5 year LPR vs. 3 year LPR for the N400

[OldUser 6,635]

Here is PDF for convention:

 

https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/6_1_1961.pdf

 

People with legal background may be able to interpret it better than I can do 😃

[Bob in Boston 701]

I think we are reading into this a little too much. With every 100 applications being submitted 85 are for 5 year and 16 are for 3 year. Simple thinking here. Naturaly more 5 year letters go out. As far as the evidence for a married couple most of what was required I already had from AOS  and ROC and just uploaded it along with a few updates. IO didnt want to see anything and after a 7 month wait she spent 15 minutes with the IO and she was done. Her reasons for wanting her citizenship was to be able to Vote and be able to travel like an american and that is what she told him when asked.  Other persons have their own reasons which is explained in the average time some people remain LPR for the median 7.3 years.

[Dashinka 24,489]

6 hours ago, Bob in Boston said:

I think we are reading into this a little too much. With every 100 applications being submitted 85 are for 5 year and 16 are for 3 year. Simple thinking here. Naturaly more 5 year letters go out. As far as the evidence for a married couple most of what was required I already had from AOS  and ROC and just uploaded it along with a few updates. IO didnt want to see anything and after a 7 month wait she spent 15 minutes with the IO and she was done. Her reasons for wanting her citizenship was to be able to Vote and be able to travel like an american and that is what she told him when asked.  Other persons have their own reasons which is explained in the average time some people remain LPR for the median 7.3 years.

This was exactly my wife’s reasons, as a US Passport has some advantages over a Russian passport in some circles.  

[Vegas i-751 66]

16 hours ago, TastyCake said:

Has anyone noticed that 5 year LPRs tend to get more love from the USCIS with the N400 than their 3 year LPR counterparts?

 

On the USCIS account website it indicates there is a 7 month turnaround time for the N400 but with a disclaimer that this estimate is only for the 5 year LPRs... estimates for 3 year LPRs can vary.

 

This is an anecdotal observation but it seems to me that I see far more 5 year LPRs announcing that they received an interview letter.  Nowhere near as many 3 year LPRs.

I had my oath ceremony yesterday and naturalised under the 3 year rule. Came on K1 and so seemed natural progression to N400. My interview took 6 months from initial app which was way faster than I expected and that was for Las Vegas.
 

The CO officer for N400 was so nice and kind, and was training a new CO at the same time during my interview which was pretty cool. I felt a lot of love from the interview, (plus they let my husband sit in too during my interview despite me already having been approved for my ROC early 2022). 
 

I don’t regret it and I am on cloud 9 as my journey is finally complete ❤️🇺🇸🎉

Edited January 7, 2023 by Vegas i-751

[Mike E 11,739]

My impression runs counter to the consensus. 
 

* N-400s are accelerating I-751s (though in our case we were approved for I-751 before filing N-400

 

* New N-400 cases are being prioritized over everything else (including old N-400 cases) in most field offices.  There has never been better time in the last 8 years to file N-400 than today. 
 

So effectively 3 year cases are getting more love.  
 

My wife has been a LPR for less than 3 years and her N-400 interview is scheduled for January 31, which is  3 years plus 4 days after she became an LPR (January 27, 2020).  Exactly 90 days after we filed.  

 

i was pretty certain she would get a fast interview as reports (mostly on Reddit) were saying for years that  Tucson was fast. We moved to southern Arizona partially for this reason. Meanwhile, San Jose, near where we lived before is 3 times fast than when I filed in 2017.  
 

We held off filing relative to the 3 year anniversary date of her “residence since” date because that date is false. USCIS back dated her gc to the interview (January 16, 2020) and not the approval date (January 27, 2020).  
 

If anything, those filing on the basis of 3 years need to be careful they are not interviewed too soon.    Some field offices will deny the case even if it is their fault.  We would have canceled the interview if it was scheduled January 26, 2023 or earlier. 

[JeanneAdil 6,492]

16 hours ago, .yana said:

Makes sense: 5 years are applying on their own merits rather than their relationships = less stuff to consider and look into = faster approval.

My thoughts too 

u don't have to have all the documents to prove the long term relationship (marriage to a USC)

 

less paperwork/  less office work time 

Edited January 7, 2023 by JeanneAdil

[iwannaplay54 985]

18 hours ago, TastyCake said:

Has anyone noticed that 5 year LPRs tend to get more love from the USCIS with the N400 than their 3 year LPR counterparts?

 

On the USCIS account website it indicates there is a 7 month turnaround time for the N400 but with a disclaimer that this estimate is only for the 5 year LPRs... estimates for 3 year LPRs can vary.

 

This is an anecdotal observation but it seems to me that I see far more 5 year LPRs announcing that they received an interview letter.  Nowhere near as many 3 year LPRs.

We filed in March and swore in the following January.  We were aligned with others who filed that month.

[JeanneAdil 6,492]

17 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

Yep.  I just found this:

Naturalization Statistics | USCIS

Some pretty good data shown on this page, too.

"The median years spent as an LPR for all citizens naturalized in FY 2021 was 7.3 years."

 

 

 

Just took a look at this site 

 

My only thoughts are OMG   how many different stat sites does USCIS need to post their work

and why spend so much quality time doing the stats instead of working on petitions 

 

[.yana 597]

3 hours ago, Mike E said:

My impression runs counter to the consensus. 
 

* N-400s are accelerating I-751s (though in our case we were approved for I-751 before filing N-400

 

* New N-400 cases are being prioritized over everything else (including old N-400 cases) in most field offices.  There has never been better time in the last 8 years to file N-400 than today. 
 

So effectively 3 year cases are getting more love.  

Meanwhile my N400 was approved and interviewed before my I751 was even looked at which delayed my N400 approval (by several months) and also proved my point that there are more holdbacks for 3 year N40s than 5 year N400s therefore it's more conditional and requires more scrutiny vs simply passing the test / meeting the criteria. 

Edited January 7, 2023 by .yana

[EmilyW 1,434]

Jeanne Adil makes a great point: there are less factors to be considered in a 5 year case so it might go faster.  Mine was a 7 month journey: filed in February and naturalized in September.  And the interview itself was a literal page turn and the dude yawned halfway through it.

[Mike E 11,739]

2 minutes ago, .yana said:

Meanwhile my N400 was approved and interviewed before my I751 was even looked at which delayed my N400 approval (by several months)

Yes that happens at some field offices. I knew about Seattle.  Now know about St Albans  

[.yana 597]

Just now, Mike E said:

Yes that happens at some field offices. I knew about Seattle.  Now know about St Albans  

When it happened to me - I searched the forum and came across quite a few similar cases. Don't recall every FO but definitely wasn't just Seattle. Seems more common than not.

[iwannaplay54 985]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

Just took a look at this site 

 

My only thoughts are OMG   how many different stat sites does USCIS need to post their work

and why spend so much quality time doing the stats instead of working on petitions 

 

No kidding

[mniceguy16 186]

21 hours ago, TastyCake said:

Has anyone noticed that 5 year LPRs tend to get more love from the USCIS with the N400 than their 3 year LPR counterparts?

 

On the USCIS account website it indicates there is a 7 month turnaround time for the N400 but with a disclaimer that this estimate is only for the 5 year LPRs... estimates for 3 year LPRs can vary.

 

This is an anecdotal observation but it seems to me that I see far more 5 year LPRs announcing that they received an interview letter.  Nowhere near as many 3 year LPRs.

I must say you sound very right because I applied in march,bio in April, first appointment in sept of 2022 which was rescheduled 3 hrs bfr interview because My file was not with them. New interview on nov 23,2022. My friend filed in August 2022,reused bio,interview October 13,approved on spot,she had 2 months till interview and approval and they gave her the option on swearing in the same day (which is very rare here). She took the oath on the same day with Me in December 2022 due to the fact that she changed her name. It took Me 9 months till oath meanwhile it took her about 3 months only from start to finish,we have someone with a little more complexed situation who filed before us all and is still stuck with no dates for roc nor n400 interview for almost 2 years now. So yes! You maybe right with what you said about 5yr rule vs 3yr rule.

Edited January 7, 2023 by mniceguy16

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

On 1/7/2023 at 1:40 AM, Dashinka said:

This was exactly my wife’s reasons, as a US Passport has some advantages over a Russian passport in some circles.  

Yes, those circles being "anywhere except Russia". 🤕 Between K-1 restrictions, a new kid, Covid, buying a new home, and Putin's adventure in Ukraine, we haven't traveled internationally since our last trip together before Anastasia came to the US in 2019 ... but most places we'd like to go to, it's a lot easier to go as an American than as a Russian.

 

Also even looking for an entry-level software QA job, Anastasia ran into some positions that required a security clearance and therefore US citizenship (not many, and she got one that didn't, but some), though that might be less common in areas with less of a military presence than the San Diego area.

 

Anyway, presuming Anastasia's interview is next month (online status is "interview was scheduled" as of Friday, but we don't have the notice with the interview date), it'll be about seven months from filing and at 3 years + 4 months from initial green card (ROC was approved last April, so before we filed the N-400). Since USCIS's processing times thingee says 19 months for an N-400 in San Diego, I don't think three-year-rule N-400s are being deprioritized here (OTOH, my wife knows someone in Orange County who's been waiting for almost a year and also still doesn't have her ten-year green card).