I was wondering which way I should file the N-400??

I have lived in the US for 28 years with a I551 resident alien card, I have also served in the military (both Army and Marine Corps 1980's), and I have been married for 18 years to the same person.

Should I file under marriage or military service??

Thanks in advance

Marriage to a USC let's you apply in three years after you became a permanent resident, otherwise you have to wait five years, think you waited longer than that. Would you have any problems bearing arms for this country? If not, go for the military route. Ha, why did you wait so long?

If you file based on the marriage, you'll have the burden of proving your spouse's citizenship, plus the fact that you've been living together in valid marital union for the past three years. So it'll mean at least more paperwork you'll have to send in, plus potentially more questions at the interview. Furthermore, in the unlikely event your marriage ends due to death or divorce at any time before you take the oath of citizenship, you'll be ineligible to file based on the marriage. In your case, I'm not sure if that would mean starting over or just having them readjudicate the petition without taking the marriage into account.

Those probably aren't really big issues, and seem very unlikely to cause problems, but since you're eligible without the marriage, why complicate things in the least by bringing the marriage into the picture? Just file based on five years as an LPR.

The military service thing would similarly require you to send in more documentation to support your claim. If you have the documentation handy and feel like sending it in, it doesn't seem like there's much chance it could hurt anything, so follow your gut on that one.

But if I were in your situation, given the choice, I'd probably take the simplest, most straightforward route that required the least documentation. In other words, I'd check box "A" on the N-400 part two, to apply based on five years as an LPR.

But you are eligible to check box "A", "B", or "C", so the choice is yours.

Isn't it free if you wait until you are 75?? or no need biometrics?
Why rush it?

Hello,
When filling my N 400, I listed some professional organizations and community centers in answering the question "list organizations, associations, parties etc."

I feel that I added unnecessary info that could potentially lead to more questions or documentation during the interview.
Does anyone have any comments or experience with this? I am new to this forum; your help is appreciated!

I think you did exactly the right thing. The question asks for ALL organizations, not just the ones you think they'd be interested in. I'm fairly sure they don't care about the Rotary club, Garden club, Homeowners association board, PTA, etc., but that's for them to decide, not me.

Assuming the organization isn't something they're concerned about, they'll dismiss it right away with no further questions. Lucy listed two community organizations, and they didn't ask anything about it.

If it IS something they want to investigate further, and if you omitted it on your application, you run the risk of being denied for failure to disclose the information. You also run the risk of being administratively denaturalized at some point in the future if they find out about your omission.

Oh, and BTW, this probably should have gone in a new topic, since it's not really related to the original query on this thread.

Thank you!

Thanks for all the repiles. I will take lucyrich's advice and file under 5 year residency and save the paperwork.