So confused

[mike_n_peewee 0]

Hello good people of visajourney As i was reading the posts about the time to apply for naturalization...i have now become confused. Here's my situation. My 2 yr LPR card was good only last May 2011 so we are now in the process of doing our Removal of Conditions (filed it at VSC and the rate it's going i don't expect the 10 yr LPR till late this yr.) I have been married to the same USC since 2008. So when can i file for naturalization? Pls somebody help me so i can prepare the money.

[Krikit 1,165]

Based on your marriage, you are eligible for citizenship after 3 years from the date of your permanent residence acceptance. If that date is May 2011 then your citizenship eligibility date is May 2014.

[canadian_wife 1,829]

Your green card has a 'resident since' date on it. 3 years minus 90 days from that date you can file for citizenship so you have about another year

However, applying for citizenship is not mandatory, you can wait if you need to gather the money

Good luck

[NickD 203]

Hello good people of visajourney As i was reading the posts about the time to apply for naturalization...i have now become confused. Here's my situation. My 2 yr LPR card was good only last May 2011 so we are now in the process of doing our Removal of Conditions (filed it at VSC and the rate it's going i don't expect the 10 yr LPR till late this yr.) I have been married to the same USC since 2008. So when can i file for naturalization? Pls somebody help me so i can prepare the money.

Did you apply for your I-751 90 days before your conditional green card expired? Still nothing yet? USCIS still dragging their feet on this process, did they send you a one year extension?

The way it works out, like in our case we submitted the I-751 exactly 90 days before that green card expired, was in March 26th, submitted the N-400 one year after that, but on March 29th, the way it worked out. With the N-400, had to send in copies of the expired green card and that one year extension, still didn't receive that ten year green card yet. Took a call to our senators office to learn our application was misplaced, but already had made an infopass appointment to get my wifes' foreign passport book stamped to be here legally. Her green card came in two days before that appointment so we could cancel that long trip.

Can't tell you how frustrating that year was for us, DMV would only issue a drivers' license to my wife to the date her conditional green card expired, refused to renew it and what in the hell is a one year extension. Fought that out with our governor, he finally gave in. Her legal department at her employer was the same way, took tons of evidence to educate them on how the USCIS works, or in this case doesn't work. One key reason why we sent in the N-400 at the earliest date. Countless calls to the USCIS 800 number was worthless and so is that ombudsman, both said to go to the website and look at the processing dates. None of them even took the time to realize our application was transferred to a different service center, they were looking at the wrong service center as were we. It took all but about ten minutes for my senators office to straighten this out.

Read on this board, some received their US citizenship without ever getting their ten year card, but you still have to keep yourself legal with that I-94 or I-551 passport stamp. That is your major concern at this time, to keep yourself here legally. That would affect you N-400 application even though its not your fault. Read the USCIS is only doing 140,000 I-751's per year and wonder why they just can't send out the green cards instead of that extension notice. Then besides carrying your green card, are also suppose to carry that extension notice.

Hell, I just made a copy of it, but we did take a trip, and for that had to carry the original to get back in. At least the guy at the POE knew what a one year extension notice is, nobody else did.