Already a GC holder prior to Marriage to US Citizen. Will the 3 years be reduced??

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4years9months

Registered Users (C)
I am a GC holder since 2/2009 thru employer

I plan to marry a US Citizen on 2/2010

Can I apply for US Citizenship on 12/2011 (2/2009 + 2 years 9 months) ??

Basically I want to know if the 1 year (as a GC holder thru employer prior to marriage to US citizen) count towards the 3 year (-90 days) Marriage requirement??

Thanks
 
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i think if my understanding based on reading through the forum, you have to wait 3 years afer you are married to a US Citizen. i.e. techinically 2 yrs or 9 months.

Or if you are already a GC holder , get married to a US Citizen and decide to go through the 5 yr period. then your time would be 4 yrs and 9 months.

Hope this helps !!
 
4years9months said:
I am a GC holder since 2/2009 thru employer

I plan to marry a US Citizen on 2/2010

Can I apply for US Citizenship on 12/2011 (2/2009 + 2 years 9 months) ??

Basically I want to know if the 1 year (as a GC holder thru employer prior to marriage to US citizen) count towards the 3 year (-90 days) Marriage requirement??

Thanks
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No, you cannot combine the 3-year rule and the 5-year rule; you must use one or the other. Moreover, you are under a (fairly common) misconception of how the -90 days rule works. If you apply based on a 3-year marriage to a U.S. citizen, then the -90 days rule applies ONLY to the continuous residency requirement. All other requirements must be satisfied at the time of submitting N-400 and one of these other requirements is that you must be married to a U.S.C. for at least three years. So the -90 days provision for marriage-based N-400 applications could only benefit those who get married to a U.S. citizen before obtaining a green card status. In your case if you get married to a U.S. citizen on 2/2010, the earliest you could apply for N-400 is 2/2013, after the actual third anniversary of the marriage.
 
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Yep, you are looking to 2/2013. Full 3 years of marriage. By that time you would still shave a few months compared to applying under the 5 year rule which would put you at the end of 2013. You might save around 9 months if you apply based on marriage. Your call, as the 5 year path has fewer documentation requirements. If you are not in a hurry it might be better to wait those months and apply under the 5 year rule.

My 2 cents.
 
Thanks everyone, I will just go by the 5 year rule.

Not worth the few months savings if there is more paperwork involved, plus I will avoid potential reproaches from political family and future wife alluding to marriage for interest...:p
 
4years9months said:
Thanks everyone, I will just go by the 5 year rule.

Not worth the few months savings if there is more paperwork involved, plus I will avoid potential reproaches from political family and future wife alluding to marriage for interest...:p
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You have a lot of time to decide. Also, as you said, 9 months is not much. However, assuming your marriage is healthy, I do not see any harm in applying for marriage based naturalization. When reviewing the case, I am sure the officer will be aware that you did not get GC through your wife, as well as the dates you mentioned above - this in my opinion will present your case favorably compared to those who marry and then get a GC. The filing requirements are similar, they might ask for more documents at interview time, which if the marriage is healthy - should not be too hard to provide. As I said, you have a lot of time to decide, and I think the solution will present itself to you in 3 years time.
 
9 months is a decent amount of time to save. I really do not think documentation for the 3 year route is much more demanding than the 5 year route.

Huracan said:
If you are not in a hurry it might be better to wait those months and apply under the 5 year rule.
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sanjoseaug20 said:
The filing requirements are similar, they might ask for more documents at interview time, which if the marriage is healthy - should not be too hard to provide.
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But maybe some people don't want to provide those documents, even if they are able to. I don't want USCIS to have my bank statements, life insurance policy, and other such private information. It also invites an anal IO to question the health of your marriage and peer into your private lives (remember it is not sufficient to have a bona fide marriage, you also have to show the marriage is still viable). If it is just a matter of waiting 9 more months to avoid that, I'll wait the 9 months if I am not in a specific rush to get citizenship, such as applying for a Federal job or sponsoring a parent.
 
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Triple Citizen said:
9 months is a decent amount of time to save. I really do not think documentation for the 3 year route is much more demanding than the 5 year route.
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Those who ran into delays and hassles because they didn't have that one particular document the IO wanted to see would disagree. You have to bring 50 pounds of documents if you want to be sure that won't happen.
 
Agreed. However nothing is stopping the adjudicator from asking for a marriage related document from an applicant going down the 5 year route. That is the only point I am trying to make.

Jackolantern said:
Applying with the 5 year rule eliminates a wide range of documents that could become a stumbling block.
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Jackolantern said:
But maybe some people don't want to provide those documents, even if they are able to. I don't want USCIS to have my bank statements, life insurance policy, and other such private information. It also invites an anal IO to question the health of your marriage and peer into your private lives (remember it is not sufficient to have a bona fide marriage, you also have to show the marriage is still viable). If it is just a matter of waiting 9 more months to avoid that, I'll wait the 9 months if I am not in a specific rush to get citizenship, such as applying for a Federal job or sponsoring a parent.
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Jack, the gist of my advise was that
#1. it is too early to say how things will be 3.25 years from now,
#2. the OP's case compares very favorably as compared to other people who got married and then got GC.
#3. I do not see a harm in saving 9 months if the documents were available

Regarding documents, each person has his/her own situation. However, USCIS is free to check my bank statements, life insurance, marriage and I do not consider that a burden in any way (except the effort of collecting it). I wish the USCIS provided a web page which under my authority went to IRS, all DMVs, marriage registrars, FBI and provided me a copy of all my documents to submit, sorted in correct order. I have absolutely no privacy concerns on this aspect. Also, I suspect they already have this information, it is just not sorted right.

Last, even though we read on this board a bunch of horror stories (talking of anal IOs), I think the reality is more positive than negative. People come here to find solution to their issues. Many people do not have issues and you rarely hear about them. Obviously the person who gets caught in a mishap does not get any comfort from my words, but I think the OP should be able to apply under the 3 year rule (if he/she wanted it) with a definite but minor risk of delay.
 
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