sending application 1 day before eligibility date

[Princess In Love 0]

Hi all,

I'll be applying for citizenship next week 05/03, I already have my package ready and I wonder if I can send it one day or 2 before I'm eligible to apply so USCIS receive it at exactly the same day I'm allowed to apply.

Let's say I send the package 05/02 or before so USCIS receive it on 05/03 , also the date on the application will be earlier than the eligibility date,is it OK? or USCIS will consider it as filing early.

please give me your opinions

Edited April 27, 2012 by Princess In Love

[kstrozyk 13]

In my opinion, you should wait a little longer, maybe one or two weeks. The reason for this is that some offices process their citizenship cases much faster than indicated on the USCIS website (100 days in my case, rather than 5 months as shown on USCIS.gov), and it may result in the interview being scheduled before your 3rd or 5th anniversary. In some cases it may not matter, because it is your Oath date that indicates when you become a Citizen. However, I have read many stories on VJ about interviews being rescheduled, cancelled or the decision had to be postponed. If you send your N400 too early, you are taking a risk of having more delays. I would suggest you read reviews on VJ about your local USCIS office and see if anyone had some bad experiences. I had my interview in Fresno, CA 3 days before my anniversary and I didn't have any issues.

Here are some links to related forums:

http://www.visajourn...as-rescheduled/

http://www.visajourn...ar-anniversary/

http://www.visajourn...iew-experience/

Edited April 27, 2012 by kstrozyk

[EmelyNJoel 43]

I'm with the previous poster. You have invested all this time, why risk some hiccup in the process by rushing? Wait a little. I understand, I'm not a patient person either. but none of us want extra attention or grief from the government, so.....

[nwctzn 55]

Leave at least a week of grace period. There are many cases of applications either rejected due to early filing, or put into a very long oath queue because of an early interview before the 5-year (or 3-year) anniversary. You will not lose much by a week. So I would send the application on 05/10/2012.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

You're not gaining anything by mailing it a few days early. Wait a week or two as other posters have suggested and then it won't be rejected for filing early. Then you would have wasted your $$ at teh post office and you'll have to do it again

[UMUC 3]

You're not gaining anything by mailing it a few days early. Wait a week or two as other posters have suggested and then it won't be rejected for filing early. Then you would have wasted your $$ at teh post office and you'll have to do it again

[UMUC 3]

In my opinion, they should just have ALL applicants file on their 5 year anniversary because had I known this, I would have just waited waaayyy pass my 5th year anniversary!!!

[UMUC 3]

Hi all,

I'll be applying for citizenship next week 05/03, I already have my package ready and I wonder if I can send it one day or 2 before I'm eligible to apply so USCIS receive it at exactly the same day I'm allowed to apply.

Let's say I send the package 05/02 or before so USCIS receive it on 05/03 , also the date on the application will be earlier than the eligibility date,is it OK? or USCIS will consider it as filing early.

please give me your opinions

Oh and by the way too, wishing you good luck on your journey

[Ree 9]

If the earliest date you can apply is May 3rd, you cannot apply before that date. So, the earliest day you can sign and send your paperwork is May 3rd.

Also, if I remember that correctly, USCIS looks at the postmark on the envelope to determine the date you actually filed your application. So if you send it before May 3rd, they will consider that you filed too early.

And I agree with everybody above who recommend to wait for a week or two. You can't become a citizen if your greencard is less than 3/5 years old. So even if you apply earlier and as a result will get your interview a week or two earlier, it won't change anything! You won't be able to take the oath until your greencard anniversary, so you will have to wait anyway.

[Princess In Love 0]

Thanks all for your replies, I think I'll not take the risk and send it early, better late than sorry!

[pepper 34]

Send it a few days or a few weeks after your eligibility date to be sure. I was eligible 1/15 sent my packet 1/17. My 3rd year anniversary as a PR is 4/14 and I had my interview last Wednesday 4/25 and took my oath the same day, Just 9days after my 3rd yr as a PR. Goodluck!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

You cannot file early and it would be terribly silly to be rejected to try and get it there one or two days earlier.

That said, they go by when they RECEIVE it, not when you mail it.

[Damian&Kelly 16]

Yikes.. if I would have saw this before we sent it. Just my experience here, my husband's eligibility date was Sunday April 15th, so we sent it out Saturday April 14th, and it arrived on Monday the 16th. Check cashed and NOA in hand... So I don't think postmark matters?

[Memphis 26]

I submitted mine 1 month after.. no problems at all..

[NickD 202]

You have to date the application and everything in your application has to be current to that day. And that day should appear within that 90 day limit. Then do you count backwards from your green card anniversary day, counting that day as day one, or skip that day. We count that day to be on the safe side. Our day fell on a Sunday, so dated the form for the following Monday and elected to send it first class mail. What the heck, everything we received from the DOS or the USCIS came in first class mail.

That went smooth, on the following Thursday, learned the USCIS already cashed our personal check, wife had her interview a week later from her 3rd anniversary green card date. But then our field office misplaced her application, and she had to wait another two months for her oath ceremony.

Main motivation for all this is so we wouldn't have to drive down to Chicago to renew her foreign passport, but had to do that anyway because of the agreement our Department of State has with her home country.

Most important reason given by the USCIS is to vote. She did get to vote in a local election where 98% of the candidates ran unopposed. Asked why she was voting, didn't make any difference whether she voted or not.

So what is the rush?

One reason, if your English is very poor, and don't know a damn thing about immigration, would be an ideal candidate for getting a job at the USCIS. That you need your US citizenship for.

Got by with one stamp for my stepdaughters' five year application, filled up my wife's envelop with many stamps for all that required evidence just to prove we were paying taxes together and buying things together. Sure made a big deal out of that.