Wanting to Move to Europe.. LPR for Years

[Coleman21 6]

Hi everyone,

 

I've been a permanent resident of the U.S. through marriage to a U.S. citizen for a decade now. I haven't applied for American citizenship, because I'm Japanese and Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship. However, I don't go there often and haven't been there for some years now..

 

Currently both my husband and I are interested in moving to Europe. We could only achieve this if I get a job in Europe and get him a spousal visa. I'm not even at the stage yet where I have a job in Europe, but I want to start looking. If at all possible, I want to move sometime next year after the summer.. I have details on how I might be able to get a job there for my profession; that's not my question here.

 

What is complicated for me is that I'm not a U.S. citizen, and I don't know how long we would be in Europe. Hopefully the rest of our lives, but it all depends on how long I can hold a valid visa there and if they will approve visas to both of us at all. I know that if I live in an EU country for 5 consecutive years, I can become a citizen there, so I guess as long as I can hold a visa for 5 years in one country, I will have a home. But if I can't, we will need a place to go back, which would be the U.S. (I doubt that we will ever live in Japan; I've been keeping my Japanese citizenship because my whole family is there and for some time during the pandemic, only citizens were allowed to enter Japan)

 

I'm very much aware that if I leave the U.S. for more than a year without prior permission from the U.S., I will lose my green card. I was wondering...

• How easy and fast would it be to get approval before leaving the U.S.?
• Do I need to have a job offer (reason for leaving the U.S. for more than a year) in Europe at the time of applying for the permission to re-enter the U.S.?
• Do I need to know at the time of applying for permission how long I will be out of the U.S.?
• Could I extend my stay out of the U.S. after leaving the U.S. if I have the permission to re-enter?
• If my husband successfully moves to Europe with me after, would we still be able to move back to the U.S., up till how many years after?

The thing is, we really don't know how long we will be out or whether it would be permanent. Has anyone here moved back and forth between the U.S. and another country with a green card?

 

Probably the safer option for me is to just give up my Japanese citizenship and become a U.S. citizen first (but would love to hear more about the above option first because my parents are getting old in Japan) Currently I meet all the requirements to qualify for the citizenship. But if I do that,

• How long would the naturalization process be?
• As a naturalized citizen, would it really not matter where my permanent residence is in the world if I was to come back in the future?
• Would I have to live in the U.S. for a certain period of time after obtaining the citizenship?

 

Another possible option is to just go to Europe and lose my green card. If I do that,

• Would my husband be able to petition for me again for another green card in the future?
• Would he have to be in the U.S. at the time to petition for me?
• If I fail to obtain another green card in the future, could I still come to the U.S. as a tourist, or would I be forever banned from the U.S.?

 

Currently I'm just brainstorming every possibility, so please only be informative. Thank you in advance!! 

 

 

[Boiler 45,467]

We have a thread about someone who has been gone 20 years and is looking to come home.

 

You are really asking what the future rules will be and I have no idea. A Reentry Permit is a temporary fix and then there is the tax issue etc.

 

Worst case scenario is that your Spouse can re petition you.

[jackiegringa 419]

31 minutes ago, Coleman21 said:

• How long would the naturalization process be?
• As a naturalized citizen, would it really not matter where my permanent residence is in the world if I was to come back in the future?
• Would I have to live in the U.S. for a certain period of time after obtaining the citizenship?

I can't comment on dealing with losing a citizenship or how Japan will handle your situation but I can try to answer other questions:

 

Naturalization is taking around a year, sometimes way less than that - look for your field office here on forums and you can have an estimate.

 

You can live wherever you want as a US citizen, just remember to file taxes appropriately.

 

You can leave the US as soon as you get your oath and your US passport done.

[manyfudge 291]

41 minutes ago, Coleman21 said:

e the U.S. (I doubt that we will ever live in Japan; I've been keeping my Japanese citizenship because my whole family is there and for some time during the pandemic, only citizens were allowed to enter Japan)

If I do a cursory google of "Japanese citizen" and "dual citizenship" - what I see is article after article of Japan NOT enforcing these rules.

 

So, if I were you, I would naturalize AND keep renewing my Japanese passport.

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

Do the naturalization

Even if u loss Japanese citizenship,  USC can travel as a tourist visa free so u can still see family

 

https://www.ivisa.com/japan/blog/japan-visas:-visa-free-countries-list

 

[milimelo 4,477]

Naturalize first and then figure out European job/visa. 
 

I’ve heard of two cases now that have interview scheduled within 3 months of applying (Chicago field office district). So maybe USCIS is picking up on naturalizations before election year? 

[TBoneTX 45,266]

58 minutes ago, milimelo said:

maybe USCIS is picking up on naturalizations before election year

This seems typical.

[GEOntificator 281]

22 hours ago, Coleman21 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I've been a permanent resident of the U.S. through marriage to a U.S. citizen for a decade now. I haven't applied for American citizenship, because I'm Japanese and Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship. However, I don't go there often and haven't been there for some years now..

 

Currently both my husband and I are interested in moving to Europe. We could only achieve this if I get a job in Europe and get him a spousal visa. I'm not even at the stage yet where I have a job in Europe, but I want to start looking. If at all possible, I want to move sometime next year after the summer.. I have details on how I might be able to get a job there for my profession; that's not my question here.

 

What is complicated for me is that I'm not a U.S. citizen, and I don't know how long we would be in Europe. Hopefully the rest of our lives, but it all depends on how long I can hold a valid visa there and if they will approve visas to both of us at all. I know that if I live in an EU country for 5 consecutive years, I can become a citizen there, so I guess as long as I can hold a visa for 5 years in one country, I will have a home. But if I can't, we will need a place to go back, which would be the U.S. (I doubt that we will ever live in Japan; I've been keeping my Japanese citizenship because my whole family is there and for some time during the pandemic, only citizens were allowed to enter Japan)

 

I'm very much aware that if I leave the U.S. for more than a year without prior permission from the U.S., I will lose my green card. I was wondering...

• How easy and fast would it be to get approval before leaving the U.S.?
• Do I need to have a job offer (reason for leaving the U.S. for more than a year) in Europe at the time of applying for the permission to re-enter the U.S.?
• Do I need to know at the time of applying for permission how long I will be out of the U.S.?
• Could I extend my stay out of the U.S. after leaving the U.S. if I have the permission to re-enter?
• If my husband successfully moves to Europe with me after, would we still be able to move back to the U.S., up till how many years after?

The thing is, we really don't know how long we will be out or whether it would be permanent. Has anyone here moved back and forth between the U.S. and another country with a green card?

 

Probably the safer option for me is to just give up my Japanese citizenship and become a U.S. citizen first (but would love to hear more about the above option first because my parents are getting old in Japan) Currently I meet all the requirements to qualify for the citizenship. But if I do that,

• How long would the naturalization process be?
• As a naturalized citizen, would it really not matter where my permanent residence is in the world if I was to come back in the future?
• Would I have to live in the U.S. for a certain period of time after obtaining the citizenship?

 

Another possible option is to just go to Europe and lose my green card. If I do that,

• Would my husband be able to petition for me again for another green card in the future?
• Would he have to be in the U.S. at the time to petition for me?
• If I fail to obtain another green card in the future, could I still come to the U.S. as a tourist, or would I be forever banned from the U.S.?

 

Currently I'm just brainstorming every possibility, so please only be informative. Thank you in advance!! 

 

 

US citizenship applications have been moving forward fast. If you apply now you are very likely to naturalize within 6-8 months. Potentially much earlier too.

 

Once you naturalize you can be away for as long as you want and return any time you want. You'd still need to declare and file US taxes as US requires reporting your worldwide income. You'd then likely need a seasoned accountant who know treaties and foreign tax reporting. 
 

Sorry I can only address some parts of your question.

[Coleman21 6]

Wow, thank you, each of you, for your response! It's great to hear that the naturalization process is picking up. I will look more into naturalization then; it seems like it is the best option for me. 

[Coleman21 6]

On 8/30/2023 at 6:59 PM, Boiler said:

We have a thread about someone who has been gone 20 years and is looking to come home.

 

You are really asking what the future rules will be and I have no idea. A Reentry Permit is a temporary fix and then there is the tax issue etc.

 

Worst case scenario is that your Spouse can re petition you.

Thank you! Do you know if the person who's been gone for 20 years had a reentry permit beforehand? Did they just keep renewing the permit?

[Coleman21 6]

On 8/30/2023 at 7:26 PM, manyfudge said:

If I do a cursory google of "Japanese citizen" and "dual citizenship" - what I see is article after article of Japan NOT enforcing these rules.

 

So, if I were you, I would naturalize AND keep renewing my Japanese passport.

Thank you for your comment. But I'm pretty sure that if the Japanese government found that out, I'd be in trouble. My friend's father who did that with his Korean passport got into trouble for that, so I don't want to risk it.. but thank you for taking your time to Google and leave me a comment!

[Boiler 45,467]

20 minutes ago, Coleman21 said:

Thank you! Do you know if the person who's been gone for 20 years had a reentry permit beforehand? Did they just keep renewing the permit?

I thought you could only do that twice?

[Coleman21 6]

Oh, that's right, so this person's reentry permit would have been expired if he/she had had one.. Is this person trying to get a green card from scratch? Is the thread on Visa Journey?

[Boiler 45,467]

I think I saw something earlier today, seems they are still considering which route to go.

[Coleman21 6]

On 8/31/2023 at 10:53 PM, Boiler said:

I think I saw something earlier today, seems they are still considering which route to go.

I see. I will check it out too, thank you!!