After 3 yrs or 5 yrs?

[Indy&Benji 0]

I have been reading and observing some of the post in this US Citizenship forum. Right now I am confused thinking whether it is a better option to file for citizenship based on 3 yrs marriage or just wait after 5 yrs. The reason is I thought that this citizenship stage should be more simple than ROC stage (for the 3 yrs application). We don't have to send evidences like we do in ROC. Apparently I found some people submitted or got requested by USCIS to have to submit more papers than what are asked in the N-400 application form instruction. So my question is, to those who have gotten their US citizenship without any bad record in their background and have simple case, do you think it is better to apply based on 3 yrs or 5 yrs to avoid all the hassles?

[penguin 0]

I was in a similar situation myself and opted for 3 yrs. It was a bit more of a hassle to gather together all of the marriage evidence, but worth it to get the end of my immigration journey that much quicker. Given how much the USCIS rules have changed over time (and continue to change) I decided to just go for it. Now that I am a citizen I am very glad I went down the 3 yr path rather than waiting the extra time. Whatever you decide to do I wish you the best of luck on this last leg of your journey.

I have been reading and observing some of the post in this US Citizenship forum. Right now I am confused thinking whether it is a better option to file for citizenship based on 3 yrs marriage or just wait after 5 yrs. The reason is I thought that this citizenship stage should be more simple than ROC stage (for the 3 yrs application). We don't have to send evidences like we do in ROC. Apparently I found some people submitted or got requested by USCIS to have to submit more papers than what are asked in the N-400 application form instruction. So my question is, to those who have gotten their US citizenship without any bad record in their background and have simple case, do you think it is better to apply based on 3 yrs or 5 yrs to avoid all the hassles?

[Indy&Benji 0]

Penguin, first congrats on your recent approval I saw your timeline. Looks like that you got it done swiftly. Did you send basic and little stuffs as per the N-400 form instruction or did you send close to what you did on ROC? Thank you for sharing

[JonesSanJose 0]

I applied after 3 years...the documents required were easy to obtain and within 2weeks of

NOA, I received biometrics appointment...total time form application to oath ceremony took 77

days. Depending on what office you have your interview, oath ceremonies are done almost weekly.

Good luck and best wishes.

Alan

[penguin 0]

Thank-you! I sent only what the N-400 requested, nothing extra. After my biometrics & prior to receiving my appointment letter I received a yellow letter requesting I bring my prior passports & state ID which I did but the IO did not ask to see either. The appointment letter comes with a document checklist that will ask for proof of marital union, which is where you'll bring things like your mortgage statement, bills, insurance, etc. to show you're still married & together. This is separate to the tax documents which you'll provide with your N-400 application.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

People do stupid things. Sending stuff that's not required is stupid, save for the most unusual circumstances. The VJ guides are excellent in regard to the N-400. All you need to send in support to your claim that you are married is the past 3 years' worth of tax returns. If you have a normal case, still live with your spouse, understand and speak English, and don't give the I.O. an attitude of entitlement, this is nothing but a very simple formality.

If you are eligible to file, don't procrastinate based on stories of people who either made a mistake or got an I.O. who had a bad day. It happens, but it happens very rarely.

[Indy&Benji 0]

AJ and JJ, Penguin

Thank you for sharing your experience. I really appreciate it

Just Bob

Thank you for your insight. You made things clear for me

[David-and-Mae 15]

I have been reading and observing some of the post in this US Citizenship forum. Right now I am confused thinking whether it is a better option to file for citizenship based on 3 yrs marriage or just wait after 5 yrs. The reason is I thought that this citizenship stage should be more simple than ROC stage (for the 3 yrs application). We don't have to send evidences like we do in ROC. Apparently I found some people submitted or got requested by USCIS to have to submit more papers than what are asked in the N-400 application form instruction. So my question is, to those who have gotten their US citizenship without any bad record in their background and have simple case, do you think it is better to apply based on 3 yrs or 5 yrs to avoid all the hassles?

I recently got sworn in. My N-400 was based on 3-year rule / marriage, but we're almost on our 4th year anniversary when I filed. While it's true that you only need to submit whatever's on VJ guide, I chose to submit more besides the ITR and joint account statements like life insurance policies, titles... any documents that had my and husband's names on it. Never received RFE, nor a pre-interview letter requesting to bring this or that. During my interview, the IO really checked those docs that I included in the packet. She even asked if we have the title for our home and if my name's on it. Told her the home is almost paid for when we got married. I brought all the originals with me and other little documents for backup but the IO didn't ask for any of it anymore. She was satisfied with what I got with the N-400 application. We don't have kids so I felt like I needed to provide more proofs. Thinking about it now, I know I did what I thought was best for my case.

[NickD 203]

Rule number one in a court of law is to never volunteer information, opens doors where the opposing attorney can trip you up. Similar at your interview, may rise suspicion if you go overboard that you are trying to cover something up.

After some study with the instructions, M-476 manual, they have that supplement now for evidence that I find very confusing with all those OR's, we just submitted with our application, exactly what they were asking for. But also heard about additional evidence may be asked for. Had my wife bring in a large folder type briefcase with a lot of additional evidence, but instructed her and my stepdaughter to only submit it if asked for it.

Such was the case when she was asked for that worthless joint utility bill, she had it that saved an additional long trip for us. With my stepdaughters' five year, could only think of her grade transcripts and tax transcripts to add, but she never was asked to see those.

Filling out the N-400 can be mind boggling and try to do that as honestly as possible, instructions clearly state you don't have to report any minor traffic violations where your drivers' license was not suspended and the fine was under five hundred dollars with an exception of being ticketed while driving under the influence. But then they came out with proof required that you paid those small fines. Didn't want to deal with that, just got my senators office involved, but had the proof anyway, just in case.

With any governmental agency that certifies, always met with a board, even in a court of law have twelve jurors to deal with, but not with the USCIS, just one IO, don't know what to expect. Our AOS was wonderful at St. Paul, very friendly and the woman didn't even want to see any of our original evidence, but wasn't the case for the two N-400's we went through, and ironically either of the two IO's could barely speak English giving my wife and stepdaughter problems in trying to understand them. They were the tough ones.

With marriage, why can't the US spouse be present? Didn't want t a thing to do with me, just wanted to see my papers. Also felt it was a bad choice for my wife to out dress her woman IO, but instructions did say to dress professionally. Her grilling would have been far less if she got a man for an IO.