LPR sponsoring me, a non-citizen outside of the States. Does it make more sense for him to become a citizen?

[Joannas 0]

Hi all, 

 

I'm a UK citizen and my partner is a LPR. He's been studying in the US for the last year and I visit him on my ESTA. We got married a year ago and have been thinking about how our future will look. After much deliberation, we decided that I would apply for a green card and that we would settle in the US together. 

 

However, looking at estimates, it looks like it will take a minimum of 3 years for this process to complete.

 

My husband and I plan to submit the I-130 at the beginning of December 2023 and then in November 2024 next year live in his home country together for a year before returning to the US together, with green cards in hand in December 2025. However, I now realize that we would have to probably wait at least another year on top of that and likely longer before that could happen. My husband is desperate to spend some time in his country of origin and family before he settles into a job in the US but doesn't want to stay longer than a year outside of the US because he will have to start paying back his loan. I also want to start a family as I'm in my mid-thirties. 

 

He currently has 2 1/2 years in the US on his green card and so would have another 2 1/2 years until he can become a citizen. I just wonder if it might make more sense for him to stay in the US, get a job, and start to pay back the loans, and then once he becomes a citizen go back home for a year or longer, after which it would be much easier for us to be in the US together. If he goes back out of the country in 2024 he'll reset his citizen clock, right?

 

Would love to hear your thoughts on this 

[appleblossom 2,816]

5+ yrs going on current timescales if he doesn't become a citizen, maybe 3-4 years if he does.

 

So he would definitely be best applying for citizenship asap (he can apply 90 days before his 5 year anniversary IIRC). He needs to not leave the US for too long or it will reset his 'continual residence' clock and he'll have to start all over again. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-d-chapter-3

 

Once he has citizenship then he can 'upgrade' your petition so that you are then an Immediate Relative with no limit on visa numbers. 

 

Good luck.