3 year countdown

[nijusjaanu 0]

so, the countdown for the 3 years if you're married to a USC starts after the AOS ....

my husband was given a 2 year green card with the CR1, after which we'll have to file for the 10 year .... so would the 3 years then start when the visa was activated and he recieved the greencard, or does it start after this 2 years?

edit:

i've found the answer to my question ... for anyone else who reads this and wonders what it is: you may apply 3 years after you get your greencard .. be it a 2 year or 10 year GC. yay!

Edited March 8, 2006 by nijusjaanu

[LRA 0]

nijusjaanu, could you send a link to where you found that answer, please.

Also if I could get some answers on the following please:

Situation #1: Person1 is granted LPR (not via marriage to USC) on 1/1/06. Person1 marries Person2 on 1/31/06. When is Person1 eligible to apply for naturalization assuming they are married to the same USC when they apply (I don't think they would be eligible at the 3 year timepoint if they were not married or married again to another USC): 3 years-90 days from 1/1/06 or 3years-90days from 1/31/06? Consider the 90 day window please.

Situation #2: Person3 is granted Conditional LPR via marriage to Person4 on 2/31/07. Marriage took place on 2/1/06. When is Person3 eligible for citizenship please consider the 90 day window?

[Kez/JWolf 6]

If you got your greencard because you are married to a USC you can apply for citizenship 3 years -90 days from the date on the card...

The date of your wedding has nothing to do with when you can file for citizenship..

If you got your greencard by other means it is 5 years from the date on the card... if you then married a USC I think because orginal greencard was non-marriage based you would need to check with your local office as to if and how you apply after only 3 years..

Kezzie

[meauxna 15]

The date of your wedding has nothing to do with when you can file for citizenship..

I disagree; the naturalization candidate must also have been married to the USC for three years (addresses LuLus Q).

Please see the pinned post with all the relevant links: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=311

[LRA 0]

I just wanted to open a discussion on this, because I saw a lawyer on a different website state that a person was eligible 3 years after the lifting conditions had taken place and thus being granted permanent residency via the 10 year green card. Which I think is totally wrong.

Marriage date is important because the applicant for naturalization in the examples is based on 3 years of being married to the same USC. Most people get married first and then are granted PR status, whether it be conditional or not. So limiting factor for the "minus 90" days would be the CPR/PR status as it happed after the marriage.

But are there any situations where the PR/CPR status would be granted prior to the marriage taking place? When then would the applicant have to apply...after the fully met the 3 years of being married (ie no benefit of the 90 days).

Thanks again for all your thoughts.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

What I ment was that the date of the marriage is not the date the 3 years starts its from the date of AOS and as most people here do not get LPR until after they are married the importand date that maost of us have to go by is the date on the greencard....

Kezzie

[LRA 0]

K-Agree with that. But in one situation I described the person was married after PR. And so the 90 days prior to 2 years of Green Card would not apply. So then would this person get to apply from 90 days prior to two years of marriage or would they have to be married for a full 3 years and then apply. I think the latter of the two.

So can anyone tell me, when the conditions are lifted and the "new" PR card is granted. The date for "PR Since:" on that "new" card should be the same as the one for the CPR "old" card. Can someone verify this?

[meauxna 15]

K-Agree with that. But in one situation I described the person was married after PR. And so the 90 days prior to 2 years of Green Card would not apply. So then would this person get to apply from 90 days prior to two years of marriage or would they have to be married for a full 3 years and then apply. I think the latter of the two.

So can anyone tell me, when the conditions are lifted and the "new" PR card is granted. The date for "PR Since:" on that "new" card should be the same as the one for the CPR "old" card. Can someone verify this?

Yes, I can confirm that the "PR since" date is the same on my husband's new 10-year card as it was on his old 2-year card.

You might like this thread: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4169

The lawyer who said "3 years after I-751 is approved" is not right. Is s/he really an immigration attorney?

As for what you were talking about above, I don't have the nitty gritty in front of me, but I think you're talking about someone getting PR, marrying a USC later, and applying for natz at the 3 years of *marriage* to the USC (and they would have been a PR for +3 years at that point). Right? Yes, seems I have heard it works that way, but I've never looked it up myself.

I wonder if you would still qualify for the 90 day application window? Might do, might do.

[Nikita2Charles 32]

You are eligible to apply for US citizenship 2 years 9 months before your 3 year anniversary of your AOS approval. That date is the date that will show up on your Green Card, even though you may not have received your Green Card, as you long as your AOS interview was approved that's your TIMING SET.

CAUTION

Let say you divorce your US Spouse that Gave you the Green card, (hopefully it's married happily ever after)

You have to wait 4 years and 9 months from the time of your green card approval.

Wish that clariy it for some

[internetkafe 0]

Why is it not 3 years after marriage?

Why do you have to be a PR for 3 years to be able to apply for naturalization?

Can not you apply for naturalization 3 years after the marriage (assume that your LPR status starts one year after the marriage took place) ?

[meauxna 15]

Why is it not 3 years after marriage?

Why do you have to be a PR for 3 years to be able to apply for naturalization?

Can not you apply for naturalization 3 years after the marriage (assume that your LPR status starts one year after the marriage took place) ?

What do you mean, 'why'? Because that's how the law is written.

(Why does every boy have to serve in the army in Turkey? "Because they do.")

The rule is, you must be an LPR for 5 years to be eligible to apply for citizenship. That's how long "they" felt you must be a resident before you can be a citizen.

For spouses of US citizens, they make an exception and you can apply if you've been a PR for 3 years AND been married to the USC for years AND the USC has been a USC for 3 years.

You can NOT apply for citizenship based solely on being married for 3 years.

Keep in mind that the length or PR + marriage is only ONE of the eligibility requirements for applying. You must also qualify under the other rules.

[Reba 2]

Why is it not 3 years after marriage?

Why do you have to be a PR for 3 years to be able to apply for naturalization?

Can not you apply for naturalization 3 years after the marriage (assume that your LPR status starts one year after the marriage took place) ?

because in some cases, the couple may not even have lived in the US for the first 3 years of their marriage, or may not have lived together even. As is the case with me and my husband, I didn't even get my K3 and move in with hubby until nearly our 3rd anniversary because of various immigration ###### ups both Canadian and US. If Naturalization eligibility were based solely on length of marriage, then I would have been eligible to apply about 3 weeks after I arrived here, even tho my husband and I had not lived together that whole time.

If they made the Naturalization eligibility reqirement as wedding annivesary date, then a whole bunch of people married to Americans living in foreing countries would then also have to be made eligible. Ergo, the requirement is to be married to a US citizend AND live in the US with permanent resident status for 3 years.

[internetkafe 0]

Hello Reba,

You give the example of spouses not being able to live together because of immigration ###### ups. It is not of spouses own doing. Even in the case of spouses living outside the US together...I think they should be eligible for citizenship. Why not? There is nothing wrong if the eligibility were based solely on the length of marriage.

'If they made the Naturalization eligibility reqirement as wedding annivesary date, then a whole bunch of people married to Americans living in foreing countries would then also have to be made eligible. '

So? Let them be eligible. What is wrong with that?

Why should immigrant spouses be treated as third rate creatures? I do have an issue with this treatment and I am not happy with that. I know that is the law but I resent to that law....I do not like that law. I do not like the logic behind it.

I should be able to live in my own country with my wife and be still eligible for US citizenship based on marriage.

[Reba 2]

and of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion Me, I don't think its such a good idea mainly because it would be just too easy for more people to scam the system, which in turn would make it more difficult for those of us trying to do it legally.

Laws are there for a reason. We don't have to like them, but unfortunately, we must abide them or suffer the consequences.

[KarenCee 3]

Hello Reba,

You give the example of spouses not being able to live together because of immigration ###### ups. It is not of spouses own doing. Even in the case of spouses living outside the US together...I think they should be eligible for citizenship. Why not? There is nothing wrong if the eligibility were based solely on the length of marriage.

'If they made the Naturalization eligibility reqirement as wedding annivesary date, then a whole bunch of people married to Americans living in foreing countries would then also have to be made eligible. '

So? Let them be eligible. What is wrong with that?

Why should immigrant spouses be treated as third rate creatures? I do have an issue with this treatment and I am not happy with that. I know that is the law but I resent to that law....I do not like that law. I do not like the logic behind it.

I should be able to live in my own country with my wife and be still eligible for US citizenship based on marriage.

I'm sure we all have those "I should be able to...." thoughts. I think we should be able to get through this process a heck of a lot quicker and for less expense!!! I don't see immigrant spouses as being third rate creatures. I don't like that there are so many illegals in this country too when so many of us are going about this the legal way. Many of us don't like a lot of things about immigration but you know....that's just the way it is. Reba and Meauxna are correct in their statements. It's life....