British Expats - Advice on I-751 and citizenship

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Advice on I-751 and citizenship

I have a fairly complicated situation and I would really appreciate any advice anyone may be able to offer. Here goes .....

I am a British citizen currently living in the US married but separated from an American spouse. My father is an American who married my British mother in the UK in 1974. He was over there in the military. I was born in 1976 and they divorced shortly after that. I was unaware up until recently that I aquired US citizenship through him and realize that I probably lost it through not meeting the US residency requirements. I would like to reclaim my US citizenship through Doctrine of Constructive Retention (this is a law wherby people born to a US parent abroad can regain lost citizenship if they were ignorant of the fact that they had citizenship rights) as I wish to stay in the US. I have had no contact with my father since infancy and I have no records of him except from his identity on my birth certificate which shows he is a US citizen.

The other problem I have is that right now I am on a conditional permanent residency status and must file form I-751 to remove the conditions before 9/13/03, and I am concerned that I may be refused based on my separation from my wife. I don't want to get divorced from my wife, we are in a trial separation right now, and I enjoy my life and job here. We have some good evidence about our bona fide marriage, including joint financial records and evidence of a tubal reversal surgery she had so that we could try to have children. My main aim right now is to stay in the country whether through permanent residency or otherwise while I try to reclaim my US citizenship. My wife is very helpful and is prepared to file the I-751 jointly with me as we are still married, but I'm worried the deciding officer will discover our separation and refuse to lift my conditions.

Any advice?

I think you will be ok as long as you have a full time job and that you live above the poverty line. As far as I know divorce is not reason for refusal unless they think the marriage is a sham, clearly yours is not and you shouldnâ€™t have any problems convincing them of that.

Quote:

Originally posted by tony_2003
I think you will be ok as long as you have a full time job and that you live above the poverty line. As far as I know divorce is not reason for refusal unless they think the marriage is a sham, clearly yours is not and you shouldnâ€™t have any problems convincing them of that.

Thanks Tony

Has anyone else filed the I-751? If so, did you also send the afadavits about the marriage? And did they just approve and process you straight-forward or did you have to have another interview? I'm interested in people's experiences.

In my own experience if your wife is supportive you'll be OK,
It also depends if you have affidavites from friends who
can prove you were living together , etc .
You can also mention that leagally you can reclaim your citizenship thru your father so for sure you had no intention
to marry someone to get into US, it just happened that your
marriage did not work.

Re: Advice on I-751 and citizenship

Quote:

Originally posted by Mick A
I have a fairly complicated situation and I would really appreciate any advice anyone may be able to offer. Here goes .....

I am a British citizen currently living in the US married but separated from an American spouse. My father is an American who married my British mother in the UK in 1974. He was over there in the military. I was born in 1976 and they divorced shortly after that. I was unaware up until recently that I aquired US citizenship through him and realize that I probably lost it through not meeting the US residency requirements. I would like to reclaim my US citizenship through Doctrine of Constructive Retention (this is a law wherby people born to a US parent abroad can regain lost citizenship if they were ignorant of the fact that they had citizenship rights) as I wish to stay in the US. I have had no contact with my father since infancy and I have no records of him except from his identity on my birth certificate which shows he is a US citizen.

The other problem I have is that right now I am on a conditional permanent residency status and must file form I-751 to remove the conditions before 9/13/03, and I am concerned that I may be refused based on my separation from my wife. I don't want to get divorced from my wife, we are in a trial separation right now, and I enjoy my life and job here. We have some good evidence about our bona fide marriage, including joint financial records and evidence of a tubal reversal surgery she had so that we could try to have children. My main aim right now is to stay in the country whether through permanent residency or otherwise while I try to reclaim my US citizenship. My wife is very helpful and is prepared to file the I-751 jointly with me as we are still married, but I'm worried the deciding officer will discover our separation and refuse to lift my conditions.

Any advice?

I would suggest you repost your message above on the US Marriage Based Visas forum on BritishExpat. You're more likely to get a better response there.

NC Penguin