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are we should live together for 3 years for N400.

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Filed: Country: Saudi Arabia
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hello all great VJ,

after two years of living together in usa, my wife want to go live outside usa for 1 year or less, by that time i should apply for citizenship, i will remain in usa alone for 1 year.

is she must stay with me all 3 years in usa to can apply for citizenship?

what the earliest time i can apply for citizenship?

our situation we have been married outside usa and came with cr1 visa and now about to remove conditions, we have baby born in usa too.

Thanks all great VJ members.

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You need to be in married union until the day you are naturalized based on 3 years rule. If you are not with her, you are not qualified for 3 years based naturalization. Remove of condition is your priority now, not citizenship.

N400

12/06/2014: Package filed

12/31/2014: Fingerprinted

02/06/2015: In-Line for Interview

04/15/2015: Passed Interview

05/05/2015: Oath letter was sent

05/22/2015: Oath Ceremony

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Filed: Country: Saudi Arabia
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thank you for your reply..

so you mean if she lived for 6 months or a year outside usa i have to be with her to be marriage union?

this is gonna be another problem if i stay much time outside and can make it worse right?

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Egypt
Timeline

hello all great VJ,

after two years of living together in usa, my wife want to go live outside usa for 1 year or less, by that time i should apply for citizenship, i will remain in usa alone for 1 year.

is she must stay with me all 3 years in usa to can apply for citizenship?

what the earliest time i can apply for citizenship?

our situation we have been married outside usa and came with cr1 visa and now about to remove conditions, we have baby born in usa too.

Thanks all great VJ members.

As mentioned above, you need to remove conditions first. Once that's done, you can move on to citizenship.

You can become a citizen by applying under the 3 year rule or the 5 year rule. The 3 year rule is a special case for people married to US citizens.

You need to have a real and legitimate marriage to apply under the 3 year rule, but I don't think you need to be living together. However, not living together will make it harder for you to prove that your marriage isn't headed for divorce. If the interviewer thinks you are separated, your application will be denied. If you can prove that you have joint expenses, visit each other frequently, and plan on reuniting as soon as the year apart is up, then you should be OK, but you should also expect a tough interview. If you can't prove these things, then you should be prepared for a denial, in which case you can reapply when you are living with your spouse or under the 5 year rule.

You can apply 3 years - 90 days from the "Resident Since" date on your green card if:

You have been married for 3 years on the day that you apply and your spouse has been a USC for 3 years on the day that you apply and you have filed to remove conditions (doesn't have to be approved yet).

or

You can apply 5 years - 90 days from the "Resident Since" date on your green card.

For a review of each step of my N-400 naturalization process, from application to oath ceremony, please click here.

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Egypt
Timeline

You need to be in married union until the day you are naturalized based on 3 years rule. If you are not with her, you are not qualified for 3 years based naturalization. Remove of condition is your priority now, not citizenship.

thank you for your reply..

so you mean if she lived for 6 months or a year outside usa i have to be with her to be marriage union?

this is gonna be another problem if i stay much time outside and can make it worse right?

I don't think that being in a marital union and living in the same house are necessarily the same thing, but it may be tough to prove... you will have to demonstrate that your spouse is actually living with you but is temporarily abroad. This is similar to going abroad for a 6 month trip without breaking continuous residency. If you can show that you are married then you should be ok. If you live apart and never visit each other, that would be a problem. People in long distance relationships get approved, but they have to work harder to demonstrate that they aren't separated.

Time outside the US for the applicant is a different issue... you have to meet the physical presence requirement for naturalization which states that you need to spend 18 months in the US under the 3 year rule and 30 months under the 5 year rule. Long or frequent trips may cause the clock to start from scratch or loss of your green card. Short trips won't be a problem.

If you can afford to lose $680 then go ahead and apply. If not, then consider waiting until you qualify under the 5 year rule.

Edited by JimmyHou

For a review of each step of my N-400 naturalization process, from application to oath ceremony, please click here.

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Egypt
Timeline

I don't think that being in a marital union and living in the same house are necessarily the same thing, but it may be tough to prove... you will have to demonstrate that your spouse is actually living with you but is temporarily abroad. This is similar to going abroad for a 6 month trip without breaking continuous residency. If you can show that you are married then you should be ok. If you live apart and never visit each other, that would be a problem. People in long distance relationships get approved, but they have to work harder to demonstrate that they aren't separated.

Time outside the US for the applicant is a different issue... you have to meet the physical presence requirement for naturalization which states that you need to spend 18 months in the US under the 3 year rule and 30 months under the 5 year rule. Long or frequent trips may cause the clock to start from scratch or loss of your green card. Short trips won't be a problem.

If you can afford to lose $680 then go ahead and apply. If not, then consider waiting until you qualify under the 5 year rule.

I need to modify my last statement... I think I made it sound easier than it might actually be. What you'd have to do is prove that your spouse lives with you but is only away temporarily. This may be difficult to do if your spouse is gone for a full year.

Here's what USCIS says:

http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartG-Chapter2.html

D. Marital Union ​and Living in Marital Union​

1. Married and Living in Marital Union​

In general, a​ll naturalization applicants filing on the basis of marriage to a U.S. citizen must ​be the spouse of a U​.S. c​itizen from the time of filing the ​A​pplication for ​N​aturalization until the applicant takes the ​O​ath of ​A​llegiance.​In addition, some spousal naturalization provisions require that the applicant “​live in marital union” with ​his or her ​citizen spouse ​prior to ​filing​ the ​A​pplication for ​N​aturalization​.​ [19] USCIS considers an applicant to ​“​live in marital union​”​ with his or her citizen spouse if the applicant and the citizen ​actually ​reside together​.​

A​n ​applicant under the special provisions for spouses ​is​ ineligible ​for naturalization ​if​:​

The ​applicant is not residing with his or her ​United States citizen ​spouse​ at the time of filing or during the time in which the applicant ​is required to be living ​in marital union with the citizen spouse; or​

If at any time prior to taking the Oath of Allegiance, the ​spousal relationship is terminated or altered to such an extent that neither the applicant nor ​the United States ​citizen spouse can be considered to be residing together as husband and wife.​

There are ​limited​ circumstances where an applicant may be able to establish that he or she is living in marital union with his or her citizen spouse even though the applicant does not actually reside with the citizen spouse​.​ [20]

In all cases where it is applicable, the burden is on the applicant to establish that he or she has lived in marital union with his or her ​U.S.​ citizen spouse for the required period of time.​ [21]

For a review of each step of my N-400 naturalization process, from application to oath ceremony, please click here.

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