divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

Im feeling a bit overwhelmed by some things and thought i would see if anyone could offer any advice

ukc married usc..all fine..now have 10yr green card..now we want to seperate..its just not working..all amicable..both agree right decision to go seperate ways...no kids or aything to split..
ukc..possibly want to move back to uk..but not sure..

we are in north carolina,which i believe we have to be seperated for 1yr before divorce?.. and im unsure of whether i need to see immigration lawyer or divorce to help..and how it will affect my green card..what should the starting point be..
all my family are in uk and i just feel bit alone,lost and unsure, having to deal with this

would really appreciate any help or advice
thank you

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

Sorry to hear the news :( Since you now have your 10-year green card, divorce won't affect your status in the USA. You'll keep your 10-year green card with no problems, you don't have to notify USCIS or anything.

As for how to handle the divorce, it's state-specific, you might want to go ahead and have a consultation with a divorce attorney who can shed some light on that aspect of it all.

Since you have nothing to worry about immigration-wise (unless you're planning to split your time between USA and UK....then you'll run into issues), you'll get better responses regarding the divorce issues in the USA forum.

Rene

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

You don't have to notify them about the divorce - they don't care - but if you end up moving don't forget to notify them of your change of address.

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

thank you:) i think i will head back to the uk..im realising there are too many problems with flipflopping between both..but if i came back for holidays etc i didnt want it to affect me

if i leave the usa and return after 1year..and havent filed in the forms before i left to say i was leaving..will this create problems down the line?

i just want to do the right thing, but keep overthinking

ah...thank you..i did not think about the change of address..great..thank u!

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

Are you eligible to apply for US citizenship yet? If you are, or if you only have a little longer to wait, then it might be worth considering since it would then mean that you could leave the US for as long as you like and come back whenever you wanted to.

Not sure about whether you could apply based on 3 years of permanent residence and 3 years of marriage to a US citizen if the divorce proceedings had actually been started - that might be worth a consultation with an attorney.

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

i had thought about that(would i have to give up uk citizenship though?)
..i may regret saying this..but i feel like i just want to go home right now..and dont care about any of it..but i know later down the line i dont want to shoot myself in the foot..

thank u everyone for your advice though..im taking it all in

i think i will get consultation with a divorce lawyer..pronto

(we've been married just over 3years-ive been living here for just over 5-was on a 2 year j-1 prior to getting married)

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

Have a consultation with an immigration attorney also, who can explain what might happen if you stay outside the USA for too long as a US PR, and then want to come back as a US PR also.

If you formally give up your PR status (there is a form for that), then you likely won't have any problems visiting the USA using the VWP in the future.

Rene

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

great..thank u
im feel alot less daunted by process
and have some starting blocks
appreciate it alot :)

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

No. You will keep your UK citizenship even if you become a US citizen.


It could offer a tremendous benefit for any future children!

Ian

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

OK - so if there were no divorce on the horizon you would be eligible to apply for US citizenship right now (assuming that you applied for AOS immediately after getting married and have been a permanent resident for at least 3 years)

I honestly don't know what issues you might encounter if you were to apply for citizenship immediately while you are still married - you really should consult an experienced immigration attorney about this.

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

md.. to qualify for the waiver of the 5-years requirement (and apply after 3 years) the alien must still be married to the US citizen up to the time of the oath.
If she has been a PR for 5+ years, she can simply apply that way. The marriage waiver is a dead end.

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

I understand that - since it appears that naturalization is taking less than 6 months right now it is quite possible that the OP would still be married at the time of the oath if they were to apply immediately.

As I said, I don't understand the precise legal requirements sufficiently well to know whether or not it would be legitimate to go through the naturalization process while a divorce was pending, even though the applicant was still married at the time of the oath ceremony - hence my suggestion to consult an attorney. Since it seems that the break up is somewhat amicable I though that it might be possible to work something out.

Note that I am very definitely not suggesting that the OP do anything illegal or fraudulent, but since it appears that she has been in a bona fide marriage for 3 years it seems reasonable that she should be able to used that fact to apply for citizenship immediately. (My reading of the OP's timeline was that they had been in the US for 2 years on a J visa before getting married so that they would have been a PR for at most 3 years and possibly somewhat less depending on exactly when they applied for AOS).

I just think that it would be a pity if the OP were to walk away from the chance to apply for US citizenship without first getting good legal advice on what that would entail in her specific case.

Re: divorce/green card/advice needed..please
 

OK.