Illogical

Decision time this year.  I need to either renew my green card, or become a US citizen.  Although I think citizenship is something I eventually want to do, not right now – and especially not under this president.  So that means renewing my green card.  But then there is a problem.  You can only start the renewal process when your current green card has 6 months or less until it expires.  Fair enough.  But then I went online to check processing times, and it said that it can up to 12 months to process a green card renewal.  What?  So, in effect, that means that there is going to be about 6 months when I don’t have a valid green card and I can’t leave the US because then I won’t be able to get back in.  What if there is an emergency and I need to return to the UK during that time?  What if I lose my job?  Because then I won’t be able to get a new one.  All of this suggests a very flawed system which could potentially be very problematic.  Let’s hope it never comes to any of that.  And of course this will very much dictate my vacation plans in the next few years, at least when it comes to foreign travel.  I still plan to come back to the UK this Christmas, but after that I’m probably not going anywhere anytime soon because that is when my green card expires.  And don’t get me started on how much a green card renewal costs – it ain’t cheap.