augigi

Just a quick question I figure one of you may know. My sister is an Australian, and married a US citizen 7 years ago, has been living there as LPR since. They were recently divorced, and she is considering coming back to Australia to live.

Can she apply for US citizenship before she leaves, as I assume she should if she is permitted? Or does the fact she is no longer married to the USC mean that she is no longer eligible?

Thanks for any info!

AdobePinon

She is eligible 5 years after the 'issued' date on her green card. (If she was still married, it would have been 3 years.) I think she can file the app 90 days beforehand. There are certain residency requirements she has to meet too - these can be found on the USCIS website.

Probably looking at an average of ~ 6 months to get citizenship, but it can vary hugely in either direction.

ian-mstm

Regardless of how she became a PR, she is eligible to apply for naturalization 5 years (less 90 days) from the "resident since" date on her green card. Her divorce will not be an issue. She must also satisfy the continuous residence and physical presence requirements, but I'm guessing this won't be an issue if she's still living in the US.

Ian

meauxna

She can apply; the marriage doesn't matter now.
Have her have a read here: http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf where it's spelled out in easy language.

augigi

Thanks everyone! I just had a brain fart.

Does anyone know if she'll lose her Australian citizenship if she renounces it in the US naturalisation oath? I thought you could be a dual citizen, but from what I read online it looks like Australia take you at your word if you renounce it - which is a worry!

augigi

Nevermind, found the answer online.

Can I become a citizen of another country without losing my Australian citizenship?

Yes, provided the other citizenship is acquired after 4 April 2002.

Prior to 4 April 2002, Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 provided that adult Australians who did "any act or thing- the sole or dominant purpose of which, and the effect of which, is to acquire the nationality or citizenship of a foreign country shall upon acquisition cease to be an Australian citizen". Any children under 18 also lost their citizenship, unless their other parent was an Australian citizen.

upnorth

Not a problem. I am an Australian and have applied for my US citizenship. There was a change in the law a year or so ago that allowed dual citizenship.

Unless one expressly "renounces" Australian Citizenship, one is fine. Taking up another citizenship is technically now not deemed "renouncing" citizenship.

Rich Wales

"upnorth" wrote:

> Unless one expressly "renounces" Australian Citizenship,
> one is fine. Taking up another citizenship is technically
> now not deemed "renouncing" citizenship.

And even though the US naturalization oath includes a blanket
renunciation of all prior allegiances, this renunciatory clause
is not recognized under Australian law and will NOT cause loss of
Australian citizenship since the 2002 change in the law.

AFAIK, in order to REALLY get rid of your Australian citizenship,
you would have to get in touch with Aussie consular officials and
follow their procedures, file a declaration on one of their forms,
etc., etc.

It's essentially the same story when a Canadian becomes a US
citizen, BTW.

Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.

[email protected]

> > Does anyone know if she'll lose her Australian citizenship if she
> > renounces it in the US naturalisation oath? I thought you could be a
> > dual citizen, but from what I read online it looks like Australia take
> > you at your word if you renounce it - which is a worry!
>
> Nevermind, found the answer online.
>
> Can I become a citizen of another country without losing my Australian
> citizenship?
>
> Yes, provided the other citizenship is acquired after 4 April 2002.
>
> Prior to 4 April 2002, Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948
> provided that adult Australians who did "any act or thing- the sole or
> dominant purpose of which, and the effect of which, is to acquire the
> nationality or citizenship of a foreign country shall upon acquisition
> cease to be an Australian citizen". Any children under 18 also lost
> their citizenship, unless their other parent was an Australian citizen.

Should she decide to take US citizenship, one topic of interest for
her might be the position that US law takes regarding taxation of US
citizens who live abroad. While most other countries, including
Australia, normally base tax liability upon either residency (they tax
the income of residents) or source (they tax any income generated
within their borders), the US also uses citizenship to determine
whether a person's income is subject to US taxes. Countries like
Australia normally do not continue to tax their citizens who live
abroad (unless they continue to have income generated from within that
country).

So, if your sister were to become a US citizen, and then she moves
back to Australia she would be subject to both Australian taxes
(because Australia taxes people who reside in Australia) AND she would
be subject to US taxes (because the US taxes the worldwide income of
US citizens - regardless of where they reside).

If your sister has any income while living in Australia she will have
to file (or lodge - as I believe you say in Australia) an annual US
tax return, declaring that income. There are ways to eliminate double
taxation. US citizens who live abroad are allowed to exclude up to a
certain amount of salaried income each year from US taxes, and they
can usually take a tax credit where they subtract any income tax paid
to the source country from the US tax due. This often results in zero
US taxes due, although a US tax return must still be filed to show
this.

Of course, as a resident of Australia, she would be paying Australian
tax like anyone who lives in Australia.

augigi

Yep, I think she has looked at the pros and cons such as taxation. Thanks for the input!

Enigma Boy

From what I understand... she can apply. Make sure she can prove to the
officer that her marriage was not a sham and that she does not move out of
the US until her N400 has been processed. Moving out while N400 is being
processed is clear intent to not make US your home and thus grounds for
denial.

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"augigi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
>
> Just a quick question I figure one of you may know. My sister is an
> Australian, and married a US citizen 7 years ago, has been living there
> as LPR since. They were recently divorced, and she is considering coming
> back to Australia to live.
>
> Can she apply for US citizenship before she leaves, as I assume she
> should if she is permitted? Or does the fact she is no longer married to
> the USC mean that she is no longer eligible?
>
> Thanks for any info!
>
> --

>

augigi

I'm not sure what her marriage has to do with it, given that she's been there 7 years and is not applying based on her marriage any more. Obviously since she's applying for citizenship, she won't make concrete plans to leave the US until that has gone through.

Anyhow, my question was answered several posts ago, and she has already now filed her N400, so thanks again.