Can I apply for citizenship now?

B

bhartiya_12

Registered Users (C)
I was reading the uscis process of Naturalization on the uscis web site. I have a green card since Oct 2003. I want to know if I can apply for citizenship now or do I have to wait until about 2008 oct when i finish 5 years on my GC. I fulfill one of the criteria i.e. the 30 month criteria but not the 5 year criteria. I have been here without disruption for almost 38 months now since getting my GC. Do both criteria need to be met or is it one or the other to apply for a citizenship is my question. The 2 major criteria are give below.

An applicant is eligible to file if, immediately preceding the filing of the application, he or she:

*
has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence (see preceding section);
*
has resided continuously as a lawful permanent resident in the U.S. for at least 5 years prior to filing with no single absence from the United States of more than one year;
*
has been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months out of the previous five years (absences of more than six months but less than one year shall disrupt the applicant's continuity of residence unless the applicant can establish that he or she did not abandon his or her residence during such period)
has resided within a state or district for at least three months
 
Whether you can apply now or have to wait until 2008 depends on how you got your Green Card. If you gain your green Card through marriage with a US Citizen, then you are eligible to apply now. Otherwise, you have to wait for 2008 to become eligible.
 
I got my GC through my employer and not through marriage so i guess I have to wait right until Oct 2008 befoe applying. Correct?
 
Citizentobehz,
I am afraid you are wrong here. One can get a GC via employment or through the diversity lottery or via any other non-spouse relative and still apply for citizenship in three years time. As long as you are married to (and living with) a US citizen (who has been a citizen for more than 3 years), you can apply after three years (minus 90 days) from your GC date. It makes no difference how you got your GC. Mind you, there is no 90 days leverage in the "3 years of marriage".

Citizentobehz said:
If you gain your green Card through marriage with a US Citizen, then you are eligible to apply now. Otherwise, you have to wait for 2008 to become eligible.
Click to expand...
 
I am not married. I was married(not to a US citizen but to someone who got the GC with me as my spouse) but am divorced now. Can I apply now?
 
In that case, no. You need to take 90 days off your "XX Oct 2008" date. That will give you your earliest date. I would advise to take off 88 days only. Just to ensure no USCIS officer with poor arithmetic skills gives you a problem.
Good luck!!!
 
Hi,

(1) Look at your green card.
(2) Take the date "Resident since:" and add 5 years to it.
(3) Take 90 days away from the date which resulted from step 2.

This is the earliest date you can apply for naturalisation. Sorry if I sounded facetious or harsh.
Good luck!!!
 
Get the Guide to Naturalization and read the rules. They are very clear.

If you got your Green Card in Oct 2003, and you don't match any of the other rules (marriage, armed forces, etc), then you are eligible to become a citizen after 5 years (if you meet the continuous residence, physical presence, moral character, etc criteria). You can apply as early as 90 days before you are eligible.
 
Triple Citizen said:
In that case, no. You need to take 90 days off your "XX Oct 2008" date. That will give you your earliest date. I would advise to take off 88 days only. Just to ensure no USCIS officer with poor arithmetic skills gives you a problem.
Good luck!!!
Click to expand...
TripleCitizen,
According to your logic, what would be the date if you subtract 88 days from 3/29/2007 ??
I got my GC on 3/29/2002, so when is -88 days??

Chao
-M
 
Excel tells me that 3/29/2007 - 88 days gives 12/31/2006

I'd get everything ready and bring it to the post office the day after new years - start the year off with a bang!

Good luck
 
Flydog said:
Excel tells me that 3/29/2007 - 88 days gives 12/31/2006

I'd get everything ready and bring it to the post office the day after new years - start the year off with a bang!

Good luck
Click to expand...

Flydog,
Do you count 29th (3/29/2007) ? or is it more like 3/28/2007 shld be the 90th day?
If later, then the 88th day shld be 30th, right?

-M
 
Figure out a date, and then wait a few days to be sure - even if the USCIS publishes an exact specification, you'd want to be sure to be on the "right" side of that spec. When it comes to N-400 applications, you measure time in months and years, not in days.
 
Enjoy New Year's Day and sign/send the application on the 2nd of Jan.
Good luck!!!

MissMolina said:
TripleCitizen,
According to your logic, what would be the date if you subtract 88 days from 3/29/2007 ??
I got my GC on 3/29/2002, so when is -88 days??

Chao
-M
Click to expand...
 
Wait a minute, where did 3/29/2007 come from? His GC date was "XX Oct 2003", so the 5 year anniversary would be Oct 2008 and 90 days prior would be sometime around July 2008.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top