IN THE MILTARY AND MY WIFE IS RECIEVING A US VISA BUT I PCS FOR KOREA DOES SHE HAVE TO BE IN THE US FOR 2 YEAR?

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Alex H	"If you are married to a US citizen, and your US citizen husband serves in the US military and is stationed abroad for a period of over one year, then you are eligible for 'fast track' naturalization. To qualify for fast-track naturalization, you must be a green card holder; but this provision is pretty amazing because you are exempt from both the RESIDENCE requirement and the PHYSICAL PRESENCE requirement. The provision of law that allows this is INA Section 319(b). You can read about 319(b) naturalization here: http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/MilitaryBrochurev7.pdf You can also find information about this at page 20-22 of the USCIS Guide to Naturalization: http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf This provision of law is somewhat obscure, and some people (including USCIS officers) do not know about it. SO you document your eligibility thoroughly." I took this quote from a USCIS officer that reply on some immigration forum, but it should also apply in your case. So, once your wife gets her green card in the mail, you can apply for her to get expedited citizenship. This took my wife 3 months to get her citizenship expedited. Now if you don't have the time to get citizenship completed, you can file for it when you are in Korea and be naturalized in Korea. They just changed the law to allow naturalization of military spouses overseas Now if your wife doesn't have her green card yet, she has to get that first before you can have her travel with you to Korea. Without a green card I wouldn't advise her to travel outside the states since her visa into the US is a one time use visa. She could always travel to Korea on her Philippine passport and SOFA, but that wouldn't let her back into the US, if she doesn't have a greencard. You can always go to Korea then apply for a greencard there, but you take a risk. It's hard to give u full advice since I don't what type of visa that your wife has coming into the US. Some visas will grant your wife a greencard when she gets to the US, other's you have to apply after she gets there. If you have the time, I would go the citzenship route, but that requires a greencard. If you don't think you can get that done before PCSing, I would go to Korea then get the naturalization done there. You have to do your own research. Military passport offices and MPF and legal don't really know much about this process. Heck even some immigration officials don't know the law for military spouse exp citizenship. We found out about by accident when some one told us a few months before our move to Germany. At the time my wife was worried about having to adjust her greencard and remove the 2 year condition in Germany, but then we found out about this expedited citizenship process and we took advantage of this little known law. We used the web to find out everything we could about it and applied for it according to the requirements. To answer your question, she doesn't not need to be in the US for 2 years before she leaves. All she really needs to go to Korea is a SOFA and Philippine passport. Coming back to the US, she needs her greencard. Since Jan 08, living overseas as a greencard holder military spouse is considered the same as residency in the states for citizenship and immigration purposes. So you don't have to worry about not being in the US with a greencard holder spouse. It used to be terrible because if you were stationed overseas for so many years, none of those years could be counted towards citizenship because the greencard holder wasn't living in the US. This Jan 08 Defense Auth Act also changed the immigration law to allow naturalization of military spouses overseas. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Yak Rider	She does not have to be in the US for 2 years. As long as she's on command sponsored orders she can go with you. Her time in Korea will count toward citizenship. If you're there over 3 years she can even become a US citizen there, in Korea, without coming back to the US. This policy memo outlines everything you need to know.... http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/overseas_natz_mi_spouse_child_memo_08-15-08).pdf SUBJECT: Guidance on Continuous Residence, Physical Presence, and Overseas Naturalization for a Spouse or Child of a Member of the Armed Forces per Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act by the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008” Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

AnnMarie	She should be fine if you're married to her. I've never heard of this before and I'm a military brat/ now veteran. Better yet, go to the personnel office to make sure or ask your command. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

G.H.CURTISS	First, As long as she has a green card and visa she is free to travel under orders with you to Korea. Second the time in Korea will count for her residents time. Lastly, very few know this but as of last July, If you have been married for 3 years your wife can get her U.S. citizenship well in Korea. She will not have to fly to the U.S.A. This is for military personal only Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No