2 year green card expiring... (merged threads)

[SDY 4]

Is my wife eligible for US citizenship after 3 years living in the US and coming here on a fiancé visa?

She is from the Philippines, we married within the first 90 days and she received her green card about 1 year later. 6 months after her 3 year anniversary in the US, her green card will expire. I think it might be better to apply for citizenship than a 10 year green card. Does anyone have some insight on this?

[Merrytooth 5,748]

If she has a 2 year conditional green card, she has to file for Removal of Conditions I-751 first.

You can't skip right to US Citizenship application N-400.

[MASH 172]

You have to apply for the 10 year green card you can't just skip that and go and apply for citizenship

[Shauneg 762]

To expand on them, if you've applied for 10 year and haven't been approved and still waiting, you can still apply for citizenship while waiting on the 10 year card process. but yes you must at least apply.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Please read > https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/conditional-permanent-residence

~ Moved from AOS from Family Based Visas to Removing Conditions - topic is filing ROC, not AOS ~

[SDY 4]

Gathering bits and pieces from here and immigration web site, I think she needs to apply for removal of conditions...then her 10 year green card... The as long as she has been in USA 3 years she can apply for citizenship... I think she must give up Philippines citizenship for this, then reapply for Philippines to be a dual citizen.

What kind of costs are involved?

[akihon 129]

Gathering bits and pieces from here and immigration web site, I think she needs to apply for removal of conditions...then her 10 year green card... The as long as she has been in USA 3 years she can apply for citizenship... I think she must give up Philippines citizenship for this, then reapply for Philippines to be a dual citizen.

What kind of costs are involved?

By removing conditions on her 2 year GC, she will receive the 10 year GC. the I-751 Removal of Conditions application is the same thing as the 10 year GC.

The US will not make her give up her Philippines citizenship, nor does she have to renounce it and reapply. Just send in your I-751 and once that has been approved or you meet the 3 years residency FROM THE RESIDENT SINCE DATE ON THE 2 YEAR CARD, then you can apply N-400. Your wedding anniversary is irrelevant.

ROC costs $590. There is a lot of information around here, please use it and don't expect to be spoonfed all the time. http://www.visajourney.com/content/751guide

Edited February 26, 2016 by akihon

[Lainie B 465]

Gathering bits and pieces from here and immigration web site, I think she needs to apply for removal of conditions...then her 10 year green card... The as long as she has been in USA 3 years she can apply for citizenship... I think she must give up Philippines citizenship for this, then reapply for Philippines to be a dual citizen.

What kind of costs are involved?

You are misunderstanding. She is not eligible for US citizenship after three years of being in the US, she is eligible after 3 years of being a legal permanent resident. She needs to take a look at her green card and see what is the "resident since" date. That is the date she needs to use to calculate her eligibility.

And yes, she needs to apply for ROC first by submitting form I-751. The ROC application is the application for her 10-year green card. It is not two separate applications.

[calvm 10]

Gathering bits and pieces from here and immigration web site, I think she needs to apply for removal of conditions...then her 10 year green card... The as long as she has been in USA 3 years she can apply for citizenship... I think she must give up Philippines citizenship for this, then reapply for Philippines to be a dual citizen.

What kind of costs are involved?

She can apply for citizenship after her ROC is filed AND she has been MARRIED to a US citizen for 3 years - Not been in US for 3 years.

[Lainie B 465]

She can apply for citizenship after her ROC is filed AND she has been MARRIED to a US citizen for 3 years - Not been in US for 3 years.

Not just being married to a US citizen for three years. She must be a legal permanent resident for 3 years.

[Dr Engineer 0]

You are misunderstanding. She is not eligible for US citizenship after three years of being in the US, she is eligible after 3 years of being a legal permanent resident. She needs to take a look at her green card and see what is the "resident since" date. That is the date she needs to use to calculate her eligibility.

And yes, she needs to apply for ROC first by submitting form I-751. The ROC application is the application for her 10-year green card. It is not two separate applications.

Agree

[NickD 203]

You are suppose to know all this stuff, and sure do not depend upon the USCIS to inform you, they don't send you letters, like your conditional green card is about to expire so you have to apply for an I-751.

And you have to do this to keep your spouse legal. We submitted our I-751 90 days before my wife's conditional green card expired with a ton of evidence as required.

It was exactly one year later with the so-called marriage privilege, she, not we, could apply for US citizenship. We were married for over three years, that was no problem, she lived here for a year before we were ever called in for our adjustment of status.

When she did apply, she had no ten year card to show them, so sent in a copy of her expired conditional card and a copy of her one year extension notice.

When she finally received her US citizenship, still no ten year card, and at this time her one year extension notice was also expired. So she had to show an I-551 stamp in her current foreign passport book to be considered legal here.

We had to make an infopass appointment before her one year extension notice expired to keep her legal, that was an extra 450 mile trip for us.

She was approved for US citizenship and her oath ceremony was scheduled for about six weeks later. A week before her oath ceremony, her 10 year green card finally came it, don't know why, many like us never saw their ten year card. But only to give it back to the USCIS so she could receiver her citizenship certificate. Then it was finally over for us.

Well not exactly, wife has a daughter that just turned 18 between her delayed citizenship and oath ceremony, she was not eligible to receive citizenship under her mom, 18 is 18 years old. Very politely showed the long delays both in our AOS and wife's citizenship interview, didn't make any difference, but at least my stepdaughter received her ten year card under her mother.

So we had to wait another two years, another 1,350 miles of driving, and another N-400 fee before she received her US citizenship.

This is how the USCIS operates. And its hope to you to keep yourself legal, Surprised they didn't charge us for that I-551 stamp, and yes, we had to bring in all of our paperwork to get that.

[SDY 4]

Can a person apply for their 10 year green card before the last 90 days before it expires? Seems it takes many people extended periods of time to complete and their 2 year expires in the mean time.

[Sukie 1,460]

Can a person apply for their 10 year green card before the last 90 days before it expires? Seems it takes many people extended periods of time to complete and their 2 year expires in the mean time.

No.

Your application will be rejected if you try to submit early.

Sukie in NY

[nobbie 105]

No as above, once you submit your ROC application you will receive a letter extending your current GC for a year while your ROC is being processed.