US Citizenship question

D

DreamUSA

Registered Users (C)
Folks, we received our GC is 12/15/04. Our national passports expire on 10/10/2009.

Will I need to renew our national passports before we apply for USC ? By the way, when can we apply for citizenship ?

Thank you for your help.
 
...probably, as your earliest eligibility date starts 12/15/09 minus 90 days.

Rather early to start worrying about that isn't it?
 
DreamUSA said:
Folks, we received our GC is 12/15/04. Our national passports expire on 10/10/2009.

Will I need to renew our national passports before we apply for USC ? By the way, when can we apply for citizenship ?

Thank you for your help.
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I would rather spend some money and buy "Peace of Mind". You could initiate passport renewal process as early as 6 months before expiry date.
 
You want to have a valid passport on the day of your naturalization interview (and you'd like to have all of your passports that you've had since the day you got your GC).

Since the N-400 process is completely non-determinisitic (it can take 3 months to 3 years), you probably want to make sure that your passport renewal is complete before the earliest likely interview date.

Many countries allow dual citizenship - you may just want to keep the passport anyway. Check out the Dual Citizenship FAQ (http://www.richw.org/dualcit/)
 
Flydog said:
You want to have a valid passport on the day of your naturalization interview (and you'd like to have all of your passports that you've had since the day you got your GC).
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It is certainly better to have your passport re-newed if expired before your interview. So, if you can, please do it.

However, I do not think it is required for an applicant to have re-newed passport during an interview session. My understanding is that USCIS stands on a logic that if you have an expired passport, you still have a sufficent proof that you are citizen of a particular country and that you are who you are claiming to be (that is all what they want to know from your passport(s)....in addition to your travel record). USCIS does not care if you can or can not travel using your expired passport, i.e. that is your problem.

Along these lines, M-476, page 36 states:

"You should bring the following identification to your interview: (a) your Permanent Resident or Alien Registration Card, (b) your passport (even if it has expired), and (c) any Re-entry Permits you have."
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I did not find anywhere that you must have re-newed passport during your interview. If someone else has other info (either from direct practicel experience or from some documents), please share with us.

P.S.: I'm not an expert or lawyer. I'm just an ordinary guy. You are soley responsible for your actions.
 
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Superstring, good input. Thank you. That is exactly what I thought. Any one with experience of expired passport, please also advise.

How early, can i apply ? I saw note on 90 days...Is that offical rule ?
 
Glad it was helpful a little bit, DreamUSA.

FYI: I found thread with similar question. It seems that most of ppl agreed that expired passport is not an issue during the interview session.

An old thread
 
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