International Issue American/Slovak couple with many questions

[rainyseason73]

I have many questions and don't quite know where to start, so I guess I should explain our situation first. My wife and I have been married since May 2004. She is Slovak and I am a U.S. Citizen. We met while I was abroad teaching English in the Czech and Slovak Republics and lived together there for about a year and a half before coming to the U.S. in December, 2003. We were originally coming just for a Christmas visit, and since we were both employed there at the time, she was able to get a tourist visa. After we got her the visa, I ran into a wall with my own prolonged attempt to get my Slovak green card, which had been pending that whole time and we both decided on a bit of a whim that we would stay in the U.S. We ended up getting married and filed all of the necessary paperwork (I-130,I-485,I-765) a couple of weeks later in June '04. As of now her I-475 is pending, we are still awaiting her interview, and understand that it still might be a while. We currently has interim work authorization and we have just filed a separate I-765 for renewal of that, which expires Aug. 1.

So here are my questions:
1. How long should we expect this whole process to take before she gets her interview and finally, her permanent resident status?
2. Would she have to renew her permanent resident status after a certain amount of time, or is it indeed permanent?
3. Would she have to renounce her Slovak citizenship to become naturalized in the US?

We would eventually like to return to Slovakia at least for a while and so I have the same question regarding my status there. Could I be eligible to work in the EU, as Slovaks now are? I have heard conflicting things about the possibility of dual citizenship. Some have said that it's not possible, others have said that now it is and that they now of a US/Slovak couple that has it. If anyone has any definitive answers, I would greatly appreciate it, I haven't found any on the BCIS website.

 

[NYClex]

How long it will take until the interview depends on when and where she filed her paperwork. You can find this information on the BCIS website under "case status"

You will need to know the filing date and the service center where the case is being processed and the district office where the interview will be held. Then you can look up the current processing dates in these places and make an approximate calculation how long it might take for your case to be processed. It is normal that it takes long, sometimes 2 years.

Once she has been given permant residency status it is conditional. After two years the conditions can be removed and the status becomes permanent. You will find removal of conditions information on the USCIS website as well.

Of course even if the status is called "permanent" you have to renew the Green Card from time to time. You also can lose the status which usually happens if the alien leaves the country to live in some other country or commits a crime. Therefore I would not consider leaving the US now and starting to work in Europe because this would probably make her lose her residency permit for the US.

She can apply for citizenship after she has been living as a permanent resident in the US for 3 years. Under US law she can keep her old citizenship.

As a US citizen she could live abroad without losing this citizenship.