Thee Rules of Three Years
Hi,
I have been a US citizen for couple of yrs. My wife got her GC through my sponsorship 1 yr after our marriage
When can I apply for her citizenship? Is it 3 yrs after marriage or does it have to be 3 yrs after she got her GC card? Thanks in advance for your advice
Thanks
Understanding “Early Filing” Options for the N-400, Application for Naturalization
Introduction
The vast majority of applicants for naturalization apply for naturalization under the basic statutory provision found in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 316(a). The next largest group of applicants are
spouses of citizens who file under INA § 319(a) which is itself a modification of INA § 316(a) as are the vast majority of other bases for naturalization. Virtually all other bases for naturalization cross-reference and modify INA 316(a).
Early Filing
While most applicants must fulfill certain prerequisites to filing their application for naturalization, those applications have to be processed and adjudicated. Any process takes time. USCIS has dramatically reduced that processing time over the years. Congress may need to revisit the need for any early filing provision. The old jokes about someday having naturalization certificates dispensed from vending machines at the airport will likely never come to pass, at least in my lifetime. That said, Congress and Legacy INS did recognize this basic fact of life that things take time, and made provisions permitting for early filing of the application. All early filing has statutory roots. The two provisions best known and most often utilized are either the three (3) months early filing allowed under INA § 334(a)
or the four (4) (or two (2) for the spouse of a USC) year and one (1) day remedial waiting period after a disruptive break in one’s continuity of residence for naturalization purposes explained in 8 CFR § 316(c)(1)(ii). (Please look them up and read them.)
Thee Rules of Three Years
An LPR filing under INA § 319(a) has additional considerations that sometimes confuse them. The spouse of a USC must meet the “three rules of three-years” for N-400 filing purposes. The three-months early filing applies ONLY to the continuous residence requirement (only this one can be cut down to 2 ys and 9 months). The basic continuous residence is most easily understood as simply “time with LPR status” for N-400 filing purposes. In reality, it is a bit more complex but that was explained above. The other two of the three-rules pertain to the length of the marriage and the USC spouse’s length of citizenship status (these MUST be a minimum of 3 FULL years). These are all filing
prerequisites which means that they must be fully completed on the filing date of the N-400.
In summary, the minimum conditions that must be met ON THE FILING DATE:
2 yrs and 9 mos with LPR status;
USC spouse has been a USC at least 3 FULL years; and
3 FULL years of marriage and marital union with no end in sight; and
be otherwise eligible in all respects.
Each Case is Unique
Someone may become an LPR and then marry a USC spouse whether by birth or naturalization; or can gain LPR status as a spouse of either a USC or LPR. An LPR spouse may reach the basic five-year filing date before reaching their third wedding anniversary. An alternate scenario is when two LPRs marry and one soon naturalizes but the remaining LPR may reach their basic five-year filing date before their spouse has been a naturalized USC for a full three years.
There may be other advantages to filing under INA § 319(a) rather than INA § 316(a) for a variety of reasons even for the above scenarios. Suppose a longtime LPR spouse has had extensive travel and needs the remedial waiting period provision found in 8 CFR § 316.5(c)(1)(ii) of waiting two (2) years and one (1) day after their wanderlust finally subsides? They could have been married for ten (10) or more years but long trips abroad have been the critical issue that has resulted in N-400 denial. The remedy may help solve that problem. Another consideration is good moral character (GMC). The “statutory period” under INA 316(a) is five (5) years while under INA § 319(a) it is three (3) years. The statutory period applies to a multitude of considerations, GMC is another one of them. As already stated, it’s just not that simple probably because each case is unique.
Good Luck!
