r2i forum

My husband is an active member.

I wanted to make this post on my own so that I get some non-biased opinions on our financial position and also citizenship.

We are a family of 4. Adults in early 40s and the kids are 10 & 9. We plan to move back to Bangalore early 2019.

About us:

Living in US for 13 years

Mostly single income family. I started working couple of years ago.

Financial position:
[LIST]

USD : 400K

Approx. home equity: 250K

401k + stock: 250 K

INR: 1+ cr

Rental income: 70 thousand INR

We have set aside another 75 lakhs INR for house construction. We already have plots

My husband might take a transfer and work. Or we might start something on our own

Kids love India and have no issues moving back.
[/LIST]

I think we are financially at a good position to make this move. I come from a middle class family and I think we will need around 1 lakh pm for a Bangalore life style.

Problems:

My daughter will start 6[SUP]th[/SUP] grade next year and I think we cannot postpone any longer

We are eligible for citizenship in June 2019 and processing is around 1.5 years L.

We hear that the housing market in NW is slowing down and selling our house might be an issue

Suggestions needed:

Should we both apply for citizenship? My husband feels that it will be stupidity to not do so!

If we apply for citizenship, I plan to move the kids next year and travel monthly 1 week to India (since I will be working, I will use part of my salary for this monthly trip). Any issues during citizenship?

What to do if we cannot sell the house? Is it advisable for my husband to continue living in the US till house is sold?

Homebound2019;680727My husband is an active member.

I wanted to make this post on my own so that I get some non-biased opinions on our financial position and also citizenship.

We are a family of 4. Adults in early 40s and the kids are 10 & 9. We plan to move back to Bangalore early 2019.

About us:

Living in US for 13 years

Mostly single income family. I started working couple of years ago.

Financial position:
[LIST]

USD : 400K

Approx. home equity: 250K

401k + stock: 250 K

INR: 1+ cr

Rental income: 70 thousand INR

We have set aside another 75 lakhs INR for house construction. We already have plots

My husband might take a transfer and work. Or we might start something on our own

Kids love India and have no issues moving back.
[/LIST]

I think we are financially at a good position to make this move. I come from a middle class family and I think we will need around 1 lakh pm for a Bangalore life style.

Problems:

My daughter will start 6[SUP]th[/SUP] grade next year and I think we cannot postpone any longer

We are eligible for citizenship in June 2019 and processing is around 1.5 years L.

We hear that the housing market in NW is slowing down and selling our house might be an issue

Suggestions needed:

Should we both apply for citizenship? My husband feels that it will be stupidity to not do so!

If we apply for citizenship, I plan to move the kids next year and travel monthly 1 week to India (since I will be working, I will use part of my salary for this monthly trip). Any issues during citizenship?

What to do if we cannot sell the house? Is it advisable for my husband to continue living in the US till house is sold?

Get citizenship. Smart move to get it..
6th grade is getting close. Once they get to 7 and 8, it will be a headache
Housing is slowing down but the thing is, you are kinda hedged with INR which is falling. So sell it when you can.. You are worth 12% more in INR compared to last year so it should be oK
Dont push all the USD to india yet.. Try to move what you really need.

Travel monthly ??. Are you sure..

Get your USC before you move. Kids will be ok if you go a year later.

You can apply 90 days before the eligibility date for citizenship. Use the USCIS early filing calculator to determine the earliest application date. Fill in the details online and have it saved as draft. Apply online on the very first date you become eligible. Online application are processed faster.

My daughter started high school in B'lore and she got adjusted well quickly. Anyway this will be 5-6 year stay in India for you. You'll be back in US when your kids are ready for college.

1. Yes, you should
2. No issues in citizenship application in theory, but come interview 18 trips of 3 weeks each since applying would raise flags . Assuming you would pull off 1 week in India every month for 1.5 to 2 years.
3. If house is not sold then rent it or lower the price. You have enough equity and cash cushion to fall back on. Staying in US because house is not selling doesnt sound like a good enough reason.

Homebound2019;680727
Suggestions needed:

Should we both apply for citizenship? My husband feels that it will be stupidity to not do so!

If we apply for citizenship, I plan to move the kids next year and travel monthly 1 week to India (since I will be working, I will use part of my salary for this monthly trip). Any issues during citizenship?

What to do if we cannot sell the house? Is it advisable for my husband to continue living in the US till house is sold?

Homebound2019;680727My husband is an active member.

I wanted to make this post on my own so that I get some non-biased opinions on our financial position and also citizenship..........
.................

Financial position:
[LIST]

USD : 400K

Approx. home equity: 250K

401k + stock: 250 K

INR: 1+ cr

Rental income: 70 thousand INR

We have set aside another 75 lakhs INR for house construction. We already have plots........

[/LIST]

You are great financially. You have all bases covered. Almost 9cr + Plots is excellent considering that your husband is going to work after R2I.

75 L might be a little less for constructing a house if it is going to be on the lines of US homes. Take around Rs.3k/sf as the budget for a high end house. Around 2.5k budget will result in a very good one but not really US type with all the bells and whistles of a US home.

Thank you for your replies.

So the consensus is for us to get citizenship. My husband is happily telling me "I told you so" :rolleyes:
The earliest we can file for citizenship is June 2019. The process is around 12-18 months but I don't want the kids to stay in India without us for so long...

My husband and I, can take turns doing monthly India trips. So between us we will have 6 trips of 1 week each (assuming citizenship comes in 12 months). During the interview, the officer will know that the kids are in India and we are doing monthly trips. Will that affect our eligibility?

@direstrait88: I honestly dont want to come back once kids start college. Are you planning to come back? Will it not be too much of moving back and forth?

@Vapasi, our estimate was around 2k per sft and for a 3000 sft house our estimate was approx 75 Lakhs. I will take few more quotes and decide on the budet.

Thank you for all your time and inputs.

Kids are reaching a critical age so you need to hurry (if not I?d suggest accumulating another half a million plus USD), at least for 3 years once you return to India let husband or yourself continue with same company if it?s available, doing something on your own can/should be more of a hobby than reliance in India.

All the best!

Homebound2019;680790
@direstrait88: I honestly dont want to come back once kids start college. Are you planning to come back? Will it not be too much of moving back and forth?

It is very likely your kids will move back to US for college. You can either leave behind 200k per child in today's dollars for out of state tuition or move back a year before the first kid is ready for college to establish residency for in-state tuition.

I know several who returned to India 10-12 years ago and are now moving back to US as their kids are finishing high school in India. Their kids completed their entire schooling (Grade 1-12) in India but prefer to come to US for college. A few in this forum have moved back or thinking of moving back for this reason.

There is an entire generation of US born kids in India who have finished/finishing high school in India and applying for US colleges. My daughter in B'lore says almost 25% of her class mates are US citizens.

direstraits88;680943It is very likely your kids will move back to US for college. You can either leave behind 200k per child in today's dollars for out of state tuition or move back a year before the first kid is ready for college to establish residency for in-state tuition.

I know several who returned to India 10-12 years ago and are now moving back to US as their kids are finishing high school in India. Their kids completed their entire schooling (Grade 1-12) in India but prefer to come to US for college. A few in this forum have moved back or thinking of moving back for this reason.

There is an entire generation of US born kids in India who have finished/finishing high school in India and applying for US colleges. My daughter in B'lore says almost 25% of her class mates are US citizens.

Why not let kids do graduation in India and then let them go to US for MS/MBA via the F1 route? Just trying to understand, how difficult it is via the F1 route that parents are trying to give an arm and leg to get US citizenship for their kids. Can't kids go on their own ability?

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Kids are already US citizens, so why would they come on F1?

And F1, OPT,H1B, GC, USC is not a very pleasant route , and it is getting uglier.

wd40;680960Why not let kids do graduation in India and then let them go to US for MS/MBA via the F1 route? Just trying to understand, how difficult it is via the F1 route that parents are trying to give an arm and leg to get US citizenship for their kids. Can't kids go on their own ability?

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