citizenship

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marie_travel

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I was just reading throught the N-400 form. I have been married to a US citizen for almost 5 years now. I never filed for citizenship although I was eligible under the 3 year rule. We are having marital problems but he has not filed for divorce. I won't because I don't want to get a divorce and want to work things out. Out of curiosity, could I still file now under the 3 year rule or not? On the N-400 form all it asks for is whether you are still married to and living with the same US citizen which I am. We are living together just having problems. The form doesn't ask whether you are having marital problems or happily married or anything like that. Is this something that could come up at the interview, do they ask whether you are happily married etc? I am just curious to know. Thank you all.
 
marie_travel said:
I was just reading throught the N-400 form. I have been married to a US citizen for almost 5 years now. I never filed for citizenship although I was eligible under the 3 year rule. We are having marital problems but he has not filed for divorce. I won't because I don't want to get a divorce and want to work things out. Out of curiosity, could I still file now under the 3 year rule or not? On the N-400 form all it asks for is whether you are still married to and living with the same US citizen which I am. We are living together just having problems. The form doesn't ask whether you are having marital problems or happily married or anything like that. Is this something that could come up at the interview, do they ask whether you are happily married etc? I am just curious to know. Thank you all.
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It is a risk since your marriage needs to be healthy when the case is being processed. Now, they may ask questions about marriage, or they may not. Given that your marriage is almost 5 years anyway, it reduces the chances of questioning but does not eliminate them. And, if they ask questions, you will need to answer truthfully.

How far away are you from applying under 5 year rule?
 
Applying under 5 years rule require less paperwork and questioning as far as I know. If you are close to the five years you might as well wait a bit longer. If money is not an issue and you are in a hurry to apply you could go ahead and apply. You take the risk that things go south in your marriage and you lose the money of the application. The way you describe it things it seems you could go ahead and apply under the 3 year rule given you are aware of the chance of wasting your money.
 
marie_travel said:
I was just reading throught the N-400 form. I have been married to a US citizen for almost 5 years now. I never filed for citizenship although I was eligible under the 3 year rule. We are having marital problems but he has not filed for divorce. I won't because I don't want to get a divorce and want to work things out. Out of curiosity, could I still file now under the 3 year rule or not? On the N-400 form all it asks for is whether you are still married to and living with the same US citizen which I am. We are living together just having problems. The form doesn't ask whether you are having marital problems or happily married or anything like that. Is this something that could come up at the interview, do they ask whether you are happily married etc? I am just curious to know. Thank you all.
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How long have you been a LPR? If you don't yet qualify under 5 year rule, but do qualify under 3 year rule you can apply even if you have marital problems..everyone goes through martial problems. The question is how bad your martial issues will be throughout the process and whether either of you decide to file for divorce.
 
I am over 6 months away for applying under the 5 year rule. I do have plenty of paperwork to prove our marriage, and I do understand that if questions come up at the interview, I could be denied and would just have to reapply after 6 months. Not sure if it's worth risking it or not. I don't want a divorce, he does, but I don't think he will file anytime soon, and N 400 seems to be aproved within 3 months or so.
 
marie_travel said:
I am over 6 months away for applying under the 5 year rule. I do have plenty of paperwork to prove our marriage, and I do understand that if questions come up at the interview, I could be denied and would just have to reapply after 6 months. Not sure if it's worth risking it or not. I don't want a divorce, he does, but I don't think he will file anytime soon, and N 400 seems to be aproved within 3 months or so.
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What do you gain from applying for citizenship now? / What do you lose if you wait 6 months?
if citizenship can wait 6 months, then concentrate on working on your marriage. Pending/recent divorces are a non-issue after the 5 year mark.
 
For personal reasons, I have decided to apply now under the 3 year rule. If my husband decides to file for divorce before I take the oath, how do I withdraw my application and if that happens, will I have hard time applying for citizenship again when I do become eligible under the 5 year rule (6 months from now). I understand I lose the money, but are there any other consequences?
As proof, I have joint tax returns, joint bank statements, joint credit card statements, lease, joint health insurance, life insurance policies, car insurance. Is this sufficient?
 
marie_travel said:
For personal reasons, I have decided to apply now under the 3 year rule. If my husband decides to file for divorce before I take the oath, how do I withdraw my application and if that happens, will I have hard time applying for citizenship again when I do become eligible under the 5 year rule (6 months from now). I understand I lose the money, but are there any other consequences?
As proof, I have joint tax returns, joint bank statements, joint credit card statements, lease, joint health insurance, life insurance policies, car insurance. Is this sufficient?
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If you already know there is a risk of divorce, and you are only 6 months away from avoiding all this scrutiny, why would you take the risk? [ But you know that already. ]
Anyway, if they ask for documents, these sound like good documents.
Withdrawing App is also a minor bureaucratic activity.
In the end it depends on the IO - what he/she sees in your file, what the checks show, what his/her biases are. If your marriage is still intact, the chances are high that they just rubber stamp it. Even if it is not, they might. But once in a while, the luck is not on your side and they can have an RFE, denial and investigation of GC itself.

Finally, it's your call. Best of luck.
 
What do you mean what the checks show? What checks? Marriage was bona fide, but we are having problems. They can investigate, sure, but after 5 years of marriage, how could they say marriage wasn't bona fide? I could have filed 3 years ago for citizenship, I just never did. Any other advice? Are there any other consequences should I have to withdraw my application and reapply in 6 months?
 
Are you still living together? You need to be still living together to qualify for the 3 year rule, except for acceptable temporary separations such as military deployment.
 
marie_travel said:
What do you mean what the checks show? What checks? Marriage was bona fide, but we are having problems. They can investigate, sure, but after 5 years of marriage, how could they say marriage wasn't bona fide? I could have filed 3 years ago for citizenship, I just never did. Any other advice? Are there any other consequences should I have to withdraw my application and reapply in 6 months?
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Under 3 year rule, you have to remain in marital union up until oath.
If your husband initiates divorce proceedings during the process, you must disclose it to USCIS. You can still apply under 5 year rule without any consequences from notifying USCIS of divorce, unless you previous committed immigration fraud (ex. marriage was a scam).
 
If it is urgent that you need to become a citizen ASAP then go ahead and apply, just remembering that you run the risk of your marriage completely breaking down prior to the completion of naturalization. Where do you live? Depending on where you live, start to finish of the process can take between 3 to 7 months.
 
marie_travel said:
Yes we are living together.
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You have already wasted a month. Go ahead and apply for citizenship and in the meantime try to workout the marriage and you can ensure no divorce is filed till you get citizenship. Don't waste a minute. Best of luck. All is well.
 
madh4 said:
You have already wasted a month. Go ahead and apply for citizenship and in the meantime try to workout the marriage and you can ensure no divorce is filed till you get citizenship. Don't waste a minute. Best of luck. All is well.
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I agree. If you have decided to file ... do it sooner than later.
 
Thank you all. What is the best way to mail the application? Certified mail? Do they have to sign for it? Overnight delivery?
 
Anything which has tracking enabled is good so that you will know when it reached them, and track the receipt + check cashing etc from there.
 
On the N400 application, there is a question if you have ever been arrested, cited, etc. I do have a citation from a car accident which was my fault and I got a ticket for 120 dollars that I had to pay. How do I answer this question since it was less that 500$?
 
Answer "yes" and carry proof of payment to the interview in case the adjudicator wants to see it.

marie_travel said:
On the N400 application, there is a question if you have ever been arrested, cited, etc. I do have a citation from a car accident which was my fault and I got a ticket for 120 dollars that I had to pay. How do I answer this question since it was less that 500$?
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Hi everyone,

I have a related question. I have been a permanent resident for 3 years. My spouse and I don't live together because of our job situations. But we see each other almost every weekend (we live 2 hours apart in the same state). we are not separated or anything like that, but we just don't live together during week days and we have a kid as well. so, my question is can I apply for citizenship? thanks a lot for your answers.
 
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