Can I get married in my country while waiting for my U.S. Citizenship interview?

[Yumburger 20]

Hello! Im really new with U.S. Citizenship thing.

 

I became a U.S. Permanent Resident last September 2013 and I'm gonna apply for N-400 maybe this October 2018?(not sure when is the best time to apply) 

 

I heard it takes about 6 months before you get an interview appointment. Is it ok to get married in the Philippines around december while you're waiting for your interview? Because I want to petition my wife as soon as possible. Thank you very much!

[marriedtomrg 141]

On 7/14/2018 at 10:23 PM, Ben Magbanua said:

Hello! Im really new with U.S. Citizenship thing.

 

I became a U.S. Permanent Resident last September 2013 and I'm gonna apply for N-400 maybe this October 2018?(not sure when is the best time to apply) 

 

I heard it takes about 6 months before you get an interview appointment. Is it ok to get married in the Philippines around december while you're waiting for your interview? Because I want to petition my wife as soon as possible. Thank you very much!

 

Since you are approaching the 5 year rule in September, and you are not in any kind of hurry, waiting to apply till then would be far better.  From the experiences of a number of VJ folks, applying based on the 5 year rule does not attract a lot of scrutiny.

 

That being said, a number of things can affect your processing timeline for N400.

 

It would greatly depend on what state you live in and how busy your Application Service Center (ASC) is. It would also depend on how complex your personal background is - some people get their biometrics appointment scheduled fairly quickly, and then are stuck at the name and background check for months, if not years.

 

Assuming you file in September, I would highly recommend you do it online. The system takes much of the guesswork in terms of what supporting documents you need to submit. The other benefit to doing it online is you do not need to submit it right away when you complete the form. You just need to keep it "alive" by signing into it periodically and either review your response or upload new documents as they become available. Otherwise you lose all your work.

 

You are allowed to travel and get married. At the interview, you will be given the chance to either correct or update your travel information or any other entries that may have changed since you submitted it.

 

The only hiccup I see for you is if your interview letter arrives while you are abroad, you need to be able to reschedule your interview if you know you will not be back in time to attend it. A friend or relative need to assist you with this.

 

Interviews are scheduled some time after the biometrics appointment - this is when USCIS conducts the name and background checks - if you worked or studied abroad in the last 5 years, I can see where that would require extra vetting. So again, depending on how busy your ASC is and how complex your personal background is, you could be expecting an interview date as short as 1 month after your biometrics appointment to several months to years. 

 

Just remember too that at the interview, you will also need to add information about your marriage, and provide documentation. I know sometimes it can take NSO a while to produce the right documents and if you need to have that mailed and/or scanned and emailed to you, that can also delay your application processing. They will be required at your interview.

 

I know this is a lot to consider. You will need to make some decisions and figure out the timing.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited July 16, 2018 by marriedtomrg
Fixed typo

[Yumburger 20]

Thank you very much! It helped a lot! Will my application be denied if I receive my interview letter abroad? 

[Triple28 65]

You may file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, 90 calendar days before you complete your permanent residence requirement, which is June 2018.

 

Then 2-3 months later, you will have a biometric interview.

 

Then you will have to wait around 12-15 months for a civic test. 

 

You can check the processing time for N-400 by select your state here to estimate when you will have an interview:

https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

 

 

Edited July 20, 2018 by Triple28

[Haideraaz 19]

sometimes the interview takes 2 months to occur ! sometimes a year ,, so don't count on this time frame !

 

If I were you I would apply next december say  4 weeks before the wedding and wait for the biometrics which usually takes 3 weeks after filing.  then travel get married and come back with in a month ! 

[Yumburger 20]

Thats what I'm thinking too. Hope everything works out! Thank you!

[marriedtomrg 141]

On 7/19/2018 at 9:31 PM, Ben Magbanua said:

Thank you very much! It helped a lot! Will my application be denied if I receive my interview letter abroad? 

They cannot deny you for not being home when your mail arrives - but I can imagine nothing good will come if you do not respond to them when they expect you to.

If your letter comes while you are abroad, and you know you will not make it to the interview date, you have to somehow request for it to be rescheduled.  In such a case, they typically tell you to return the letter with a request to reschedule.

 

Someone you trust has to be able to watch out for that letter while you are out, and tell you what is in it so you can act on it.

 

If the letter gives you an interview date that you know you are able to attend, then great.  Otherwise, you need to plan on rescheduling.

 

Does that make sense?