When the 5 years count starts, please response!

H

HaveBeenWaiting

Registered Users (C)
I have heard some contradictory information about when the 5 years counts start for citizenship. One of my friends said it starts from the day we applied 485 application (employment based) and other friend said it would start the day of 485 approvals!
I though no one will know it better than the folks of this forum.
Please help me to clarify this.
Thank you very much!
 
HaveBeenWaiting said:
I have heard some contradictory information about when the 5 years counts start for citizenship. One of my friends said it starts from the day we applied 485 application (employment based) and other friend said it would start the day of 485 approvals!
I though no one will know it better than the folks of this forum.
Please help me to clarify this.
Thank you very much!
Click to expand...

You can also look at the resident since date on your U S Permanent Resident card. You need to wait 5 years from that date to qualify for Citizenship. Ofcourse you may file your N-400 application 90 days before you reach 5 years.

You can also look at Guide to Naturalization on the USCIS websire for more information. http://USCIS.GOV

_______________________________________
I am NOT an attorney
 
Start date if you did CP

Hi Joef and Others,

So what should the "start date" be considered for CP case.
The day you got approved (via interview) or the date you entered
US, ??

in my wife's case the difference is abt 4 months , please let me know.

Thanks
Anand
 
Thank you very much to all of you who helped me to clarify this!
I also conservatively thought probably that would be the case!
It took me 2 years to get my 485 approve, It would be soo nice if they would have counted the 485 time! Anyway, what we gotta do.
Thanks!
 
Actually in Canada they count (or used to count) the time spent in the country before becoming a permanent resident as 1/2 time for purposes of naturalization. So if it took you 2 years to get permanent resident, in Canada you could count 1 year towards your naturalization requirements. Nice! I think they should do something similar here. There is a certain unfairness that some people took years to get the GC and none of this counts for naturalization, as if prior to permanent residency one would be incapacitated to learn American citizenship concepts and experiences, and the time spent in this country was worthless for that purpose.

Furthermore, I think everyone should be able to naturalize in 3 years as the married to a U.S. citizen can do. I understand that the spirit of the law is that if someone is married to a U.S. citizen that person will be able to absorb American citizenship concepts quicker than one who is not thus married to a U.S. citizen. However, considering the lengthy processes immigrants in other categories have to endure, by the time those 3 years of permanent residency had elapsed that immigrant probably has been in the country a total of 6 years or more. By the laws of probability :) I would say that most people at 3 years of residency they already count 5 years in the country. It is also unfair to think that not being married to a U.S. citizen makes you slower in picking up the American citizenship experience.

My 2 cents.
 
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