Citizenship (long)

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Bad Information..., posted by Pete E on Aug 25, 2005

No need to "hope" I'm right. Just listen to Georgina. She knows this stuff because she just went through it :-)

[Brazilophile]

... in response to Re: Bad Information..., posted by Pete E on Aug 25, 2005

Pete,

From my experience and the experience of a former colleague from India who is married to an American woman, the rules *WERE*

1)  a PERMANENT RESIDENT can petition for citizenship after having been a PERMANENT RESIDENT for at least 5 years AND having lived in the US for at least 2.5 years of that time.

2) a PERMANENT RESIDENT can petition for citizenship after having been a PERMANENT RESIDENT AND MARRIED TO A US CITIZEN for at least 3 years AND having lived in the US for at least 1.5 years of that time.

I am not exactly sure what you said or what Ray said, but there seemed to be confusion as to how long a person needs to be in the US before they can petition for citizenship.  The issue is permanent residency.  The clock for citizenship starts when a person is granted permanent residency.  The amount of time a person was in the US on a student visa, tourist visa, work visa, etc. is irrelevant.  What may be relevant is whether the 2-year conditional residency, that is granted to the foreign spouse, starts the clock or the unconditional residency, granted after the 2-year conditional period has expired, starts the clock.

All this is assuming the INS rules for citizenship haven't changed much in the past 10 years.

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Re: Bad Information..., posted by Brazilophile on Aug 26, 2005

No need to wonder when the clock starts. The start date is printed right on the Green Card (Resident Since: xxx).

Read Georgina's post again. She had it right about the 2-year conditional residence.

[Gator]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

nt

[Dan Las Vegas]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

Congratulations on becoming a citizen of this great country. Your post was wonderful and illuminating.

Dan

[Red Clay]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

Congratulations, Georgina, you deserve it! If only every American appreciated this country as much as you, we would be better off.

Question---Was your I-751 (removal of conditions) already approved before you filed your N-400 citizenship application? Carmen has waited 16 months since she filed her removal-of-conditions and is still waiting for approval.

Your English is great, too!

Dave and Carmen in TN.

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Citizenship (long), posted by Red Clay on Aug 24, 2005

Don't wait for the I-751 approval. Go ahead and file the N-400 as soon as she is eligible (3 months prior to 3rd anniversary of residency).

Ray

[Red Clay]

... in response to Re: Re: Citizenship (long), posted by Ray on Aug 24, 2005

Thanks Ray, yes that is what we plan to do.

[Brazilophile]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

Congratulations!  I am envious that your petition was so fast.  Mine took 10 months, making me miss the 2000 elections.  

Your fast petition made things easier for you.  Because mine took so long, I had travelled internationally since I filed the petition for citizenship.  So I had to list all the countries I had been to and the dates of travel, and submit it to my interviewer.  He then asked me MANY questions about that travel and verified everything with the stamps in my passport.

[Ray]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

Thanks for sharing your story. You’re lucky that your application for naturalization went so smoothly.

My wife also became an American citizen just last week here in San Diego. It took a total of 17 months from the time of applying until the oath ceremony because they lost her petition once. Even under “normal” circumstances it takes about 7 months to process your N-400 in San Diego and another few months to do the interview and oath ceremony.

San Diego holds an oath ceremony every month and there were 1,362 applicants taking the oath with my wife plus about 5,000 guests. The largest number was from Mexico with the Philippines a close second. There were long lines to wait in but once they got started the ceremony was very nice and well organized. It took another hour and a half to pick up your certificate after the ceremony. If you wanted, you could get your U.S. passport application submitted on the spot including the photos.

My wife took a free citizenship course offered through the evening adult school at the local high school. She really enjoyed the class, which covered U.S. History and Government along with all kinds of valuable presentations. She can recite the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem perfectly which is better than I can do (LOL). I would highly recommend the citizenship class for anyone if it is offered in your area.

For the interview, it is standard procedure to ask only History or Government questions from the list of 100 questions posted at the CIS Website. They also have interactive practice tests on line.

Ray

[buster40]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

Great Post!  Congrats,, I got a little teary-eyed reading it.  Don't forget one of the most important ways to participate in your new government is through jury duty.  Here in Dallas County only about 14% who are called bother to show up.  It's a real shame because in my opinion it is one of the few ways left in our government that a solitary citizen can have a real say in an important decision.

Good Luck!!!!

[Jamie]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

.

[doombug]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

"I went online and printed out the 160 pages of American History and American Civics to study them."

WOW!  That's a lot of toner and paper!

Congratulations on becoming a citizen.  Your post was very interesting.

[Looking4Wife]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

.

[thundernco]

... in response to Citizenship (long), posted by Georgina on Aug 24, 2005

Congratulations, and welcome to citizenship. -TNC