Foreign-born spouses and children of American service members applying for US citizenship may be eligible for naturalization overseas under a new rule that also loosens physical residency requirements.
If you know a foreign-born spouse, please give them this information. If your spouses club has an international spouses component, please pass this on to them.
There’s two parts to this provision…time in residency and what counts and Spouses holding green cards who are married to a US service member can now deploy with a spouse without forfeiting time already spent on US soil toward time-in-country eligibility requirements. Children who are adopted are also eligible for this more lenient rule. Before a spouse/child who was married to a US service member who spent any time abroad (even on orders) would be able to keep ‘credit’ for the time they spent in the US but then they wouldn’t get credit for time they spent during an overseas tour. Foreign-born spouses/adopted children are required to ‘accumulate’ five years to qualify for naturalization.
Of course, there’s paperwork involved in this! If you have a PCS move, you have to fill out a DOD form DD1278. This form gives the Immigration Service proof that you are abroad on official orders. And there is a cost involved! Foreign-born service members can go through the naturalization process for free, but for family members it will cost $595 to apply for citizenship.
I hope having this information will be of some help to our foreign-born spouses and help them in their quest to become citizens.
More resources for foreign-born spouses can be found here.
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Thanks! I happen to be one of those foreign born spouses. We're in the process of changing my temporary green card to a permanent one, so naturalization is still a while off, but it's good to hear that they're making things easier.
That is great news! In case you are looking for more information about K-1 Visas and Green Cards, have a look at my website http://www.trialsofpenelope.com (Welcome to America). I hope my experience (the good and the bad) as a new immigrant and military spouse might make your life a little easier!
I'm also a foreign born military spouse trying to get US citizenship. We will be going stateside again this summer after two back-to-back tours in Germany and I was told by an immigration officer that there is no "credit" (as mentioned in the article) for our time living in the US before our tours in Germany and that I will have to start over again to meet the continued residency requirement. This means I will have to wait 1.5 years before I can even apply. If anyone has any information to the contrary please let me know, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
If you live overseas, and you are a foreign spouse and will like to apply for American citizenship, you can apply to 319(b) here is te FAQ for Expeditious Naturalization http://www.hoodmwr.com/ACS/Media/Program_folder/I…
I appreciate the info Andrea. However in order to apply for Expeditious Naturalization you need to have at least 2 years left on your overseas orders at the time of application and our family only has 9 months left in Germany. Too bad I did not know about the Expiditious Naturalization sooner. For soldiers time spent overseas on orders is considered as time spent in the US. For the spouse however this is not the case. If I could at least get credit for my time spent in the US before Germany that would help but as far as I know that's not the case either.
That's great news for foreign-born spouses and families that not have their citizenship, I'm making a blog for military foreign-born spouses and I want to know if I can post this there to let them know this!! Thank You!! Here is the link to my blog…
http://flakissplace.blogspot.com