can i go for citizenship now

[debz 0]

I have been in the US since september 2011 and married to a US citizen since 2010. I want to apply for citizenship now but sadly my husband has recently passed away. My question is...would I have to send evidence of his previous marriages with my application or would I just need to send his death certificate. The reason I ask is because I no longer have the documents we used for my original I130 and don't recall the detalis in order to obtain them. Any help would be appreciated. Would it be easier just to wait until the 5 years have passed before I apply?

Thanks

[Hypnos 6,576]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Since you aren't currently married to a US citizen then you would need to apply under the five year rule, not the three year rule. You will become eligible to file +5 years -90 days from the "Resident Since" date on your green card.

[debz 0]

thanks for your help - that date comes up in June so it's not much longer to wait

[JimmyHou 611]

I have been in the US since september 2011 and married to a US citizen since 2010. I want to apply for citizenship now but sadly my husband has recently passed away. My question is...would I have to send evidence of his previous marriages with my application or would I just need to send his death certificate. The reason I ask is because I no longer have the documents we used for my original I130 and don't recall the detalis in order to obtain them. Any help would be appreciated. Would it be easier just to wait until the 5 years have passed before I apply?

Thanks

I'm sorry for your loss.

Unfortunately, as far as I understand the situation, you are not eligible to apply under the 3 year rule. You need to wait and file your application 90 days before the 5th anniversary of the Resident Since date on your green card or later.

Even under the 5 year rule, you may be asked to provide proof of termination of your husband's previous marriages. This is because they sometimes re-validate the criteria under which you got your green card during naturalization. However, quite often, this never comes up.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pasting the relevant section of the USCIS Policy Manual below.

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartG-Chapter2.html

2. Loss of Marital Union​ ​due to​ Death​, ​Divorce​, or Expatriation​

​

Death of U.S. Citizen Spouse​

​

An applicant is ineligible to naturalize as the spouse of a U.S. citizen if the U.S. citizen dies ​any time prior to ​the applicant ​taking the Oath of ​A​llegiance​.​ [22] ​However, if the applicant is the surviving spouse of a U.S. citizen who died during a period of honorable service in an active-​duty status in the U.S. armed forces, the applicant may be eligible for naturalization based on his or her marriage under a special provision.​[23] ​

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

You won't be naturalizing as a spouse. September will be five years as a greencard holder. You do this on your own qualifications of being a permanent resident for five years. You should not have to provide anything about your marital union except in Part 9 "What is your current marital status?" Widowed. and "How many times have you been married?". The rest of those questions about the spouse are only for "If you are currently married". You aren't. Those are N/A. At the end of the section you will have to give dates of your prior marriages, but no documents to support them because your application is not based on being married to a USC.