Am I eligible to apply 90 days early?

[AMarina 0]

Hi guys!

I am just starting this process, and was pretty sure I am eligible to apply 90 days early, but am not so certain any more. Maybe somebody can help to figure out?

The guide to Naturalization says that one may file "up to 90 days before you meet the continuous residence requirement", but the following conditions have to be present:

- Permanent Resident in continuous residence for 3 years minus 90 days

- married and living with your spous for 3 years before you file your application.

At the same time, "you may send your application before you have met the requirement for continuous residence only". So, does that mean, I must have been a Perm. Resident for the full 3 years before applying or not?

I entered the country with a permanent green card in June 2006, so my full three years of being a Permanent Resident will be in June 2009. We have been married for more than 5 years, and if I count in a couple months we lived together prior to me becoming a LPR (I had a student visa at that time), I will have the required 3 years of living together by March 2009. I haven't left the country after June 2006. However, since I will not have 3 years as LPR by March, can I still apply early or do I need to wait until June?

Thank you for your comments!

[KyngSilva 0]

So u have been married for 5 years? Your Green card states you have been a resident since? From that date to today how many years has it been?

Has it been less 2 years and 9 months?If it has, then you can file. =). You cannot count living with your husband, if you were not a resident. Im sure the crew will jump in soon.

[AMarina 0]

So u have been married for 5 years? Your Green card states you have been a resident since? From that date to today how many years has it been?

Has it been less 2 years and 9 months?If it has, then you can file. =). You cannot count living with your husband, if you were not a resident. Im sure the crew will jump in soon.

Thanks for the reply. To clarify - I would like to file when I have 2 years 9 months as an LPR (it will be in March 2009), so I'm not counting any non-resident time here. I'm just trying to understand whether I can apply 90 days early, since I will not have been an LPR for the full three years yet, although I will have been married for more than 3 years, and we have been living together for 3 years. Does this make sense?

[Lansbury 19]

Your Green Card has a date on it which states Resident Since (date)

The three years starts from that date. You may apply for your citizenship 90 days before that date.

Example my GC shows Resident Since 11-19-06. My three years is 11-19-09 I can apply 08-21-09.

I have been married 13 years, that only comes into it to give me three years in the USA as a LPR married for those three years to the same USC. The GC date is the first qualification that must be satisfied then the length of marriage.

Edited January 21, 2009 by Lansbury

[lucyrich 20]

I think you can file now, but I'm not 100% clear on your circumstances.

The "continuous residence" requirement is the requirement for living in the US with a green card (LPR status). These are one and the same requirement. You can file 90 days before meeting this requirement. So a person who is otherwise eligible could file 90 days before having held the green card 3 years. You ask: "However, since I will not have 3 years as LPR by March, can I still apply early or do I need to wait until June?" -- The fact that you are 90 days away from completing 3 years of LPR status does not disqualify you. You are ready to file, at least as far as this particular requirement is concerned.

There is a separate requirement, that you must have been married to and living with your US Citizen spouse for a full three years preceeding the date of application. There is no 90 day shortcut on this provision. Since you say you entered the US on June of 2006, it's not clear to me whether you will meet the "three years married to and living with your US Citizen spouse" requirement in March. Were you living together abroad? What were your living arrangements between March 2006 and June 2006?

See the box at the bottom of page 22 of the M-476 for more explanation:

If you are applying based on 5 years as a Permanent Resident or 3 years as a Permanent Resident married to a U.S. citizen, you may file for naturalization up to 90 days before you meet the continuous residence requirement. For example, if you are applying based on 3 years of continuous residence as a Permanent Resident married to a U.S. citizen, you can apply any time after you have been a Permanent Resident in continuous residence for 3 years minus 90 days. You may send your application before you have met the requirement for continuous residence only. Therefore, you must still have been married to and living with your U.S. citizen spouse for 3 years before you may file your application. You must also meet all the other eligibility requirements when you file your application with USCIS.

[AMarina 0]

thank you all for the replies. Yes, it sounds tricky to me because many people first had conditional green cards and they have no problem to demonstrate that they have been living together for 3 years prior to application. In my circumstances - we got married when I was in the US on a student visa, lived together while my visa lasted for a couple months, then I went back home, and re-entered the US three years later with a permanent green card. So the length of marriage requirement is taken care of. But as for "living together" requirement - we lived together for 2 years 9 months since I became and LPR, and if I count the couple months that we lived together during my student visa status, and the time we spent together during visits over the three years of separation, I will have the 3 years of "living together'. However, does this kind of "living together" count? Anybody here in a similar situation - gotten married while on J-1, had to do the "2 year home residency requirement" and then re-entered with a permanent green card?

[lucyrich 20]

You can check the law, in INA 319 (a).

Any person whose spouse is a citizen of the United States, ... may be naturalized upon compliance with all the requirements of this title except the provisions of paragraph (1) of section 316(a) if such person immediately preceding the date of filing his application for naturalization has resided continuously, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, within the United States for at least three years, and during the three years immediately preceding the date of filing his application has been living in marital union with the citizen spouse ..., who has been a United States citizen during all of such period, and has been physically present in the United States for periods totaling at least half of that time and has resided within the State or the district of the Service in the United States in which the applicant filed his application for at least three months.

It looks like the three years living with the US Citizen must have happened during the three years immediately before filing the application. In other words, time you spent living together a long time before filing the application doesn't count.

We were in a slightly similar situation, but not exactly the same. You can see our timeline below. We had been married and living apart prior to getting the green card status. The day of entry to the US was the first day of us living under the same roof as a married couple. I'm still not 100% sure we absolutely had to wait three full years after entry, but we decided it was the safer, simpler, easier thing to do. After we finished the process, I saw posting by another couple that was in our situation, but they tried using the 90 day shortcut. Their N-400 was denied at the interview, because the interviewing officer said they hadn't been living together for the full three years immediately preceeding the filing of the application.

You might want to consult with an attorney to get a more reliable answer as to whether you can take the 90 day shortcut. Or you could file and see; the worst that will happen is they'll deny your N-400 and you'll have to file again (and pay the fee again). Or you could wait until three full years after your entry to the US with a Green Card, when there won't be any question about your eligibility. The choice is yours. Good luck.

[AMarina 0]

You can check the law, in INA 319 (a).

Any person whose spouse is a citizen of the United States, ... may be naturalized upon compliance with all the requirements of this title except the provisions of paragraph (1) of section 316(a) if such person immediately preceding the date of filing his application for naturalization has resided continuously, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, within the United States for at least three years, and during the three years immediately preceding the date of filing his application has been living in marital union with the citizen spouse ..., who has been a United States citizen during all of such period, and has been physically present in the United States for periods totaling at least half of that time and has resided within the State or the district of the Service in the United States in which the applicant filed his application for at least three months.

It looks like the three years living with the US Citizen must have happened during the three years immediately before filing the application. In other words, time you spent living together a long time before filing the application doesn't count.

We were in a slightly similar situation, but not exactly the same. You can see our timeline below. We had been married and living apart prior to getting the green card status. The day of entry to the US was the first day of us living under the same roof as a married couple. I'm still not 100% sure we absolutely had to wait three full years after entry, but we decided it was the safer, simpler, easier thing to do. After we finished the process, I saw posting by another couple that was in our situation, but they tried using the 90 day shortcut. Their N-400 was denied at the interview, because the interviewing officer said they hadn't been living together for the full three years immediately preceeding the filing of the application.

You might want to consult with an attorney to get a more reliable answer as to whether you can take the 90 day shortcut. Or you could file and see; the worst that will happen is they'll deny your N-400 and you'll have to file again (and pay the fee again). Or you could wait until three full years after your entry to the US with a Green Card, when there won't be any question about your eligibility. The choice is yours. Good luck.

thank you very much for the last post! This is really helpful information. Yes, I will consult with the lawyer about this, but looks like waiting out the full three years is a safer thing to do...