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Hello, I'm a US citizen and my wife is Vietnamese and has had her green card since the beginning of June. Long term, we are interested in the possibility of living outside the US (I'm an ESL teacher) but feel it would be the best option for us if she gets her citizenship so we don't have to worry about it when we want to come back to the states. We've heard that if we want her to be able to apply for citizenship she needs to not be outside the US for more than 6 months at a time over a period of 3 years. What I'm wondering is if I get a job teaching English somewhere, maybe the Middle East or Asia, can she live with me and still be able to apply for citizenship after the 3 years are up?
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You are right in thinking that it is best for her to naturalize as a US citizen before living abroad, so at to forever preserve her right to return to the United States
You are also right in wondering if there is some kind of employment exceptions to the physical presence requirement. Unfortunately, the situation you describe "following spouse abroad to teach English" is itself not one of the exceptions
Please see https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/H...-Chapter5.html and investigate if she can find employment abroad that fits neatly into one one of the exceptions. Then, you can follow her abroad, and teach English if you want.
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