Green Card
by Debbie McGoldrickRSS 
Recent Posts
- Renewing my nine year old green card having lived in Ireland
- Extending your stay with a 90 day holiday waiver - is it possible?
- Renewing my Irish child’s US passport without getting her American Dad involved
- Having divorced my American wife can I get my new Irish girlfriend a visa?
- I-94 arrival and departure cards in United States will soon be obsolete
Archives
“I have a business idea that I would like to take to Ireland. I want to start a company there with my wife that I think would have potential, but my Irish roots go way back to Famine times. My wife’s great-grandparents were from Wexford – would that help us get a visa? What about if we had one of the certificates of Irish heritage?
“Would we be able to just go over there and start our business? I’m sure that we would need some type of visa, but I’m not sure what and would like some ideas on how to start. Is the Irish government making it any easier for foreign entrepreneurs to start up over there given the economic climate?”
Your question is very broad – what kind of business do you want to start, and how much money are you planning to invest? These questions are important, especially as they relate to what type of Irish visa you might be eligible for.
The Irish government provides plenty of assistance for those wishing to establish companies in Ireland. You should visit the website of Enterprise Ireland, the government agency responsible for attracting new start-ups, at www.enterprise-ireland.com. There is information there about possible financial and tax incentives for those creating businesses in Ireland.
“If this is true, how long will it take for my citizenship to be approved? And after that, how long before I am sworn in? I am worried about my green card expiring."
“Also, I have not worked in five years because of an illness. I am included on all of my husband’s tax returns. Do I have to show these tax returns to an immigration inspector, and if so, how many years do I have to provide?”
You will be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship 90 days before the third anniversary of holding your green card – but not the third anniversary of your wedding date.
You say you were married on January 1, 2010, but you surely didn’t receive your permanent resident status on that date. If your green card is set to expire in March of 2013 then you must have received it in March of 2011.
Yes you will, as long as it was a once-off brush with the law. If you had multiple convictions your application for a visa would likely be denied.
You can still travel to the U.S. visa free using the visa waiver program. When completing the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) online form that all waiver travelers must complete before coming here, you’ll notice a question in the last section that asks if a traveler has ever been arrested or convicted of an offense or crime involving moral turpitude.
As someone who has taken several trips abroad with a child – my 12-year-old daughter, who does not share my last name – but without her father -- my husband – we have never encountered an issue with travel. Only once were we mildly questioned about our relationship by a CBP officer at Kennedy Airport, and when he saw the very strong mother/daughter resemblance he soon came to the conclusion that we had to be related.
