World Journal Weekly Q & A - March 10, 2013
Q & A 1. 2. 3.
Q&A 1.
Reader Asked Whether He Can Naturalize and Then Retire in China
An old Chinese asks:
I had worked in the U.S. for 25 years and kept my green card status. I am now 79 years old and retired.
My social security income is low and can not allow me to survive in the U.S. However, this income will be plenty for me if I return to China. Therefore, I want to naturalize to become a U.S. citizen. I am qualified for naturalization because I did not leave U.S. for over 6 months within the past 5 years. After I become naturalized, I will immediate return to China for retirement.
- Is this plan feasible? Will my application encounter any difficulty? Will it affect me receiving monthly social security benefit, if I do not live in the U.S. long-term?
- Where can I get the naturalization information in Chinese?
- Is the time limit of leaving the U.S. the same for all the green card holders, no matter the age of the green card holders?
Dear reader,
- First of all, I do not profess to know anything much concerning Social Security. Insofar as U. S. immigration law is concerned, once an individual is naturalized, the person is free to leave the U. S. without time constraints. During the naturalization process, he or she must exhibit the intent to remain a resident of the U. S. China does not recognize dual citizenship, and so you may have to make a choice between your U. S. or China citizenship sometime in the future. That being said, the Social Security handbook, “Your Payments While You Are outside the United States” appears to indicate that your payments would continue regardless of which country you are a citizen. You appear to be among the class who lived in the U. S. for at least 10 years or earned at least 40 credits under the U. S. Social Security system. You should be able to receive your Social Security payments as long as you are eligible for them. You should, however, check the answer with a person more expert in social security affairs before taking any action based upon this answer.
- Naturalization information in Chinese can be accessed on the U.S.C.I.S. website at: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.749cabd81f5ffc8fba713d10526e0aa0/?vgnextoid=ecc973e7349d8310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=ecc973e7349d8310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD
- The time limit of leaving the U. S. is the same for all green card holders no matter the age. For naturalization purposes, minimal eligibility means being in the U. S. for at least half the time during the required period of residency (in your case 5 years) with any one trip not being one year or more. Trips which exceed 6 months presumptively break the period of time for residence in naturalization cases, but can usually be easily rebutted.
Q&A 2.
Reader Asks Whether There is Visa Fraud Involved in Coming to U. S. on Visitor’s Visa to Visit Girlfriend and Discuss Possibility of Marriage with Her Brother
A visitor asks:
I am 66 years old. I received my B1/B2 visa via my girl friend’s invitation and visited U.S. in 5/2011 for 2.5 months.
During that period, I met my girl friend’s older brother and we both had good impression of each other. Her brother is an U.S. citizen who was born in China but grew up in Taiwan. He is now 77 years old. After I came back to Taiwan in 7/2011, I kept telephone communication with her brother and our feelings toward each other had increased.
I came back to the U.S. in 11/2012 to visit my girl friend again and had discussed the marriage with her brother. I have the following questions:
1. If I marry my girl friend’s brother in 2/2013 and apply for green card here, will the immigration give me hard time and accuse me of visa fraud?
2. If the answer of the 1st question is “yes”, when is the best time for me to get married in the U.S.?
Dear reader,
- From your correspondence, it does not appear that you had any set intent to be married at the time that you reentered the U. S. in November 2012 as you came back in again to visit your girlfriend and to have further discussions with her brother on marriage. This would not be seen as any type of visa fraud or preconceived intent.
- As the answer to your first question is “no”, there is no requirement to answer your second question except to note that any actions towards permanent immigration within 30 days after entry on the visitor’s visa is generally viewed as an indication of the person’s intent upon entry; and actions within 60 days hold a rebuttable presumption of misrepresentation or fraud that the person had the intent to immigrate at the time of entry.
Q&A 3.
Can the Brother Sponsor His Deceased Brother’s Wife and Child for Immigration as He Has Treated the Nephew as His Own?
Lin reader asks:
I am a U.S. citizen. 15 years ago, my younger brother passed away in Taiwan. I treated my nephew as my own. Recently, my younger brother’s wife and my nephew want to immigrate to the U.S.. Can I apply them under the family based immigrant category or other category?
Dear reader,
Although you regard your nephew as your own, you do not have the standing to immigrate them under the family based category. Your younger brother’s wife and nephew will have to find other ways to immigrate, usually through family-based (her family) or employment (if she has skills and/or education which are in demand in the States) or investment immigration.
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