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Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

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Old Apr 12th 2018, 10:54 am
  #1  
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Default Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Hello,

looking for some helpful advice please. Below is a summary of our situation:

(1) Married a duel citizen who has both American and UK passport December 2017.

(2) She has never lived in the US but has a social security number and passport.

(3) Her father is American and lives in Dallas,tx (as does her British mother).

(4) we are planning to move to Dallas at the end of this year

(5) she is a PHD student (will have graduated before moving) and I am a self employed/ consultant IT project manager. Neither of us will have secured jobs prior to moving.

(6) we are planning on moving in with her parents while we both secure jobs before buying a house.

(7) we have a baby due in September.

I think we need to submit the I-130/ I-130a form along with supporting documentation (marriage cert, joint bank account details, proof of co-living etc). Can anyone offer me any advice on this process and whether we need a financial sponsor (her parents) and if we need to fill out forms for a child of 2 months old?
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Old Apr 12th 2018, 12:45 pm
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

2) Has she ever filed tax returns? If not, she needs to file the last 3 years ASAP. Like now.

4) This may well be a tight one at this point. Are you intending to file DCF?

7) If the mother (your spouse) has not been present in the US for 5 years, at least 2 after age 14, then the baby will need an immigrant visa also. Upon arriving in the US it will automatically become a US Citizen.

Your wife WILL be your financial sponsor. If she does not make enough, then one of your parents can be joint sponsor if they make enough.
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Old Apr 12th 2018, 1:26 pm
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Many thanks for the response, its appreciated.

(2) No, she has not but we will action this ASAP. She has never lived in USA.
(4) yes, I think we will file with the London embassy/consulate and expect to send the I-130 forms this week.
(7) ok, so we would be required to wait for the birth of the child then start the I-130 process for that child again?

thanks
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Old Apr 12th 2018, 1:39 pm
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

No, she has not but we will action this ASAP. She has never lived in USA.
This is irrelevant. USCs MUST file taxes on their WORLDWIDE income. Regardless of where they live. This is the law.

yes, I think we will file with the London embassy/consulate and expect to send the I-130 forms this week.
You might be ok, but even so it'll still a little tight with 8 months to go before the end of the year.

ok, so we would be required to wait for the birth of the child then start the I-130 process for that child again?
I'm not sure on this one to be honest, I suspect that you would be able to declare the child at interview and they would get a derivative visa of yours. Perhaps someone else can clarify.
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Old Apr 12th 2018, 1:40 pm
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

really good info to have. Thanks for the advice.
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Old Apr 12th 2018, 6:08 pm
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Originally Posted by civilservant
2) Has she ever filed tax returns? If not, she needs to file the last 3 years ASAP. Like now.

4) This may well be a tight one at this point. Are you intending to file DCF?

7) If the mother (your spouse) has not been present in the US for 5 years, at least 2 after age 14, then the baby will need an immigrant visa also. Upon arriving in the US it will automatically become a US Citizen.

Your wife WILL be your financial sponsor. If she does not make enough, then one of your parents can be joint sponsor if they make enough.
Point 7 may not be correct. I know of a few cases where child of American citizen entered on visitors visa, then applied for Certificate of Citizenship. Couldn't you register the child's birth at the Consulate ?

I agree about the tax return.
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Old Apr 12th 2018, 6:15 pm
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Originally Posted by morpeth
Point 7 may not be correct. I know of a few cases where child of American citizen entered on visitors visa, then applied for Certificate of Citizenship. Couldn't you register the child's birth at the Consulate ?

I agree about the tax return.
I looked up the regulations before I posted, if the mother has indeed 'never lived in the US' then she cannot pass on her USC to the child until the child is in her lawful custody on US soil, and has entered with an immigrant visa.

I await to be corrected by someone who knows better, however.
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Old Apr 12th 2018, 9:58 pm
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Originally Posted by civilservant
I looked up the regulations before I posted, if the mother has indeed 'never lived in the US' then she cannot pass on her USC to the child until the child is in her lawful custody on US soil, and has entered with an immigrant visa.

I await to be corrected by someone who knows better, however.
You are correct. The mother in that instance will not have the ability to pass on her US citizenship to her biological children. Neither would a father who was a USC but never lived in the US the prescribed about of time before and after age 14.

The children will become US Citizen after entry at the US POE. They can apply for their US Passport immediately and if their parent choses to, they can file for their certificate of citizenship, which is handy but necessary to have to obtain a US Passport.

Last edited by Rete; Apr 12th 2018 at 10:00 pm.
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Old Apr 12th 2018, 11:53 pm
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Originally Posted by Rete
You are correct. The mother in that instance will not have the ability to pass on her US citizenship to her biological children. Neither would a father who was a USC but never lived in the US the prescribed about of time before and after age 14.

The children will become US Citizen after entry at the US POE. They can apply for their US Passport immediately and if their parent choses to, they can file for their certificate of citizenship, which is handy but necessary to have to obtain a US Passport.
So the child would need an immigrant visa.

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Old Apr 13th 2018, 12:19 am
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Originally Posted by Rete
...They can apply for their US Passport immediately and if their parent choses to, they can file for their certificate of citizenship, which is handy but necessary to have to obtain a US Passport.
From reading threads in the past I'd definitely recommend stumping up and paying for this. It will create a permanent record in USCIS of being a US citizen.
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Old Apr 13th 2018, 12:23 am
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Originally Posted by tom169
From reading threads in the past I'd definitely recommend stumping up and paying for this. It will create a permanent record in USCIS of being a US citizen.
Yes, it is one way to document your naturalization. Another is your US Passport. Another is a copy of your I-551 stamp/green card and your parent's naturalization certificate. Not everyone can afford and/or is willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a certificate that can easily be misplaced or lost. Many posters are extremely frugal and refuse to spend $5.00 on making copies, let along something like $600 for a certificate when a US Passport will do the same thing and has add benefits, i.e. travel.
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Old Apr 13th 2018, 4:38 am
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Originally Posted by Rete
Yes, it is one way to document your naturalization. Another is your US Passport. Another is a copy of your I-551 stamp/green card and your parent's naturalization certificate. Not everyone can afford and/or is willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a certificate that can easily be misplaced or lost. Many posters are extremely frugal and refuse to spend $5.00 on making copies, let along something like $600 for a certificate when a US Passport will do the same thing and has add benefits, i.e. travel.
I happen to agree, but I'm aware of some state professional licensing authorities that will not accept a US passport as evidence of citizenship for foreign born US citizens. Although I firmly believe that this is illegal, the path of least resistance is to do an N-600.
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Old Apr 13th 2018, 8:00 am
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Originally Posted by civilservant
I looked up the regulations before I posted, if the mother has indeed 'never lived in the US' then she cannot pass on her USC to the child until the child is in her lawful custody on US soil, and has entered with an immigrant visa.

I await to be corrected by someone who knows better, however.
I missed the fact the mother had not lived in the US the required length of time.
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Old Apr 30th 2018, 9:05 am
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

Many thanks for all the useful help posted here. we put the I-130 & I-130(a) into the post last week along with supporting documentation.

Next tasks is for us to get our heads around filing back dated taxes for my wife :-)

Thanks.
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Old May 1st 2018, 2:24 pm
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Default Re: Advice on process please. Married US citizen living in UK and looking to move.

I am about to be in a very similar situation to 'scar'. I am a Polish national with I did some research today about the child's situation and I came across the following:

http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HT...-Chapter5.html

C. Physical Presence of Child’s U.S. Citizen Parent
A child’s U.S. citizen parent must meet the following physical presence requirements:

•The parent has been physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for at least five years; and

•The parent met such physical presence for at least 2 years after he or she reached 14 years of age.

A parent’s physical presence is calculated in the aggregate and includes time accrued in the United States during periods when the parent was not a U.S. citizen.

2. Exception for U.S. Citizen Member of the U.S. Armed Forces
The child’s U.S. citizen service member parent may count any period of time he or she has resided abroad on official orders as physical presence in the United States. [8]

3. Reliance on Physical Presence of Child’s U.S. Citizen Grandparent
If the child’s parent does not meet the physical presence requirement, the child may rely on the physical presence of the child’s U.S. citizen grandparent to meet the requirement. In such cases, the officer first must verify that the citizen grandparent, the citizen parent’s mother or father, is a U.S. citizen at the time of filing. If the grandparent has died, the grandparent must have been a U.S. citizen and met the physical presence requirements at the time of his or her death.

Like in the case of the citizen parent, the officer also must ensure that:

•The U.S. citizen grandparent has been physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for at least five years; and

•The U.S. citizen grandparent met such physical presence for at least 2 years after he or she reached 14 years of age.

Like the citizen parent, a grandparent’s physical presence is calculated in the aggregate and includes time accrued in the United States during periods when the grandparent was not a U.S. citizen.
Does this mean that using the physical presence of the child's grandparent who resides in the US or used to reside in the US for a minimum required period, US Citizen (in this case mother) can simply apply for a Certificate of Citizenship on child's behalf ??
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