Can I apply for Citizenship sooner than 5 years after GC for being 3 years on on AOS?

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pleasehelp1

Registered Users (C)
Can I apply for Citizenship sooner than 5 years after GC based on being 3 years on on AOS, which is unreasonably long time given the fact that my immigrant petition has been approved way back in 2001 ?

I got my GC through Labor Certification process and was one of these unlucky ones that waited 3 years for adjustment of status in post 9/11 times after approved immigrant petition in Nov of 2001. Then I applied for adjustment of status and the priority date on the application was April 2002. I got my GC in Jan 2005, so according to the law i can only apply for my Citizenship in Jan 2010.

Doeas anybody know if we can use the approval of immigrant petition (in this case that would be Nov of 2006 so I can apply already), or perhaps the date of filing of AOS (which would be april 0f 2007 so I can apply these days) or perhaps 6 months into to AOS process which was promissed completion time (which was used to allow you to change employers as if you had GC, and would allow me to apply at the end of 2007). So, does anybody know if that is a possibility or if someone has done it..?

Lastly, if none of that is possible, when is the exact date when i can apply for Citizenship. Is it 15 Jan of 2010 which is after 5 years with GC or 6 months before that date as i heard from some folks, which would be 15 July of 2009. My green card specifies that i have been resident since 15 Jan of 2005.

Your help is highly appreciated.
 
Short answer: No

You have to wait for 5 years from the time you became a permanent resident (ie 5 years from the date your AOS was approved).

You can submit your N-400 application 90 days before the completion of the 5 year residency requirement (so 10/2009 in your case).
 
I think some countries count some of the time you have spent before becoming an immigrant towards the citizenship requirements , the U.S. is not one of them :(

I don't know where this 6 monthd myth got started, but as 1caliN400 said it is up to 90 days before the 5 years.

Someone should write to the politicians or the ombudsman or both and petition for counting at least some of the time legally in the country towards citizenship requirements. Otherwise it seems unfair that some people can naturalize with as little as a midget over 5 years in the country, when others have to wait 15 or more years, counting all the process, and none of that time is counted or appreciated except for the 5 years being a permanent resident.

My 2 cents
 
At least in the US you can wait it out and be guaranteed citizenship, unlike the UK or EU where they are really stingy. I mean even millionaires who try to bride politicians got denied the British passports a few years back.
 
Sorry to rain on your parade, but there is NO GUARANTEE of citizenship. There are many ways to irreparably mess up your immigration status and become ineligible for N-400. Something as silly as accidentally applying for voter registration can cause serious trouble once USCIS find out about it.
 
Boat, I don't know about you but a majority of the N400 applicants will have straighforward cases and get approved, even with gaping holes in residency and traffic tickets. That is not so easy in the UK at least.
 
Traffic tickets doesn't do anything against your citizenship qualifications, unless you were arrested or it was a major offence $500 or more. Yes there are many people who do get denied, or get caught up in undetermined processes because issues. A lot of the the marriage based ones can easily be denied due to lack of proof of intention. Others deal with such things as moral character (arrests etc).

When I was in my oath ceremony the one lady told me she went to her friends ceremony a month before and they actually came out and pulled several people out of the ceremony. So yes, you can be denied farily easily here.

As stated, for this thread though, yes you can apply for citizenship 90 days prior to your PR, which has been mentioned as 10/2009. Your PR date is not the date you submitted your AOS, it's the date you have been approved (during the interview). Your Green Card will say that date, so add 4 years and 9months to it and that's around when you can apply...
 
aabbcc11 said:
...but a majority of the N400 applicants will have straighforward cases and get approved, even with gaping holes in residency and traffic tickets. That is not so easy in the UK at least.
Click to expand...

Traffic tickets I understand - no problem except involving reckless/drugs/alcohol.

Residency - you'd better not have any gaping holes, 'cos the IO's just love to dig into that kind of stuff. Thats not to say you can't get easy approval even if you've been traveling a lot (I did), but everything has to be explainable.

Strangely I don't know a whole lot about UK immigration, despite the fact that I was born in England, and lived there until I was 29. Most likely the same could be said of the average American - most have no clue what it takes to become a legal immigrant.
 
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