I have been here in the US for over 10 years ans I have decided to apply for my citizenship. I wish I had done it years ago. Given what is goong on right now with the current administration, is now a good time to apply? I am from Ireland and had thought about going home for christmas but im afraid of leaving the country right now on my greencard. Would this be a mistake? Also can I leave the country while my citizenship application is being processed?
Thanks in advance.

Hi and welcome to BE

Now is a good time to start your naturalization process. Starting it won'tinterfer with your leaving and returning to the US as long as you are in status and have your green card with you. Depending on where you reside in the US, you might be through the process by Christmas and if not, as long as your status current, you will be fine.

Rete

Good answer!

At the legal assistance project where I volunteer we often get inquiries these days similar to this on whether or not it is safe to travel and/or seek naturalization.

Out of a small degree of paranoia, the project always runs the person’s alien number through the Immigration court case status website. 99% of the time, there is no record which is what we want. We then inquire if the person has ever been arrested for anything whatsoever or have been before a judge.

We have noted that the frequent articles about people getting detained at a port of entry will usually have a small kicker of a fact near the end which explains what happened. Person has had a green card for 25 years, AmCit spouse, kids, frequent travel with no problem, yada yada. In fact, the only blemish is that minor marijuana conviction from 20 years back.

Most people will have no problem.

Well....

1) Carefully consider exactly why you want citizenship. An interesting thought experiment for potential citizens is....... if I had to relinquish my existing citizenship, would I still do it? (I know that doesn't apply to you, but it's a good exercise to establish your relationship with the USA).
2) If you do it, you will get a Naturalization certificate signed by the Felon-in-Chief himself which you can frame and which could be an interesting discussion item later in life.

I don’t know when you did yours, but in 2019 mine was not signed by the president. It was a USCIS official. It says the Secretary of Homeland Security, but I don’t think they sign it, more likely a less senior official.

I did get a welcome letter bearing what appears to be a reproduction of the presidents signature and/or a sketch of the Manhattan skyline at the ceremony, which was attended by the senior senator of CT.

Back in the olden days (2001) when hubby naturalized in Manhattan, there was no film of the President congratulating the new citizens. No little flags were given out. No speech by the judge that performed the ceremony. Cut and dried, in and out of the federal courthouse in record time. Certificate not signed by the US President.

I was earlier than that, and it was just as you describe. Only got a letter from the Secretary of the State of CT, that basically said, "Don't forget to register to vote"!

Another thing new US citizens should do is go to the local SSA office and have them change your record to indicate that you are a US citizen. Other government agencies use the SSA database to verify that you are a US citizen e.g. when applying for student loans.

That can now be done automatically by selecting the option on the N400 form.

I’m similar. Been here 8 years with a green card and looking at naturalization. Just worry about my uk rental property and suddenly having to pay tax on that income in the states instead of to hmrc and unsure of the mechanics of that…. Any insight anyone?!

You should have been declaring this UK rental income whilst as a US GCH for the last eight years. My understanding is there is no meaningful tax differentiation between a GCH and a USC.

You don’t give the state of your residence. Nine of the 50 US states do not have income tax.

But I'm not aware of any state that taxes citizens differently to PRs (and agree with LT1 that the Federal situation is also unchanged). This assumes you live in the US and are therefore tax-resident and are not concerned about expatriation tax. In the normal course of things it doesn't change your tax situation and possibly Amblemere needs to talk to an accountant about amending their returns!