Eligibility of citizenship for green card based on employment

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kraja17

New Member
I started my green card processing on june 2001 with labor certification. After all the processing I got my green card in hand on february 2005. To apply for citizenship as per law, I need to have my permanent residency for atleast 5 years. I stayed in the US for the past 7 years continuously. Can I apply for a citizen ship now?
My exact question is whether my green card processing time also included in the 5 years eligibility for citizenship condition?
 
It is 5 years from the date you became a PR (not when you got your green card "in hand"). It is a pity some times applications take longer time due to retrogression and other reasons. I arrived in the US after you on H1B in August 2001 and got my green card in 9 months. I will be applying in the next few months. Due to name check I might still get caught up, one never knows the vagaries of life and USCIS:)
 
No, you can't apply for citizenship now. Look at your Green card and it should have the date you became a permanent resident. It should say resident since.........You should count from that date to see how many years you have left (using the 5 year or 3 year rule, minus 90 days) until you can apply. Unless you are married to a U.S. citizen the 5 year rule would apply to you.
 
Note: USCIS occasionally seems to mess up printing the "resident since" date on your GC, so you probably want to cross-check this and make sure it's the same as your I-485 approval date.
 
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