Maintaining Options

By Debbie McGoldrick

“I am an Irish citizen working in Florida on a H-1B visa. I was recently married to a girl from Texas. I wish to fully keep my Irish citizenship, but wish to maintain the right to come and go to the U.S. to work and stay if we so desire.

“At this stage my wife and I are looking to return to Ireland next summer, but I would like some kind of safeguard available in case we want to return. Is a marriage visa something that will allow this, or should I pursue a green card? Should I pursue a green card and then return to Ireland in June for a few years before deciding to come back? Would the green card run out, and as a result would the marriage visa be better?

“Finally, if I decide to change my H-1B visa status in the coming months would I be allowed to go home for Christmas, or would my new application prevent this?”

AS your wife is from Texas, she’s an American citizen and will have no problem at all traveling back and forth between Ireland and the U.S. for whatever length of time she chooses.

American citizens are free to live and work outside the U.S. for indefinite periods of time, or forever if they so wish. Permanent residents (i.e., green card holders), however, do not have this luxury.

You refer to a “marriage visa” and “green card” as two separate options, but in actuality they are one in the same. Perhaps you’re confusing a marriage visa with a K-1 fiancé visa, which is available to foreign nationals wishing to come to the U.S. to marry a U.S. citizen.

Those who marry U.S. citizens have the option of applying for a green card as an immediate relative, which means that the processing time is considerably shorter — several months, as opposed to years in other relative cases.

There are a couple of options at your disposal to think about, given the fact that you might relocate to Ireland next year. Your wife could start the process of obtaining permanent resident status for you immediately. It’s possible that your case will be adjudicated by the summer, but of course not guaranteed.

After the green card is approved, you could apply for an I-131 re-entry permit which would allow you to stay outside the U.S. for up to two years without jeopardizing your status as a permanent resident.

There are conditions attached to green cards, the chief one being that the holder must maintain a primary residence in the U.S. That’s not to say foreign travel is prohibited, but there’s one thing to bear in mind — permanent residents who remain outside the U.S. for six months to a year at a time will have to prove their lasting ties to the U.S. upon entry, if asked.

Those who remain outside the U.S. for more than a year are presumed to have abandoned their permanent residence and could be barred from re-entering the U.S. The beauty of a re-entry permit is that the permanent resident can remain outside the U.S. for two years, and return without a problem.

You could also return to Ireland next year and apply for a green card there when (if?) you are ready to return to the U.S. for good. Or, if Ireland is going to be your certain base, you could travel to the U.S. for short periods of time (up to 90 days) under the visa waiver program, but you would not be permitted to work here.

As mentioned above, only U.S. citizens enjoy the unrestricted luxury of going back and forth at random. If you become a permanent resident you could apply for naturalization after three years, but you would have to be here to do so as U.S. consular posts abroad don’t handle citizenship cases. And rest assured your Irish citizenship will not be harmed in any way once you become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Lastly, you will be permitted to travel as an H-1B holder for Christmas if you decide to apply for a green card before that time.