Fraternity-Testvériség, 1963 (40. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1963-03-01 / 3. szám
14 FRATERNITY IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION CAN I RECEIVE MY SOCIAL SECURITY ABROAD WITHOUT LOSING MY AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP? Question: I was naturalized as an American citizen twenty years ago and have lived in the United States ever since. I am now retired and receive social security. It would be easier for me to live in a country with lower living costs, but I do not wish to lose my American citizenship. Is there anything I can do about this? Answer: Under present law naturalized citizens who have resided in the United States at least fifteen years — formerly it was twenty-five — after being naturalized, will not lose their citizenship if they reside abroad, provided they do not reside in the country of their birth or former nationality. If a naturalized citizen wishes to reside in the country of his birth or former nationality, he must have lived in the United States not less than twenty-five years after his naturalization and be sixty years of age at the time he begins to reside abroad, in order not to lose his American citizenship. MUST I WAIT YEARS BEFORE MY WIFE CAN JOIN ME IN AMERICA? Question: I arrived in the United States on an immigrant visa two years ago and so will not be able to apply for citizenship for another three years. My wife is still abroad. Both she and I were born in a country with an oversubscribed quota and although I filed a petition for a preference on her behalf, which was approved in Februrary 1961, I was told that the third preference requires many years of waiting. Is there any way in which she can be helped to immigrate sooner, so that we can again be a united family? Answer: Yes there is. You were very fortunate in having filed your petition for your wife when you did. Due to the new legislation signed into law by President Kennedy on September 26, 1961, the wives and husbands, as well as the unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent resident aliens, such as yourself, who are beneficiaries of petitions filed in their behalf with the Immigration Service before July 1, 1961, will be considered non-quota immigrants and thus be able to immigrate at once. This new law applies also to the parents of United States citizens, 21 years of age or over, and the unmarried sons or daughters of United States citizens. They, too, will be considered non-quota immigrants, if preference petitions for them were filed before July 1, 1961. It should be kept in mind, of course, that the processing of so many newly qualified applicants will slow down the visa-issuing process a little, so that everybody must be patient. But you should immediately tell your wife to go to the Consulate and ask the Consulate to start processing her case.
