Citizenship Eligibility

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dominic

Registered Users (C)
Hi everyone, I have been doing some research on the net and still not sure about the requirements for the citizenship
I have been married for over 3 years my wife has been a citizen for over 3 years, however i have been a permanent resident for only 8 months.
Do i wait for 2 more years to apply?
Thank you
 
If your wife was already a US citizen when you got married, then you can apply 2 yrs 9 mths before your actual 3 yrs date.

Look on your green card...it should say something like "Resident since" and then there's a date stated.

You can apply 3 yrs minus 90 days from this stated date on your green card.

Hope this helps.
 
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I was told that i could apply after being married for 3 years, not necesserly a permanent resident though,
thanks for the help
 
If your logic were true then anybody married to a U.S. citizen for more than 3 years would be eligible to apply for citizenship right after getting the green card, and that's not the case. I am not an expert on this area as I am myself applying under the regular 5 year plan, but I think you have to meet both requirements, being married to U.S. citizen 3 years, plus having been a permanent resident for 3 years (you can apply 90 days before meeting the residency requirement). The guide to citizenship is fairly clear.

This excerpt from the guide is pretty clear to me:
"If you are applying based on 5 years as a Permanent Resident or 3 years as a Permanent Resident married to a U.S. citizen,
you may file for naturalization up to 90 days before you meet the “continuous residence” requirement. For example, if you are
applying based on 3 years of “continuous residence” as a Permanent Resident married to a U.S. citizen, you can apply any time
after you have been a Permanent resident in continuous residence for 3 years minus 90 days. You may send your application
before you have met the requirement for “continuous residence” only. Therefore, you must still have been married to and living
with your U.S. citizen spouse for 3 years before you may file your application. You must also meet all the other eligibility
requirements when you file your application with USCIS."

Happigal's answer seems completely correct to me and the information they gave you seems incorrect. So it seems to me you'll unfortunately will have to wait another two years and one month or so.

My 2 cents
 
dominic said:
I was told that i could apply after being married for 3 years, not necesserly a permanent resident though,
thanks for the help
Click to expand...

That is not the case...be very careful here. I sincerely hope that you were not given this over 1-800 line since they tend to say lot of goofy things like that. This is not a difficult and it is quite straightforward immigration issue.

You have to be married for US citizen AND be a permanent resident for at least 3 yrs to be eligible for naturalization (plus fullfill all other conditions such as physical presence, continuous residence etc.).

To make it easier for you to understand....

You can be married for 40 years for US. citizen and you would not be eligible for citizenship unless you had permanent residency status for at least three years.

The only break you get by being married over 2-3 yrs with U.S. citizen and then applying for green card is unconditional green card as opposed to conditional green card that you recieve if you are freshly married.

As someone mentioned here, look at your green card and a date under "RESIDENT SINCE". Add 2yr and 9 months to this date.....If you are still married by then and PLUS fullfill all other citizenship conditions, you can apply.

Otherwise, you are wasting your time and money. If you have $$$ to throw out the window, go and talk with any immigration lawyer for 10 min and you will hear the same. They like clients like that....easy money.....

Huracan, you pointed out things absolutelly correctly! Actually, this is very logical since citizenship links to residency foremost!

P.S.: I'm not a lawyer or an immigration expert. I'm just and ordinary guy and you are soley responsible for your actions.
 
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And with your time line. You can apply for citizenship 2 years and 1 month from today (since you stated you've been a PR for 8 months)...
 
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