GC Thru Employment Citizenship Thru spouse

A

ajayNJ

New Member
Hi

The scenario : I got my GC through employment on 10/2002 and I got married to a US born citizen on 11/2003. I applied for us citizenship on 10/2006 ,I have an interview date for early 2007,after speaking to some people I was advised that i wont get my citizenship and will be told to reapply 08/2007 (basically a 5 year wait instead of a 3 year ).
I only applied for it after speaking to an INS officer in Washinton DC, I was told that as soon as i got married to the US citizen ,I qualify for the 3 Year waiting period instead of the 5year period .
Where do i stand ?
Thanks
 
How you obtained your GC (employment vs marriage) is not relevant to how you qualify for naturalization. Since you already had your GC, you qualified to apply for natz 3yrs after you married your USC spouse. i.e. 11/2006 minus 90 days.
 
Thanks for the Prompt reply
That is exactly what i thought ,I even called INS and that is what i was told ,But my lawyer and 2 other lawyers say its the other way around. My lawyer said that we should go to the interview and see what they say but just be ready if they tell you that you don't qualify yet.
Is there a place where it is mentioned in the law books or something so i can take it with me.
thanks
again
 
You were qualified to apply after Nov. 2006

In your case, obtaining your GC through employment is indeed irrelevant to whether you are quallified for naturalization. You can apply three years after your marriage. But the problem with your case is you couldn't use the 3 year minus 90 days rule. This rule only applies to the calculation of how long you have obained your GC, but not how long you have been marriaged to your USC spouse. That is, you have to have been marriaged to your USC spouse for at least three years before you may be qualified for marriage-based naturalization.

You applied about a month earlier than you should have. I think if you choose to withdraw your application right now, you may apply again anytime afterwards.

By the way, how do you know your interview is in early 2007 if you applied in Oct.? Did some officer say that? The reason I ask this is because people applied in early May seemed to just receive interview notice for late Jan.


P.S.

I thought you applied through DC district office, but seems you applied from NJ, and it's faster in NJ.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Now i am real confused .
when i spoke to the ins officer i was told that i can fill the form and send it in within 90 days prior to my third wedding anniversary.
just keep in mind that i already have more than 30months continuous residence even though i am required to have only 18 months since i am applying through spouse.
the difference between application date and 3rd wedding anniversary is 17 days not even 90days.

By the way about the date ,i was told by my lawyer that it should be sometime around April or May 07
 
I think a little while ago, more than one person posted similar cases, one lady got her GC too fast (within 3 months of her marriage), so when she later applied naturalization using GC 3 yr-90 day rule, she was a few days short of her 3-yr wedding anniversary, her application had to be withdrawn at the interview and she had to re-apply again.

At least one other guy also posted similar situation, finding himself waste many months to be told he had applied a few days too early at the interview.

If you carefully go through the naturalization guide, you will come to the same conclusion (no 90-day cushion for the marriage requirement).

Again, it doesn't matter how long you have obtained you GC, marriage requirement has to be met first before you check on other requirements (GC length, out-of-country trips etc.) if you apply through marriage.

I know you may feel unfair in your situation. It's your call whether to wait for the result until the interview, or decide to waste the previous $400, withdraw and apply again.

Even if the interviewing officer misses the requirement ( which I really doubt he would) and you get the citizenship at the interview, there might be a slim chance that you would still not feel comfortable in the coming years.

Again, just my thoughts. I hope you will have a good solution to this issue.

Also, search the old threads and see if you may find someone's post with the similar situation.
 
ajayNJ said:
Now i am real confused .
when i spoke to the ins officer i was told that i can fill the form and send it in within 90 days prior to my third wedding anniversary.
just keep in mind that i already have more than 30months continuous residence even though i am required to have only 18 months since i am applying through spouse.
the difference between application date and 3rd wedding anniversary is 17 days not even 90days.

By the way about the date ,i was told by my lawyer that it should be sometime around April or May 07
Click to expand...

I agree with Aug2006.
As I understand the rules, the continuous residence requirement is separate from the requirement of being married for at least 3 years. That is, the 90 days rule applies ONLY to the continuous residence requirement. You still must be married for at least 3 years at the time of filing N-400 if you are applying for naturalization on the basis of marriage to a U.S. citizen.


Here is a direct quote from the USCIS "Guide to Naturalization", page 22 at the bottom:

"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."

So it does appear that you have applied 17 days too early. I also think that your lawers are totally wrong about the April-May 2007 thing.
 
I have been looking all over for this thread thanks a lot ,i will show it my lawyer and maybe if he thinks its good ,withdraw my application and resend it asap . do they refund the application fee or not.
the other thing is that would i need to redo the fingerprints again or not
The other thing is that look at this thread below ,the person called TRIPLE CITIZEN got his citizenship a few days short of his 3 years of having his green card ,i have sent him an email for details .

http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=235910
 
I don't think they will refund your application fee, and you probably will need to take the FP again.

The difference between your application and Tripple Citizen's is that he was eligible when he applied (90 days before 3-yr GC) but your were not (didn't meet the 3-year marriage rule). Usually the whole process takes longer than 90 days, however some districts have processed sooner than that. Thus It is the officer's decision to give the oath date earlier than 3-year GC or not, but the applicant him/herself did nothing wrong. In your case, you were not eligible at the time of submitting the application.

I know it must be some disappinting news to you, but on a brighter thought, at least you find out this right now, instead of several months later. But of course again, it's still your call what to do with your application.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Quote from the Naturalization Guide:

"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."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top