When to apply for Naturalization

[hipop2007 0]

I am maried to a US citizen and after 3 years of marriage, i got my approval for GC today at the interview. I was wondering when i would be eligible for citizenship ( is it 3 years of marriage or do i have to wait for 3 years) i.e till Sept, 2011.

Thanks,

hipop

[richo 0]

I am maried to a US citizen and after 3 years of marriage, i got my approval for GC today at the interview. I was wondering when i would be eligible for citizenship ( is it 3 years of marriage or do i have to wait for 3 years) i.e till Sept, 2011.

Thanks,

hipop

If the GC that you received is good for 10 years already then you wont need to apply for lifting of condition and would apply citizenship right away. ANd yes its 3 years of marriage to USC you can now apply for CItizenship. COngrats and good luck Here is the link about faqs on applying for citizenship http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-naturalization.html

Edited September 2, 2008 by richo

[payxibka 10,047]

If the GC that you received is good for 10 years already then you wont need to apply for lifting of condition and would apply citizenship right away. ANd yes its 3 years of marriage to USC you can now apply for CItizenship. COngrats and good luck Here is the link about faqs on applying for citizenship http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-naturalization.html

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo....

In applying the 3/3/3 rule it is the later of 1) three years of marriage to a USC. 2) three years as a legal permanent resident, & 3) the USC spouse has been a citizen for 3 years....

In most cases it is the 3 years as a permanent resident that is the last date to come true.... So for you it is in three years (less 90 days) of the date on your greencard that says Permanent resident since:

Edited September 2, 2008 by fwaguy

[TayRivers 4]

If the GC that you received is good for 10 years already then you wont need to apply for lifting of condition and would apply citizenship right away. ANd yes its 3 years of marriage to USC you can now apply for CItizenship. COngrats and good luck Here is the link about faqs on applying for citizenship http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-naturalization.html

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo....

In applying the 3/3/3 rule it is the later of 1) three years of marriage to a USC. 2) three years as a legal permanent resident, & 3) the USC spouse has been a citizen for 3 years....

In most cases it is the 3 years as a permanent resident that is the last date to come true.... So for you it is in three years (less 90 days) of the date on your greencard that says Permanent resident since:

Agreed, you can file for Citizenship 90 days before the 3rd anniversary of the date you were approved as a Permenent Resident (greencard)

[hipop2007 0]

The immigration officer said that it was a 10 ye GC. But since i have been married for 3 yrs and my wife has been a citizen for over 3 years, I was wondering if i could applyfor citizenship. Had i been approved of temporary GC 3 years back,i would have been eligible now.

hipop

[payxibka 10,047]

The immigration officer said that it was a 10 ye GC. But since i have been married for 3 yrs and my wife has been a citizen for over 3 years, I was wondering if i could applyfor citizenship. Had i been approved of temporary GC 3 years back,i would have been eligible now.

hipop

no, not until you meet the third prong of the test... unfortunately it doesn't matter what the woulda, coulda shoulda's are....

[richo 0]

my bad..sorry i thought one dont need to lift conditions once they had 10 year GC. Oh well good thing I applied now then. GOod luck to us B) Edited September 2, 2008 by richo

[payxibka 10,047]

my bad..sorry i thought one dont need to lift conditions once they had 10 year GC. Oh well good thing I applied now then. GOod luck to us B)

Correct, you don't need to lift conditions once you have a 10 yr greencard, but that still does not automatically qualify you to apply for naturalization....

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Right - married to a US citizen more than 3 years when you get your green card, you get a 10 year green card and don't need to file to remove the conditions of a 2 year card. It is not how long you have been married that determines when you can apply for citizenship - it is how long you have had your green card. You can apply for citizenship starting 90 days before the 3rd anniversary of getting your green card (as long as you are still married to the same US citizen and meet the physical presence residency requirements).

[lucyrich 20]

It is not how long you have been married that determines when you can apply for citizenship - it is how long you have had your green card. You can apply for citizenship starting 90 days before the 3rd anniversary of getting your green card (as long as you are still married to the same US citizen and meet the physical presence residency requirements).

Minor clarification: It sometimes IS how long you've been married, even though that's not the critical item in this case. And I'm guessing that's what you meant, but maybe not everyone reads it that way. fwaguy has been saying it correctly.

If you apply based on the three year rule, then on the day you apply, all three of the following must be true

1. Your spouse must have been a US Citizen for three full years
2. You must have been married to and living with your US Citizen spouse for three full years
3. You must have held your Green Card for three years less 90 days

On the day you interview, the same three things must also be true, except that requirement three changes to "You must have held your Green Card for three full years".

If your spouse was born a US Citizen, requirement 1 was met on the day your spouse turned three years old. Requirement 2 was normally met on your third wedding anniversary (but the "and living with..." clause might mean it's not met until later). Requirement three is often the last one to be met by folks around here.

But things can easily happen in different order. You could get a green card through employment, and then marry a native-born US citizen a year later. Then requirement 2 would be the last one you'd meet, and it would determine the date you could send in the N-400. Or you could get a green card, marry a green card holder six months later, and then six months after that, your spouse might be naturalized as a US Citizen. In that case, it would be requirement 1 that would set the date when you could apply.