By Debbie McGoldrick

“I BECAME a U.S. citizen in January. I filed paperwork to sponsor my widowed father for a green card shortly afterwards, but I've since lost my job and I'd prefer to return to Ireland to be with family. My dad, however, loves it here and can't wait to get his green card. Will my moving back affect his application? I will leave after the summer and really do not plan on coming back. 

I also heard that my citizenship could be taken from me because I'm moving away so soon. Is this true?”

YOUR father's application for permanent residency here could very well be affected by your move back to Ireland. The affidavit of support document that practically every candidate for permanent residency must have submitted on their behalf require the sponsor to be domiciled in the U.S. (The affidavit of support, as regular readers will know, is a document that basically guarantees the beneficiary won't become a financial burden to the U.S. government, and if assistance is needed, the affidavit sponsor will provide necessary funding.)

The domicile requirement for affidavits is a few years old, and it has prevented many a citizen living abroad from sponsoring a relative for permanent residency here. The green card petitioner can enlist the help of a co-signer to the affidavit if the petitioner doesn't meet the minimum financial requirement, which changes yearly, but a co-signer cannot act in place of the principal. 

In other words, the petitioner must always submit the affidavit, regardless of whether there may be a willing co-signer.

Given this reality, it would likely be wise if you could hold your move to Ireland off until his case is processed. Given that you were able to petition for him as an immediate relative – U.S. citizens aged over 21 can do this for parents – and that his case will be handled in Dublin, it shouldn't take any more than a year to complete from start to finish. This means that not long after the start of 2004, he should, all going well, have his green card in hand.

Of course, there's nothing stopping you from traveling to Ireland now and scoping out the situation there, and making future plans for yourself. But it would just be best, at this time, not to cut all your ties to the U.S., for your dad's sake. 

Now for good news. Your U.S. citizenship will not be affected in any way because you are relocating to Ireland so soon after naturalization. You'll be a U.S. citizen for life – unless, of course, you take complicated steps to formally rescind your citizenship, but that's another story.

Interestingly, up until 1994 there was the possibility that those who permanently left the U.S. within the 12-month period after naturalization could lose their citizenship, because, as Section 340 (d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act used to say, "it shall be considered prima facie evidence of a lack of intention on the part of such person to reside permanently in the United States at the time of filing his petition for naturalization . . . it shall be sufficient in the proper proceeding to authorize the revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such person to citizenship."

The Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 took care of that problem, though, by repealing 340 (d) in its entirety, not that it was ever enforced in the first place, as a person's intent can often be a difficult thing to prove when it comes to immigration law. Now, there's nothing stopping a naturalized citizen from relocating abroad the day after becoming a new U.S. citizen.