Applying for Citizenship

[Arroyo77 2]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm currently waiting to hear back on my removal of conditions (I-751) so that I can get the 10 year green card. My question is, how long after I receive the card do I have to wait until I can apply for citizenship?

 

I know for spouses of US Citizens, the wait time to be able to apply is 3 years but is that three years in total or three years when you get your 10 year green card?

 

Thanks!

[SorrowL 138]

It’s 3 years from date of entry shown on your conditional I-551.

 

You can even apply for citizenship before your conditions are removed if you qualify under the 3 year rule. When this happens, sometimes both I-751 and N400 are adjudicated at the same time and a singular interview happens for both. 

Edited February 6, 2020 by SorrowL

[Dashinka 24,860]

2 hours ago, Arroyo77 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I'm currently waiting to hear back on my removal of conditions (I-751) so that I can get the 10 year green card. My question is, how long after I receive the card do I have to wait until I can apply for citizenship?

 

I know for spouses of US Citizens, the wait time to be able to apply is 3 years but is that three years in total or three years when you get your 10 year green card?

 

Thanks!

The three year rule is from when you received your GC.  Just look at the residence since date on your GC, add three years and the subtract 90 days to determine when you can submit the N400 assuming you meet the residency requirements.  You can file the N400 while the I751 is pending, many folks do.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

[Arroyo77 2]

This is great! I did a bit of research and I only have three questions:

 

1. It says you need to provide evidence of any arrests or citations. I have had traffic citations for speeding or a fix it ticket but never been arrested or anything. Do I have to show proof of that?

 

2. I have traveled outside of the US while I've been a resident but only for the weekend or sometimes even just a few hours to TJ. How do I show proof of that since my passport was never stamped?

 

3. Should I use an attorney for this process? I have done ALL the paperwork myself so far, even my waiver without an attorney but citizenship is a huge deal and I want to get it right. Do you recommend I do so or do you think it should be pretty simple? My wife and I have a rock solid marriage of 4 years, we have been together for 10 years, 2 kids (just had a new baby 2 weeks ago), have a house, cars and bank accounts together. I'm a director at the company I work for and make a very comfortable living plus my English is fluent written, spoken and reading and I am pretty well informed on my civics. I don't want to be too confident that it will be approved.

 

Thanks! 

[Dashinka 24,860]

27 minutes ago, Arroyo77 said:

This is great! I did a bit of research and I only have three questions:

 

1. It says you need to provide evidence of any arrests or citations. I have had traffic citations for speeding or a fix it ticket but never been arrested or anything. Do I have to show proof of that?

 

2. I have traveled outside of the US while I've been a resident but only for the weekend or sometimes even just a few hours to TJ. How do I show proof of that since my passport was never stamped?

 

3. Should I use an attorney for this process? I have done ALL the paperwork myself so far, even my waiver without an attorney but citizenship is a huge deal and I want to get it right. Do you recommend I do so or do you think it should be pretty simple? My wife and I have a rock solid marriage of 4 years, we have been together for 10 years, 2 kids (just had a new baby 2 weeks ago), have a house, cars and bank accounts together. I'm a director at the company I work for and make a very comfortable living plus my English is fluent written, spoken and reading and I am pretty well informed on my civics. I don't want to be too confident that it will be approved.

 

Thanks! 

First of all, the N400 form is pretty easy, if you have made it this far yourself, you should not have any issues.  As to traffic tickets, you need to answer the question that asks about citations “yes”, but keep the evidence for the interview.  If all you have is traffic tickets, it should be no big deal.  For travel outside the US, you just have to fill out the travel history in the N400, I don’t think you need evidence, but you may be able to look up your I94 online and verify it that way.

 

When my wife went through naturalization, she did everything herself (with my assistance), she also had a traffic ticket that the IO didn’t seem to care about, and she made several trips outside the US which she listed, but she did not take any evidence of those trips to the interview and no one asked about them.

 

Good Luck!

Edited February 6, 2020 by Bill & Katya

[Zaidba 39]

12 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

First of all, the N400 form is pretty easy, if you have made it this far yourself, you should not have any issues.  As to traffic tickets, you need to answer the question that asks about citations “yes”, but keep the evidence for the interview.  If all you have is traffic tickets, it should be no big deal.  For travel outside the US, you just have to fill out the travel history in the N400, I don’t think you need evidence, but you may be able to look up your I94 online and verify it that way.

 

When my wife went through naturalization, she did everything herself (with my assistance), she also had a traffic ticket that the IO didn’t seem to care about, and she made several trips outside the US which she listed, but she did not take any evidence of those trips to the interview and no one asked about them.

 

Good Luck!

I will just add 2 points to that. First, take the receipt of the traffic fine payment with you because I have read many cases where receipts where requested. Second, you don't need an attorney if you don't have big problem with the law, but when you prepare your N400 form check the instructions which are in a different document separate from the form. If you follow instructions closely, you will be fine.

Find application and instructions in this link

https://www.uscis.gov/n-400

[Fr8dog 312]

Few points for you.

 

Filing the N400 with a pending I751 may speed things up or it may delay things. Here is why;

When you file the N400, your file (with the I751 in it) needs to be sent immediately to the NBC for processing.

If your file is currently chilling in box 100 through 500 somewhere in the back of an unlit room in an overworked service center, filing the N400 will speed things up.

If your file is laying at the top of the pile of the interview scheduler, it will delay your I751.

If your file is stuck somewhere in purgatory (like mine was) the N400 will shake it loose.

If citizenship is more important to you than a speedy ROC, I would go ahead and file (if your 3 year window has opened that is).

 

The speeding tickets are most likely no big deal.

During your N400 interview, the IO will go over the whole thing again and you can explain away at your hart's content. I never realized that obtaining a concealed carry permit would be considered weapons training. I had "no" on the filed form and she changed it to "yes". The way she worded the question lead me to think she already knew I had one. She asked if I had received training I said "no", than she asked if I had ever fired a gun and that got the ball rolling. Not in an intimidating way at all, the whole interview was very relaxed.

I left the country one time and did not have any documents included for the N400, your whole departure and arrival history is in their system. Again you may get asked and you explain there and than.

I included the absolute bare minimum in uploaded pages during the filing. Only those things that were required I uploaded anything that was an option I left out (I did have everything with me though)

[Arroyo77 2]

This is great! I started my application today and will probably submit it next week. Citizenship is certainly more important to me since I just want to be over with the immigration system (as much as I can anyway).

 

Thank you all for your answers!!

[Dashinka 24,860]

One word of caution if you are filing the N400 online.  Do not submit it immediately when your filing window opens up.  There seems to be some global IT clocks that may show it submitted too early.  My suggestion is to wait a day or two after the window opens up before submitting it online.

 

Good Luck!