Question on moving outside the U.S. - green card holder

[Mollie09 1,543]

19 hours ago, kwoodruff said:

Sorry my question might have been poorly worded, partly due to the fact that I'm not an expert in any of this by any means! I guess I am asking, are there negative ramifications if you decide to move back to your home country while on a U.S. green card? For personal/familial reasons as I noted above. 

If I understand your question correctly, no, having plans to eventually relocate out of the US (in 1 day or 10 years) does not negatively impact your current application.

[JeanneAdil 6,511]

20 hours ago, kwoodruff said:

My husband is a K1 visa holder awaiting AOS, which is projected to be approved ~January 2020. We have been discussing our future and we know that at the time we have kids, we will likely want to move back to the UK (as his family is larger and can provide more support). That is probably 5 years away still. Right now, living in the U.S. is the best option for us because I have a good job and we like the area.

 

My questions is: I know green cards can last up to 10 years, so if we decided to move (for example) 5 years in - would that be frowned upon? I am not sure of the time frame that is considered acceptable, but just want to have it in mind as we plan where we want to move and have children, etc.

  

Of course I am aware that if we decided to move the the UK, he would no longer have a green card or legal residency in the U.S. I just want to make sure we find a way to move that is acceptable and by the books if we choose that path.

 

Thanks!

after being in US and married 3 years,  apply for citizenship

after naturaliztion ,  make the move back   with your US passports

 

just be sure you file US tax returns (2018 exemption was $104,100 twice that for 2 USC's and also there is a housing allowance of 16% of income ) Form 2555 when you do this for the exemption

[Highmystic 234]

20 hours ago, payxibka said:

Application window opens at three years, then maybe about another year for application to process 

A bit of confusion on this,  the window to apply for citizenship, it's
"3 years", but what it the start time?   date of P0E?,   Wedding?  2-year GC?    

[payxibka 10,045]

2 minutes ago, Highmystic said:

A bit of confusion on this,  the window to apply for citizenship, it's
"3 years", but what it the start time?   date of P0E?,   Wedding?  2-year GC?    

3 years resident since and 3 years continuing marital union to a USC.  You need to be able yes to both 

Edited July 17, 2019 by payxibka

[JeanneAdil 6,511]

19 minutes ago, Highmystic said:

A bit of confusion on this,  the window to apply for citizenship, it's
"3 years", but what it the start time?   date of P0E?,   Wedding?  2-year GC?    

POE  date if CR1 or IR1

 

K1 is date of marriage (I believe)

and it is 3 years married minus 90 days 

continuous time in US

there are other factors that come into play

 

best information on naturalization is from USCIS at this site

 

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization

[fip & jim 452]

5 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

POE  date if CR1 or IR1

 

K1 is date of marriage (I believe)

and it is 3 years married minus 90 days 

continuous time in US

there are other factors that come into play

 

best information on naturalization is from USCIS at this site

 

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization

It's 3 years GC holder and married to USC during those 3 years, plus the residency requirements. 

 

• Have been a permanent resident (Green Card holder) for at least 3 years
• Have been living in marital union with the same U.S. citizen spouse during such time

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization/naturalization-spouses-us-citizens

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by fip & jim

[JeanneAdil 6,511]

7 minutes ago, fip & jim said:

It's 3 years GC holder and married to USC during those 3 years, plus the residency requirements. 

 

• Have been a permanent resident (Green Card holder) for at least 3 years
• Have been living in marital union with the same U.S. citizen spouse during such time

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizhenship-through-naturalization/naturalization-spouses-us-citizens

 

I know 

husband in waiting for oath august 6th

and this person says they intend to stay here (married ) for 5 more years

plenty of time

[fip & jim 452]

32 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

POE  date if CR1 or IR1

 

K1 is date of marriage (I believe)

and it is 3 years married minus 90 days 

continuous time in US

there are other factors that come into play

 

I was responding to this. It's not the date of marriage that the 3 years is counted from, it's the date of the GC being issued. The rule is the same, 3 years green card holder - for CR1 and IR1 they become GC holder at POE, for K1 they become GC holder after AOS approval. For a K1 that could add a considerable amount of time before being eligible to apply for citizenship. OP is being conservative in estimating AOS interview for January 2020 as Detroit is one of the fastest local field offices to adjust status currently. But yes, still plenty of time before they are thinking of emigrating. 

 

 

[Lil bear 4,219]

45 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

POE  date if CR1 or IR1

 

K1 is date of marriage (I believe)

and it is 3 years married minus 90 days 

continuous time in US

there are other factors that come into play

 

best information on naturalization is from USCIS at this site

 

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization

You must be an LPR for 3 years so

it is 3 years from the date on the GC.. when it finally comes .. that can be 12 to 18 months after POE on the K1 

[JeanneAdil 6,511]

15 minutes ago, fip & jim said:

I was responding to this. It's not the date of marriage that the 3 years is counted from, it's the date of the GC being issued. The rule is the same, 3 years green card holder - for CR1 and IR1 they become GC holder at POE, for K1 they become GC holder after AOS approval. For a K1 that could add a considerable amount of time before being eligible to apply for citizenship. OP is being conservative in estimating AOS interview for January 2020 as Detroit is one of the fastest local field offices to adjust status currently. But yes, still plenty of time before they are thinking of emigrating. 

 

 

Ours went thru in 9 months and 2 dhttps://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/ays 

1st biometrics in Atlanta / I thought that would be the interview office and looked up the timeline /  it said 12 to 22.5 months

but then the Nashville office sent letter for interview 

that office says 13 to 17 months

so,  i am grateful for only 9 at either place

 

September online 400

June 28th interview

August 6th oath

 

the site for estimated processing time was USCIS 

https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

Edited July 17, 2019 by JeanneAdil

[HRQX 4,145]

22 hours ago, ineedadisplayname said:

Yes. You will lose the green card. Since the UK is not high risk country probably he will be able to obtain a tourist visa to visit your family.

Why apply for a B-1/B-2 if he's ESTA eligible?

[ineedadisplayname 499]

2 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Why apply for a B-1/B-2 if he's ESTA eligible?

I thought ESTA is cancelled when you get any type of visa and you are not eligible to use it anymore. Personally didn't try to apply again for ESTA after getting the K1.

[*Snowdrop* 604]

I would recommend you do citizenship for him as soon as you can before you go back to the UK. That way you can all travel together easily as a family to and from the the USA. Eventually you could also get your UK citizenship and have your kids get both passports and then the whole family can move back and forth without the hassle of visas. 

 

The things to think about.

 

Keep an eye on UK immigration rules and visa requirements - there have been a lot of unwelcome changes in the last few years and lots more hoops to jump through than the US system. It's also a LOT more expensive so start saving now. 

Also someone mentioned the financial sponsorship requirements for the UK - at the moment there is no third-party sponsorship so the petitioner will have to qualify on his own. There are several routes but it mainly boils down to the following

 

1. Petitioner works for a company in the USA for 6+ months at the required income level AND has a guaranteed job offer in the UK at the required level starting no later than three months from return to the UK

This route allows you all to go back together at the same time.

 

2. Petitioner works for a company in the UK for 6+ months at required income before the application- then 12 weeks of visa processing - this means you would have to remain resident in the USA until your visa came through.

You can still visit of course during the wait

 

3. You use assets - which means having about $62,000 held in an account for 6+ months. 

You can all then travel together when visa comes through. 

 

Of course this might all change but if you know this is your long term plan I would start thinking seriously about saving money for it and also planning your husband's career path based on the best way to get the right job to take you all back to the UK

 

At the moment route to UK citizenship ends up costing about ten thousand pounds from start to finish. But bonus is you get the NHS (while it still lasts!)

 

 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Trellick

[fip & jim 452]

Another consideration is the cost of housing, depending on where you are thinking of relocating to in the UK. Admittedly I lived in one of the most expensive areas, SE England. The price of our house in the UK is the equivalent of the price of our house here in the US but we got so much more for our money in the US. Our house in England was a 3 bedroom semi-detached with small front and back garden. Here in the US we have a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house on an acre-and-a-half lot. It can be nice to have family support but situations can change and I wouldn't count on grandparents being around or being willing to help with childcare. 

 

For us, being here was the best solution for all of us. James (my husband) would have had to commute to London every day (leave home at 5 a.m., home after 7 p.m. every day) to afford us the same lifestyle we have here. We get space and the country lifestyle we wanted at a fraction of the cost (financial, as well as the impact of not living the commuter lifestyle) and get much more time together as a family than we would have if we'd lived in the UK. You can get more quality time with family if you spend vacations together than if you live geographically close to each other. 

 

You have to weigh up what you value and your priorities. 

 

Thanks for figuring all that out @Trellick. We'd looked in to all this before we chose the K1 route. It's good to have a current picture of immigration to the UK. 

 

[HRQX 4,145]

On 7/17/2019 at 10:29 AM, ineedadisplayname said:

I thought ESTA is cancelled when you get any type of visa and you are not eligible to use it anymore.

Not with IV visas (IR-1/CR-1, IR-5, etc.). With K-1, there is a discussion regarding a specific ESTA question and the K-1 I-94 date: