When I have my green card can I vote in elections?

[feejo 0]

Or do I have to wait 10 years to be citizen?

[Zee Bee 61]

You have to be a US citizen to vote.

[Staashi 371]

Or do I have to wait 10 years to be citizen?

Noooooo! And never register to vote either. It is actually cause for automatic dismissal from the US. Do yourself a favor and stay far, far away from a ballot box until you are a USC.

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

Or do I have to wait 10 years to be citizen?

And the wait is not that long. You can apply for citizenship after 3 years with your greencard if you are still married to the USC who petitioned for your K1.

[*JG* 2]

No, you can't vote until you are a citizen.

Don't know where you got the 10 years from, though. 3 years.

[lucyrich 20]

Just some reinforcement to what's already been said. ALL federal elections are for citizens ONLY. If you vote, that's a deportable offense. Even registering to vote makes you deportable. It's also a permanent bar to ever becoming a citizen. DO NOT VOTE UNTIL YOU'RE A CITIZEN! Don't check off the box on your driver's license application for voter registration.

However, there are a few local elections that are open to Green Card holders. It's theoretically OK to vote in a local election only, if you're in one of those few jurisdictions that allow non-citizens to vote in local elections. But unless you're REALLY sure of what you're doing and you're really interested in local politics, I'd suggest staying as far away from a ballot box as possible until gaining citizenship.

Registering or voting in a federal election before you're a citizen is one thing that carries really severe penalties, and is very hard to undo. It's an area where someone can be heavily penalized for a fairly honest, though perhaps dumb, mistake. If you HAVE registered or voted, or if you think you might have, see a good attorney ASAP, and don't file an N-400 until you thoroughly understand the issues.

Oh, and you can become a citizen around 3 years after getting the green card, assuming you're married to and living with a US Citizen and you meet the other requirements. If you're not married to a US Citizen, it's generally a five year wait.

[NickD 202]

Least feejo wants to vote, the USA has the poorest turn out of elections in any democracy in the world. And why not, on a Tuesday, a work day with very limited hours, like closing the polls at 7:00 PM when you get off of work at 5:30 PM with a traffic jam that takes over two hours to get home. Or not postponing elections due to severe weather conditions, like a major snow blizzard or tornadoes.

Does our congress know about these problems? Yes. Are they doing anything about it? No. If voting is so important, and it is, should be a national holiday and postponed if weather conditions do not permit.

My wife is taking a strong interest in American politics and couldn't vote in the last primary if even she wanted to or was eligible to vote, couldn't get off work. I made it during a powerful snow blizzard, but our polling place is only six blocks away, ha, was just about the only person there.

[kmineo 0]

yep you have to be a USC before voting (luckily because it looks like a clinton supporter, jk, well a little). 3 years to become a USC after greencard if married to USC, 5 years if not.

[feejo 0]

In Canada you have 4h payed to go vote, is it sc. fiction? No. Oh that explain why there is less than 1/2 people that vote on election day. What a democraty, only people that can afford to vote can go.

Edited May 8, 2008 by feejo

[pdx-n-400-filler 0]

Just some reinforcement to what's already been said. ALL federal elections are for citizens ONLY. If you vote, that's a deportable offense. Even registering to vote makes you deportable. It's also a permanent bar to ever becoming a citizen. DO NOT VOTE UNTIL YOU'RE A CITIZEN! Don't check off the box on your driver's license application for voter registration.

However, there are a few local elections that are open to Green Card holders. It's theoretically OK to vote in a local election only, if you're in one of those few jurisdictions that allow non-citizens to vote in local elections. But unless you're REALLY sure of what you're doing and you're really interested in local politics, I'd suggest staying as far away from a ballot box as possible until gaining citizenship.

Registering or voting in a federal election before you're a citizen is one thing that carries really severe penalties, and is very hard to undo. It's an area where someone can be heavily penalized for a fairly honest, though perhaps dumb, mistake. If you HAVE registered or voted, or if you think you might have, see a good attorney ASAP, and don't file an N-400 until you thoroughly understand the issues.

Oh, and you can become a citizen around 3 years after getting the green card, assuming you're married to and living with a US Citizen and you meet the other requirements. If you're not married to a US Citizen, it's generally a five year wait.

Just to add this to my own experience....I was automatically registered locally to vote when I first got my GC and went to the DWV for my driver license.This was because back then in st.louis ,MO,you woul dbe tested by the highway patrol and they would issue you a passing grade on a paper and then,you would take the paper to a contractor which issue/print out the driver license.The person who handled my D.L assumed I was a citizen and registered me to vote,then i started getting the voter reg.card.I wrote them a letter to unregister me....

When I was filling for n-400 i checked teh box and i explained what happened....