NOLA_Dave

Well, the long saga is over. One day after our 3rd anniversary, my wife got her 10 year GC. Not bad, considering the 2 month delay with her biometric appointment. She got approved just a few weeks after she finally got back into the US after taking care of her mom (undergoing chemo).

She is not interested in citizenship (plus, since we plan on living in both countries over the course of our lives, it's good to have a solid foot in each door, as it were), so this is the end of the line for us. Hopefully, our interactions with USCIS will be limited to once every 10 years. That is, unless for some reason we end up staying out of the country for more than 2 years at a time, in which case I'm sure I'll be right back here asking how to reestalblish here LPR status :P

My wife and I would like to thank everyone here for your support and advice. We could do it without a lawyer, but we couldn't have done it without you all.

NOLA_Dave

PS: We were processed through the Texas service center, for those interested. Papers were accepted by USCIS on 12/7/06, biometrics appointment set for 1/18/07. My wife was out of the country, so we wrote a letter to reschedule for May. She came back early, and we walked in to the Charlotte ASC on 4/4/07. Online notice said application was approved on 4/23/07, and the 10 year GC arrived 5/2/07. I assume it would have come much sooner if the biometrics had been done in January :P

Noorah101

Congratulations! Just one thought....

If you plan on living in both countries in the future, this is an excellent reason why she SHOULD become a USC. That alleviates any doubt whatsoever whether she will or won't abandon residency by mistake down the road. I don't think there is any way to "live" in both countries when neither of you are citizens of the other's country....because you'll always be visiting, not living in one or the other. I hope she reconsiders at some point, so you don't have to think of how to avoid abandoning her PR status.

Best Wishes,
Rene

MMA2002

Great advice Rene!

Mahir's old boss is a US Citizen and a citizen of Italy and they find it soooo convenient and easy every time they go to and from Italy and the US because they all use their Italian passports to get into Italy and their US passports to get into the US.

Mahir's going to revoke his Turkish citizenship when he becomes a US citizen but that's just because of the required military service he hasn't done and won't be doing. That way he can go visit his family without getting taken for military service!!!!

Congratulations to the OP for the 10 year greencard!

Allison

ian-mstm

I don't mean to pull this thread in a different direction, but Mahir may or may not be able to revoke his citizenship until he's fulfilled his military requirement. Some countries are really funny that way... they want their citizens to fulfill those sorts of obligations before releasing them from the responsibility. Even if he successfully revokes his citizenship, there's no guarantee that he won't be taken for service if he enters the country. Sorry... but you'll want to check this out thoroughly prior to taking any definitive actions.

Ian

ian-mstm

Congratulations to you both! Wonderful news. Good luck to you.

Ian

Rete

Since I don't recall the country his spouse comes from, obtaining citizenship in the US might not be a possibility without her losing her own country's citizenship, i.e. Japan.

MMA2002

Turkey.

However, going back to the post about him possibly being taken even if he revokes it - US citizenship would protect him from that - Turkey wouldn't be able to do anything once he hands in his passport and is covered as a US citiizen.

Noorah101

Good point, Rete. I hadn't thought of that.

Rene

MMA2002

Just looked at the US Ankara embassy website (http://ankara.usembassy.gov/dual_nationality.html) and it states you can have dual citizenship in Turkey and US. However it also says that if you are dual that the US has limited protection ability when it comes to Turkish citizens' obligations.

THEN I found information on http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-115695636.html (section 34) that they often won't let a Turkish citizen forfeit his citizenship if they haven't completed their military service.

ARGH! This is so bad - I can't let Mahir go to military service over there in Turkey. It's too dangerous and he'd be leaving his job and family (which we are trying to add to) and run the risk of losing his job!

Allison

scrubbedexpat099

I do not know the particulars for Turkey, but certainly not a given.

If there is a criminal penalty it would be unusual that he could get out of it by acquiring another citizenship.

Noorah101

Hi Allison,

I know for citizens of Iran, there is a legal way for an Iranian citizen who is also a US PR to get out of doing his military service by somehow filing a form and paying a fee here in the USA. The payment is made at the Iranian interest section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington DC. He fills out the form, and then sends the form, the fee, and his Iranian passport to them, they stamp your passport with something like "exempt from military duty". I am not sure of all the particulars, and the fee is quite high, I've heard, but it would be worth it. Sadegh already did his military duty in Iran so we don't have to deal with this ourselves.

Perhaps Turkey has the same thing? Check with the Tukish embassy here in the USA.

Rene

MMA2002

Unfortunately the only thing we've heard about is paying $8,000 to the government and then all Mahir would have to do is 28 days of service that's like a boot camp type of thing. This is still bad because what guarantee is there that it's only 28 days and what guarantee is there that says that Mahir's boss will let him keep his job after being away for a whole month - and there's no way to afford living here without him and without his salary.

I'm sorry to ruin the OPs post that was such great news with something not really related - I just wanted the OP to know that dual citizenship for his wife may be a great option for them.

Allison

NOLA_Dave

Oh, yes, I didn't clarify. You hit the nail on the head, Rete: she's Japanese. If she becomes a US citizen, Japan will automatically revoke her Japanese citizenship. It's going to be a real bummer for our son, too. He has to pick one or the other when he turns 22 (at least they give him that long).

I forget that most countries don't care if you're a dual citizen or not. Japan sucks in that respect.

NOLA_Dave

I just got done reading that stuff about Mahir. I'm really sorry for the pickle you guys seem to be in. Forget what I said before about Japan: Turkey sounds way suckier (in regards to military service, anyway)