U.S. Citizen married to U.K. Citizen currently living in UK and wanting to move to US
Hello,
I am a US citizen (24 years old) currently living in the UK with my husband (30 years old) who is a UK citizen. We were married in Nov. 2007 in California which is where I am from. I am currently living with him and working as I obtained a UK Spouse VISA. My VISA runs out in July and am unaware what to do at this point since I plan on moving back home at the end of June to go back to school since I was studying to become a civil engineer. I don't necessarily want to obtain dual nationality, but can I do anything to become like a permanent resident so I do not have much hassle with UK customs when travelling back and forth? I've been working here since 2008 and paying taxes and have a pension established with my job. Would I be eligible for UK citizenship, if so how long would this take to process and when should I begin the process?
Also, my husband does not wish to move back with me in June and wants to wait in the UK for his redundancy and redundancy package from his current IT job. It is our plan to save up as much as possible while living in the UK and transfer the funds to the US when the exchange rate increases since this would help us purchase a home. We have just been back from spending Christmas back home and as we asked banks about mortgages, we have found out that once he does go the States and receives his SSN that his credit will begin at zero. Is there no way to have his credit from the UK be acknowleged in the US? In addition to this, I am aware that I can apply for his green card whilst living in the UK, I believe this would be beneficial as I am currently working full time and show my income here and my money I have saved up and sitting in states to show I could support him. Would I be able to apply for all this, him go to the US, get his green card and SSN and then go back to the UK until he was made redundant or does he have to stay in the US for some period before he could leave the country? The reason I believe this would be beneficial is so that his credit could start building as I could add him to my accounts.
Should I wait to apply for him until I am living at home? My only concern with this is that I will be working part time and going to school and living with my parents. My parents have advised that they would be able to confirm that they can support us financially if need be, would this help? Above all this, I haven't paid any taxes for 2009 and now for 2010 as I haven't been in the US to do so but I have been paying taxes since I was 18 (working part time since was a student), how would this effect me?
Once my husband has had his green card and has been living with me in the US, how long would he have to wait before he could apply for citizenship?
I know I have a lot of queries but I would greatly appreciate any and all help from yourselves, I know the post is pretty daunting.
Thank you for your time,
Nav