it's definitely okay to not bother with ROC, yes? Or did you file N400 as well as for the Removal of Conditions of your current Green Card?

I got on the USCIS website earlier and answered the few questions they had there about applying for N400 and based on my answers (my husband in the military, being stationed overseas, having orders to accompany him, etc) it states that I qualify to apply for N400 now but I'm still unsure if I also have to file ROC along with it or if just filing for N400 is enough.

Hi pumpkin! All the people i've met on the foreign military spouse fb group that did this n400 under ina 319(b) all skip roc and go straight to n400 and all pass/become us citizens and pcs with their military spouse and live happily ever after. Hahaha. All of them including me are k1 fiance visas and then aos peeps. Most of them apply as soon as they get hard orders where its only been a few months or some even expedited their aos. So i've never thought about the fact about doing roc or our conditional green cards expiring. I'm flying out to japan in dec. My roc starts next year in feb. So it's probably not gonna even reach that time just like how it never crossed the other filers' minds because they all left so soon also. Its something you should consider. And probably just file for n400 under 319b and then if its not done by then file a roc also just to be sure. But if everything gets done by that time then you're all good. 

[Pumpkin 24]

5 hours ago, Iscir said:

if you get naturalized before it’s time for you to file for ROC, then you can skip ROC. But if you are still waiting for your naturalization when your ROC window opens, then you have to file for ROC. But I don’t know if you need to have just the naturalization interview before it’s time for you to file for ROC to skip it or if you need to be naturalized.  

So you can file for naturalization now and if you’re still waiting for it when your time to file for ROC comes, then file for ROC. 

My window for filing ROC starts this Friday (conditional green card expires on December) and I'm really not sure if I can actually finish the naturalization process before it expires so I think I'll have to file for ROC. Was hoping I wouldn't have to but oh well...But thank you for clarifying this!!

 

43 minutes ago, ZKT said:

Hi pumpkin! All the people i've met on the foreign military spouse fb group that did this n400 under ina 319(b) all skip roc and go straight to n400 and all pass/become us citizens and pcs with their military spouse and live happily ever after. Hahaha. All of them including me are k1 fiance visas and then aos peeps. Most of them apply as soon as they get hard orders where its only been a few months or some even expedited their aos. So i've never thought about the fact about doing roc or our conditional green cards expiring. I'm flying out to japan in dec. My roc starts next year in feb. So it's probably not gonna even reach that time just like how it never crossed the other filers' minds because they all left so soon also. Its something you should consider. And probably just file for n400 under 319b and then if its not done by then file a roc also just to be sure. But if everything gets done by that time then you're all good. 

Knowing there are several military spouses out there going through the same and successfully going through it is very reassuring, thank you for that info! I filed for N400 literally just hours ago so I hope I get through this process quickly. Since my conditional GC expires in December, I think I might have to file for ROC too. But I'm hoping by some miracle that I won't have to and somehow get naturalized before the expiry...if anything, just to avoid the added fees. Also, I'm more in a time crunch since we're supposed to PCS to Italy in mid-October. Considering the wait time after filing today, even if I'll ask for my case to be expedited, realistically I know I won't finish the process in time before October so I'm fairly certain I'll have to delay going to Italy. Or probably go there but come back just for the interview and oath taking (when the time comes & if I do get approved). Ahhhh...I'm really kicking myself for leaving all these last minute.

[Iscir 295]

8 hours ago, Pumpkin said:

My window for filing ROC starts this Friday (conditional green card expires on December) and I'm really not sure if I can actually finish the naturalization process before it expires so I think I'll have to file for ROC. Was hoping I wouldn't have to but oh well...But thank you for clarifying this!!

 

Knowing there are several military spouses out there going through the same and successfully going through it is very reassuring, thank you for that info! I filed for N400 literally just hours ago so I hope I get through this process quickly. Since my conditional GC expires in December, I think I might have to file for ROC too. But I'm hoping by some miracle that I won't have to and somehow get naturalized before the expiry...if anything, just to avoid the added fees. Also, I'm more in a time crunch since we're supposed to PCS to Italy in mid-October. Considering the wait time after filing today, even if I'll ask for my case to be expedited, realistically I know I won't finish the process in time before October so I'm fairly certain I'll have to delay going to Italy. Or probably go there but come back just for the interview and oath taking (when the time comes & if I do get approved). Ahhhh...I'm really kicking myself for leaving all these last minute.

Oh then you can’t skip ROC. But you can still go with your spouse to Italy using your country’s passport if you’re on his orders, then come back to the US for your interview and oath. Maybe you can try expediting your biometrics, so you can do them before you leave the US. Contact the military help line for that! Also I don’t know if you already know, but make sure you get the visa for Italy because I’ve read they’re one of the countries that you need to get a visa before travel. 

 

I will be filling later this year, we are pcsing too but got the hard orders too late for me to file before leaving the US. Did you include evidence of your marriage with the form or just the military papers like orders, etc? This part is something i’m not very sure about what to do 🤔

Edited September 14, 2020 by Iscir

[Pumpkin 24]

17 minutes ago, Iscir said:

Oh then you can’t skip ROC. But you can still go with your spouse to Italy using your country’s passport if you’re on his orders, then come back to the US for your interview and oath. Maybe you can try expediting your biometrics, so you can do them before you leave the US. Contact the military help line for that! Also I don’t know if you already know, but make sure you get the visa for Italy because I’ve read they’re one of the countries that you need to get a visa before travel. 

 

I will be filling later this year, we are pcsing too but got the hard orders too late for me to file before leaving the US. Did you include evidence of your marriage with the form or just the military papers like orders, etc? This part is something i’m not very sure about what to do 🤔

That's honestly what I feel like is gonna happen. That I'll just come back for those when I get scheduled for them. I just called the Military help line and already put in my expedite request so here's hoping they actually approve my case and speed it along a bit. As for the visa for Italy, yes we've been told I need a visa but both me and my husband are SO confused about that right now. Visa is the same as the SOFA stamp, yes? We've been asking around as to where I'm supposed to get that since everyone we ask seem to not know anything and when we do ask, everyone has different answers so it's all been confusing!

 

Ahh..when I filed the N400 (I did it online on the USCIS website) I didn't include any of the marriage evidence since it didn't really ask for them like they did for when we filed for AOS for the green card but I'll bring them with me when the interview comes around just in case. All I included were what they asked which is a copy of my current green card, marriage certificate, tax returns for the last 3 years (I gave my husband's which I'm not sure if this is even right but I haven't been employed anywhere yet so I've never filed taxes), as well as a copy of his orders with my name on it and a copy of my military ID as well just in case. That's all the evidence I sent it with my application. I hope this helps.

[ZKT 118]

8 hours ago, Pumpkin said:

My window for filing ROC starts this Friday (conditional green card expires on December) and I'm really not sure if I can actually finish the naturalization process before it expires so I think I'll have to file for ROC. Was hoping I wouldn't have to but oh well...But thank you for clarifying this!!

 

Knowing there are several military spouses out there going through the same and successfully going through it is very reassuring, thank you for that info! I filed for N400 literally just hours ago so I hope I get through this process quickly. Since my conditional GC expires in December, I think I might have to file for ROC too. But I'm hoping by some miracle that I won't have to and somehow get naturalized before the expiry...if anything, just to avoid the added fees. Also, I'm more in a time crunch since we're supposed to PCS to Italy in mid-October. Considering the wait time after filing today, even if I'll ask for my case to be expedited, realistically I know I won't finish the process in time before October so I'm fairly certain I'll have to delay going to Italy. Or probably go there but come back just for the interview and oath taking (when the time comes & if I do get approved). Ahhhh...I'm really kicking myself for leaving all these last minute.

Oh yeah tons of military spouses go through this and get their citizenship right away. I know how stressful and daunting it is to keep looking for info about it but there's not many stories of people who actually went through this or know about the process itself. Its like its a myth or a legend you hear in fairytale books. Hahaha. But i was lucky enough to be in that foreign military spouse fb group which seems to be the fave hangout of foreign military spouses where they talk all about their foreign issuess + military issues and most especially things that have to do with uscis because a lot of smaller bases and base legals don't exactly know what to do with us foreign spouses and our cases.

 

Most n400 under ina 319b is being processed around 1.5-3 months this year. 1.5 was the fastest and that's from submitting it to actually being naturalized. Most of them take that long cause they submit it via mail and send it to the military address which is the one in chicago. We send it there because the moment it gets there, they know you're military and the ones that process it are familiar with are familiar with the extra documents they will be needing and understand what you're submitting. Because there is a lot of additional documents you'd be submitting unlike the regular n400 which are military specific. 

 

Heads up that i'm actually pcsing out of our current duty station mid oct and leaving our current place by latest end of oct. So that makes the 2 of us! Trying to get this done. My base legal and command didn't know what it filling under ina319 b was. And so despite me giving them a jag packet of documents... they were so skeptical about it and took them at least a 3 weeks before they actually gave me the ds1278 form i was asking them and to fix my dea (dependent approval for the pcs). Dea is not a requirement but its a nice to have/submit since it shows the military approved you to pcs. I also sent in our excemption from the military stop movement orders since my husband is essential. Since japan has travel bans. 

 

Anyway as soon as you have a receipt number, go and give the military hotline a call to expedite your case. Be sure to have a letter ready why you are expediting your case and show evidences like your orders/schedule in your orders. Since you filled it online. Most people just include it in their n400 under ina 319b packet they mail. I included it in mine too. There was like 2 girls that sent in that request and the uscis was even the one that contacted them first and went on ahead to expedite their cases and sent it right away to their local field office. Most uscis local field offices are are also nice. Once it gets there, they call you to ask you when its most convenient for you to do the interview, tests and the oath taking. It takes 1 day for all of it. Pre covid times and current covid times. 

 

So i hope that answers your question. My only problem now is how soon i get the naturalization certificate and getting the no fee/diplomatic passport. Japan is strict and want dependent people entering with their no fee passport which takes about 4 nowadays weeks despite it being rushed. But i'll be trying to get that and also as a backup plan going to my consulate to try and get my dual citizenship so if my us no fee passport doesn't make it in time... i can still use my foreign passport to enter japan. From nov to dec i won't be having any address. We go on temporary duty at 1 base for rom/quarantine and then training. Then fly out from seattle in dec. 

 

Good luck on your journey. I hope you finish yours before you fly. Its a hassle to come back to the us. Well europe is less stressful. Japan is very strict so i might not be able to fly back into japan because of the travel bans. So guam might be my best bet and just flying the rotator flights from bases so its all military/no commercial flights. 

[Iscir 295]

15 minutes ago, Pumpkin said:

That's honestly what I feel like is gonna happen. That I'll just come back for those when I get scheduled for them. I just called the Military help line and already put in my expedite request so here's hoping they actually approve my case and speed it along a bit. As for the visa for Italy, yes we've been told I need a visa but both me and my husband are SO confused about that right now. Visa is the same as the SOFA stamp, yes? We've been asking around as to where I'm supposed to get that since everyone we ask seem to not know anything and when we do ask, everyone has different answers so it's all been confusing!

 

Ahh..when I filed the N400 (I did it online on the USCIS website) I didn't include any of the marriage evidence since it didn't really ask for them like they did for when we filed for AOS for the green card but I'll bring them with me when the interview comes around just in case. All I included were what they asked which is a copy of my current green card, marriage certificate, tax returns for the last 3 years (I gave my husband's which I'm not sure if this is even right but I haven't been employed anywhere yet so I've never filed taxes), as well as a copy of his orders with my name on it and a copy of my military ID as well just in case. That's all the evidence I sent it with my application. I hope this helps.

Thanks! That helps a lot! I don’t have new evidence of marriage since I moved here a week before everything shut down because of covid, so I was a little worried about that. 

 

About the visa, I know you have to get the missione visa for Italy. Did you ask the passport people at your husband’s base how to apply for the visa? If they don’t know, I would ask directly to the italian consulate/embassy how to apply for it. Since we aren’t citizens people on base usually don’t know what we should do  i’m going to Europe too and they told me to just ask the embassy about my situation, I’m not going to Italy but in my case the consulate was able to help me about all the things I needed for travel. 

[ZKT 118]

42 minutes ago, Iscir said:

Oh then you can’t skip ROC. But you can still go with your spouse to Italy using your country’s passport if you’re on his orders, then come back to the US for your interview and oath. Maybe you can try expediting your biometrics, so you can do them before you leave the US. Contact the military help line for that! Also I don’t know if you already know, but make sure you get the visa for Italy because I’ve read they’re one of the countries that you need to get a visa before travel. 

 

I will be filling later this year, we are pcsing too but got the hard orders too late for me to file before leaving the US. Did you include evidence of your marriage with the form or just the military papers like orders, etc? This part is something i’m not very sure about what to do 🤔

 

Hi iscir! 

 

Good luck on filling it later this year! Well, if you submit it, do exactly what you would do for a regular n400.. but in your cover letter you'd have to mention you're filling for n400 under ina319b. Then you add your orders, dea, ds 1278 and your letter of intent to reside back in the usa once your orders overseas are over and then in the mail packet make sure to send it to the chicago military address and add the "attn: military n400". It says it in the n400 uscis page. I added a few more documents in mine like proof/evidence of me being my husband's dependent, my husband's proof of being active duty navy sailor and that we have 3 yrs there in japan before our next pcs/permanent change of duty station. Oh and i made a table/chart where it lists all the ina 319 b eligibility and i placed a tick/check mark and had the reasons why i qualified for it. I made it extra easy for them since i wanted mine to go extra smoothly and faster/or like make my case very air tight that they can't refuse me at all. 

[ZKT 118]

30 minutes ago, Pumpkin said:

That's honestly what I feel like is gonna happen. That I'll just come back for those when I get scheduled for them. I just called the Military help line and already put in my expedite request so here's hoping they actually approve my case and speed it along a bit. As for the visa for Italy, yes we've been told I need a visa but both me and my husband are SO confused about that right now. Visa is the same as the SOFA stamp, yes? We've been asking around as to where I'm supposed to get that since everyone we ask seem to not know anything and when we do ask, everyone has different answers so it's all been confusing!

 

Ahh..when I filed the N400 (I did it online on the USCIS website) I didn't include any of the marriage evidence since it didn't really ask for them like they did for when we filed for AOS for the green card but I'll bring them with me when the interview comes around just in case. All I included were what they asked which is a copy of my current green card, marriage certificate, tax returns for the last 3 years (I gave my husband's which I'm not sure if this is even right but I haven't been employed anywhere yet so I've never filed taxes), as well as a copy of his orders with my name on it and a copy of my military ID as well just in case. That's all the evidence I sent it with my application. I hope this helps.

So for italy they are not so strict about you entering on a us no fee passport or a regular tourist passport. Then for the sofa stamp you get it upon arrival in italy. You show them your orders and military id and then they will stamp your sofa status/visa in your passport.  The thing about it is though some people also get regular visas to exit and enter schengen/eu visas so that they can travel around if they are not eu passport holders. So since i'm filipino, i would apply for one so i can travel. But if you plan to just stay on base a lot and not travel all over the country and to other countries, your sofa stamp in italy will suffice to enter and exit italy.