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Topic: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(  (Read 5353 times)

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ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« on: July 22, 2012, 01:00:30 AM »
I have been looking for some info, see if someone can help me here.
I am born Pakistani. My ILR for UK is due in next couple months and so my US citizenship. If I get my ILR for UK and then I Apply for US Citizenship. Do I have to give up my ILR for UK?? Please help me:(


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Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2012, 03:35:14 AM »
You can hold US citizenship and ILR as long as your home country allows it.


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Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2012, 03:39:28 AM »
I have been looking for some info, see if someone can help me here.
I am born Pakistani. My ILR for UK is due in next couple months and so my US citizenship. If I get my ILR for UK and then I Apply for US Citizenship. Do I have to give up my ILR for UK?? Please help me:(

How are you going to get US citizenship if you've been living in the UK? 


Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2012, 07:51:08 PM »
I was born in pakistan, I am LPR of US, and most of my family and friends living in US at the moment. I am married to a British woman and i am living in the UK on spouse visa and my ILR  for UK and US for citizenship due soon. Everything seems so confusing at moment:(


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Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2012, 07:53:20 PM »
You cannot live in the UK and maintain permanent resident status in the US. If you have established residence in the UK on a spousal visa, your LPR status is forfeit.


Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2012, 09:39:24 PM »
That's the main thing that I am keeping maintain my residancy in USA. Why it will be forfeit if I gain ILR?:(


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Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2012, 09:49:33 PM »
I think the point is that you may have lost your US status if you have been living in the UK for the past two years - presumably so if you have a spouse visa and are due to apply for ILR shortly?


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Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2012, 10:00:37 PM »
Residency in a country is mutually exclusive. The second you establish residency outside of the US, your LPR status is forfeit. When you received and used your FLR, you forfeit LPR status. USCIS will see that when you send in a copy of your passport in your citizenship application, if you choose to do so.

From the USCIS website (emphasis mine(:

You may be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status if you:

    Move to another country intending to live there permanently
    Remain outside of the United States for more than 1 year without obtaining a reentry permit or returning resident visa. However, in determining whether your status has been abandoned, any length of absence from the United States may be considered, even if less than 1 year
    Remain outside of the United States for more than 2 years after issuance of a reentry permit without obtaining a returning resident visa. However, in determining whether your status has been abandoned any length of absence from the United States may be considered, even if less than 1 year
    Fail to file income tax returns while living outside of the United States for any period
    Declare yourself a “nonimmigrant” on your tax returns
     


Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #8 on: July 22, 2012, 10:03:31 PM »
That's the point even though I have been living in the UK for past 2years, but according to my LPR status i have been returning to US with in 6months. And filling tax every year, maintaining my finances through my American bank accounts, and still carrying a valid driving license. Still there is problem??


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Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #9 on: July 22, 2012, 10:06:42 PM »
Returning to the US every 6 months does not maintain your residency there. The only thing that maintains your residency in the US is actually living there. You are living in the UK. You have the visa in your passport and the passport stamps to prove you are living in the UK and visiting the US every 6 months. You are not a permanent resident in the US anymore and ceased to be one the minute your FLR was stamped.

You just haven't been caught yet. That's luck on your part, but when you apply for citizenship the pattern will be examined. I would have a good attorney on hand.


Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #10 on: July 22, 2012, 10:29:30 PM »
I have been spending 2,3 hours with Immigration officer every time on my visit to US, they sat me down in the room for interview and ask personal questions about my past life. And stamp my passport and let me go.


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Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #11 on: July 22, 2012, 10:34:38 PM »
Then you are definitely going to need an attorney to make the case that you are not resident elsewhere in the world if you choose to apply for US citizenship. The details of those conversations and how often you've been sent to secondary inspection will be noted as a part of your application. Your passport activity will be queried. Simply entering the US every six months does not mean that you live there.

Getting through at the border is entirely different to convincing uscis that you are entitled to citizenship. You cannot be permanently resident in two places, and while the IO may let you in, the officers deciding your citizenship apication have a very different set of criteria to adhere to.


Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #12 on: July 22, 2012, 10:47:14 PM »
I will be moving to US with my wife once I gain the ILR, she wants me to have ILR before we leave for USA, because her whole family is here in UK , in the future when we visit her family in UK no need to apply for visa,etc. That's the only reason I 'll be spending £1377:(


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Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #13 on: July 22, 2012, 10:59:52 PM »
Once you leave the UK, your ILR will lapse after two years.

The only way to be visa-free indefinitely for the future after leaving the UK is to get citizenship.
« Last Edit: July 22, 2012, 11:04:08 PM by Aquila »


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Re: ILR or US citizenship? Please help:(
« Reply #14 on: July 22, 2012, 11:06:43 PM »
And if you think the US is tough, just wait until you live in the US and try to enter the UK on your ILR.


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