Naturalization Eligibility

[Jmsanski 0]

Hi,

New to the forum and I have a simple question on when my wife is eligible for naturalization.

Does the 3 year eligibility start from the time we are married or by the time her status is adjusted?

We were married 12-31-09.

I am still also confused after reading some of the problems on interviews. Our initial interview consisted of 2 questions, and took all of 10 minutes.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

***** Moving from AOS to US Citizenship forum as OP is asking about naturalisation *****

The three year starts from the date of her greencard- if you look at the card, it should say something like "Resident From...".

[NickD 203]

***** Moving from AOS to US Citizenship forum as OP is asking about naturalisation *****

The three year starts from the date of her greencard- if you look at the card, it should say something like "Resident From...".

If you go to the USCIS form site under the N-400, they finally added a whole bunch of downloads that give you complete check lists and eligibility information, and finally written in English.

Before then, had to download the M-476 manual and the N-400 instructions, somebody went through a great effort to combine every possible scenario into that manual and instructions. And took an equally great effort to read and separate those into exactly what applied to you. Recall doing that by copying and pasting what just applied to us, recall just getting five out of some odd 74 pages that applied to us.

[d0n_the_dragon 0]

***** Moving from AOS to US Citizenship forum as OP is asking about naturalisation *****

The three year starts from the date of her greencard- if you look at the card, it should say something like "Resident From...".

Hi Penguin,

Can you clarify if by "her green card" you mean that her real 10 year green card or it can start from her 2 year conditional green card?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

She has become a resident the day the Immigration Officer hammered the stamp APPROVED on her AOS file. This date is the RESIDENT SINCE date on her first, second, third, and forth Green Card. Like a SSN and her birthday, the day when she became a resident never changes.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

Bob is correct- the date should be the same on her conditional and 10 year greencard.

[d0n_the_dragon 0]

Bob is correct- the date should be the same on her conditional and 10 year greencard.

So if I understand what you're saying, if somebody adjusted their status and gets a 2 year conditional permanent residence and then would apply to remove this condition after 2 years then he or she can apply for naturalization a year later based on the 3 year rule for naturalizing based on marriage? Is this the process?

Or is it 3 years after he/she gets the 10 year green card before he/she can apply to be naturalized?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

It is 3 years after she became a RESIDENT.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

If you removed conditions promptly then yes, naturalisation would happen a year after that. It is NOT three years after getting the ten year card.

[NickD 203]

You can apply precisely but no more than 90 days before her 3rd anniversary of her green card. Provided you were married at least three years on that 90 days when you can apply.

If she still has her conditional card, your biggest worry is to apply for the I-751 exactly 90 days before it expires, or else she won't be here legally. Can neither work nor travel after that card expires. While we expected to get those two ten year green cards, got a one year extension notice instead. So besides carrying your expired green card, had to carry that one year extension notice with it. Made copies of that, but we had to take the original for leaving the country. And neither our state, wifes' employer, nor the school knew what the hell that one year extension was all about. Least the guy at the POE did, that surprised me.

When my wife applied for US citizenship, had to copy both of her expired green card and that one year extension notice with the application and she never received her ten year card until about 11 days before her interview, then about two months after that for her oath ceremony, they misplaced her application, they took it back. That was a very stressful time for us.