Should wife get Green Card before US Citizenship?

flagman

Registered Users (C)
I've got asylum 5 years ago, and permanent GC 4 years ago.

My wife admitted to the US 2 years ago, she got indefinite stamp in foreign passport, so we got Social Security Card, Employment Authorization Card and State ID for her.

We don't plan to travel outside of the US in foreseeable future, so can she just wait her term for US Citizenship without permanent Green Card or we need to apply for GC for her before that?

Also I will be applying for my Citizenship in about a year, so when she may be eligible for naturalization, 5 years from entry or 3 years from my Citizenship?
 
She will need to become a permanent resident first before she can apply for naturalization. Assuming she has asylee status, she will be credited with 1 year towards naturalization when she becomes a permanent resident. She will need to be a permanent resident for 5 years (or 4 years in her case) to be eligible for naturalization under the 5-year rule, or she needs to have been a permanent resident for 3 years (or 2 years in her case), and be married to a US citizen for 3 years to be eligible for naturalization under the 3-year rule. So basically, she will be able to apply for naturalization 3 years after you become a citizen, or 4 years after she becomes a permanent resident, whichever comes first.

If you have been a permanent resident for 4 years, you can apply for naturalization now because you were credited with 1 year when you adjusted from asylee status.
 
Wow, thanks a lot, I didn't know about 1 year credit.

She has been admitted to the US as a wife of permanent resident card holder.
She was not part of my Asylum application, tho we were married before that, I haven't included her in my case.
After approval of my Asylee status I filled paperwork for her as we were married before case was submitted. That's how she got here.
I have been solo granted Asylum, so I get this 1 year credit, not sure about her tho...

So I'm applying for Citizenship now, and if we go with 3 year rule for my wife, then does she still need to apply for permanent GC after I get my Citizenship? Or we have to apply now for her's GC and then 3 year(or 2 year?) countdown for her begins after my Citizenship is granted?

We also have 9 y.o. kid, do we need to apply for permanent GC for him as well? Or there is any way to avoid extra paperwork and go straight to naturalization process?
 
There’s no way to avoid extra paper works and go straight to naturalization for your spouse and kid. They need to become LPR first! That is the only path towards their getting naturalized eventually.
 
Thank you.

Is there any age restriction on GC? Should we apply for him now at 9 yo or when he turns 17, any difference?

My Asylum was approved in court 13 June 2013, but my GC shows permanent resident since 7 August 2013
So I will become eligible for Citizenship on 13 June 2018 or 7 Aug 2018 ?

And how far prior to eligibility date would you suggest to fill N-400?
 
Thank you.

Is there any age restriction on GC? Should we apply for him now at 9 yo or when he turns 17, any difference?

?

If a minor child is living with you in the US as an LPR when you naturalize, the child will automatically naturalize too.
Your question seems odd to me, is the child still living abroad that you are asking when you should apply for him to become an LPR?

You can’t file N400 more than 90 days before eligibility date. This is in the instructions. It means, too bad if you are at one of those FOs (like I am) that take about a year to process it... you might only end up being a citizen months after you’re actually eligible.
 
Your question seems odd to me, is the child still living abroad that you are asking when you should apply for him to become an LPR?
No, he lives with us here.
I meant if there is any age restriction for GC, like 14/16/18 yo, whether 9 y.o. needs one or not..

So what was your eligibility date? Date that listed on GC or actual approval date?
 
No, he lives with us here.
I meant if there is any age restriction for GC, like 14/16/18 yo, whether 9 y.o. needs one or not..

On what status is your son living here then?? Even if he is newborn he should have a green card to be legal. As mom said before, to repeat again, no one can naturalize without being an LPR first.
 
On what status is your son living here then?? Even if he is newborn he should have a green card to be legal. As mom said before, to repeat again, no one can naturalize without being an LPR first.
Not sure of what this status name, but as a minor he had an entry in mother's foreign passport , and Customs stamp "Admitted for an indefinite period as a returning dependent of an asylee under section 208(b)"
We got SSN card with that stamp in her passport and he goes to school.

So as far as I understand, now I apply for 2 separate LRP cards for wife and for son, then I submit N-400 for myself 90 day prior to due date ~ June.

Assuming by that time my wife and son both have their LPRss, once I get Citizenship, my son gets naturalized automatically and 3 year countdown begins for naturalization for my wife, am I correct?
 
Not sure of what this status name, but as a minor he had an entry in mother's foreign passport , and Customs stamp "Admitted for an indefinite period as a returning dependent of an asylee under section 208(b)"
We got SSN card with that stamp in her passport and he goes to school.

So as far as I understand, now I apply for 2 separate LRP cards for wife and for son, then I submit N-400 for myself 90 day prior to due date ~ June.

Assuming by that time my wife and son both have their LPRss, once I get Citizenship, my son gets naturalized automatically and 3 year countdown begins for naturalization for my wife, am I correct?

Yes.

Make sure you know the correct eligibility date. Your application will be rejected if it’s sent in too early.
 
By the way,I don’t know anything about the asylum statuses, but are you sure your wife and child weren’t supposed to become LPRs when you did? They are dependents of asylee but you are no longer an asylee if you have a green card? I don’t know - just asking what seems logical.
 
Wow, thanks a lot, I didn't know about 1 year credit.

She has been admitted to the US as a wife of permanent resident card holder.
She was not part of my Asylum application, tho we were married before that, I haven't included her in my case.
After approval of my Asylee status I filled paperwork for her as we were married before case was submitted. That's how she got here.
I have been solo granted Asylum, so I get this 1 year credit, not sure about her tho...

So I'm applying for Citizenship now, and if we go with 3 year rule for my wife, then does she still need to apply for permanent GC after I get my Citizenship? Or we have to apply now for her's GC and then 3 year(or 2 year?) countdown for her begins after my Citizenship is granted?

We also have 9 y.o. kid, do we need to apply for permanent GC for him as well? Or there is any way to avoid extra paperwork and go straight to naturalization process?
I'm still confused as to what status she has.

As long as you guys were married before your asylum was approved (you don't have to be married when asylum was filed), she could have gotten derivative asylee status. I believe you would have had to file I-730 for this. It sounds like that's what happened. If so, she still has asylee status, and when she does Adjustment of Status, she will get credit for 1 year.

The alternative is that after you became a permanent resident, you filed an I-130 petition for her to immigrate as the spouse of a permanent resident, in the F2A category, which has a wait for visa numbers of around 2 years. If she had immigrated this way, she would be a permanent resident, and she would have a green card.
 
Thank you.

Is there any age restriction on GC? Should we apply for him now at 9 yo or when he turns 17, any difference?

My Asylum was approved in court 13 June 2013, but my GC shows permanent resident since 7 August 2013
So I will become eligible for Citizenship on 13 June 2018 or 7 Aug 2018 ?

And how far prior to eligibility date would you suggest to fill N-400?
7 Aug 2018. I am guessing you got your Adjustment of Status approved (and became a permanent resident) on 7 Aug 2014, and they gave you 1 year of credit so it says 7 Aug 2013.
 
Not sure of what this status name, but as a minor he had an entry in mother's foreign passport , and Customs stamp "Admitted for an indefinite period as a returning dependent of an asylee under section 208(b)"
We got SSN card with that stamp in her passport and he goes to school.

So as far as I understand, now I apply for 2 separate LRP cards for wife and for son, then I submit N-400 for myself 90 day prior to due date ~ June.

Assuming by that time my wife and son both have their LPRss, once I get Citizenship, my son gets naturalized automatically and 3 year countdown begins for naturalization for my wife, am I correct?

Yes. It sounds like both your wife and son still have derivative asylee status, if they never applied for Adjustment of Status to become permanent residents. In that case, they would have to apply for Adjustment of Status.

Yes, your son will automatically become a citizen when you become a citizen, or he gets permanent residency, whichever happens later.
 
I'm still confused as to what status she has.

As long as you guys were married before your asylum was approved (you don't have to be married when asylum was filed), she could have gotten derivative asylee status. I believe you would have had to file I-730 for this. It sounds like that's what happened. If so, she still has asylee status, and when she does Adjustment of Status, she will get credit for 1 year.

The alternative is that after you became a permanent resident, you filed an I-130 petition for her to immigrate as the spouse of a permanent resident, in the F2A category, which has a wait for visa numbers of around 2 years. If she had immigrated this way, she would be a permanent resident, and she would have a green card.

Yes you're right I've filled I-130 for spouse of permanent resident. I didn't have to wait that long because there was an exemption for those who got LPR thru Asylum, so everything happened pretty quickly, less than a year from time I sent I-130 to the time she crossed the border.
So when she arrived to the US airport, it created confusion among immigration officers there, it took them good half a hour to figure out what's going on, but finally they stamped her passport as "Admitted for an indefinite period as a returning dependent of an asylee under section 208(b)" and let her in.

I haven't applied to LPR for her yet, just made State ID, SSN, EAC.
 
Yes you're right I've filled I-130 for spouse of permanent resident. I didn't have to wait that long because there was an exemption for those who got LPR thru Asylum, so everything happened pretty quickly, less than a year from time I sent I-130 to the time she crossed the border.
So when she arrived to the US airport, it created confusion among immigration officers there, it took them good half a hour to figure out what's going on, but finally they stamped her passport as "Admitted for an indefinite period as a returning dependent of an asylee under section 208(b)" and let her in.

I haven't applied to LPR for her yet, just made State ID, SSN, EAC.

This doesn't really make sense. If you filed I-130 to petition her to immigrate in F2A category, she would have gotten an immigrant visa with category F21 or C21, and she would have automatically became an LPR the moment she entered the US (the actual green card would arrive a bit later). But you said she isn't an LPR and doesn't have a green card, so that doesn't seem like what happened, unless they somehow admitted her incorrectly or something.

If she came as a derivative asylee, they would have given her a "boarding foil" to come to the US, not a "visa" (although it might look like a visa; it might say "ZZ" or "YY" in the category, and it might also say "V92" somewhere for follow-to-join derivative asylee/refugee). The stamp that she got seems to agree with this.
 
This doesn't really make sense. If you filed I-130 to petition her to immigrate in F2A category, she would have gotten an immigrant visa with category F21 or C21, and she would have automatically became an LPR the moment she entered the US (the actual green card would arrive a bit later). But you said she isn't an LPR and doesn't have a green card, so that doesn't seem like what happened, unless they somehow admitted her incorrectly or something.

If she came as a derivative asylee, they would have given her a "boarding foil" to come to the US, not a "visa" (although it might look like a visa; it might say "ZZ" or "YY" in the category, and it might also say "V92" somewhere for follow-to-join derivative asylee/refugee). The stamp that she got seems to agree with this.

Yes I filled I-130 petition, but in consulate they gave her YY not a VISA thing and 'boarding foil'. Probably that caused confusion, cause there were multiple officers who could not figure out what to do with her in airport. Finally someone arrived and stamped her passport.
I understand that somehow I-130 does not correspond with what the gave in consulate, but it was I-130 and YY category in passport.
 
What I don’t understand at all is why you are delaying applying for your family to get green cards?
 
Its not an intentional delay, we just didn't care about that, since that won't allow us to travel back to our origin country before we get Citizenship anyways.
But since It is required for naturalization, I will do that next week.

May I ask it here, I submit two I-485 forms as a derivative applicants, one for wife and one for son, 2 fees, marriage certificate, photos, etc.

But what would be the Evidence of your asylum status and Evidence of one-year physical presence in the U.S.?

And do we need I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record? Medical exams were performed in origin country before going to consulate.
 
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