Marriage date is after date we can file

[a&o 4]

Happened to notice some small print in the Guide to Naturalization:

For example, if you are applying based on 3 years of continuous residence as a Permanent Resident married to a U.S. citizen, you can apply any time after you have been a Permanent Resident in continuous residence for 3 years minus 90 days. You may send your application before you have met the requirement for continuous residence only. Therefore, you must still have been married to and living with your U.S. citizen spouse for 3 years before you may file your application.

Since my husband's permanent residence began 5/3/07, we assumed we could file the N-400 on 2/3/10.

However, we got married on 2/14/07, so going by the last sentence in the paragraph above, it looks like he shouldn't file the N-400 until 2/14/10, correct?

If that is correct, then wow: I'm glad I read every sentence of that guide...

[Kathryn41 3,205]

That is correct. You are allowed to file up to 90 days before the 3rd anniversary of your green card AS LONG AS you have already been married 3 years by the time you file (plus you meet the residency requirements, etc.).

It is possible that you can also receive an interview before you reach the third anniversary of your green card (in which case they will hold on to your file until the 3rd anniversary date and then process it) but you do have to have been married for 3 years before you can apply. The 90 day window is for the 3rd anniversary of your green card.

Yep - that's why it's important to read all of the instructions. .

Edited January 24, 2010 by Kathryn41

[Dakine 26]

Happened to notice some small print in the Guide to Naturalization:

For example, if you are applying based on 3 years of continuous residence as a Permanent Resident married to a U.S. citizen, you can apply any time after you have been a Permanent Resident in continuous residence for 3 years minus 90 days. You may send your application before you have met the requirement for continuous residence only. Therefore, you must still have been married to and living with your U.S. citizen spouse for 3 years before you may file your application.

Since my husband's permanent residence began 5/3/07, we assumed we could file the N-400 on 2/3/10.

However, we got married on 2/14/07, so going by the last sentence in the paragraph above, it looks like he shouldn't file the N-400 until 2/14/10, correct?

If that is correct, then wow: I'm glad I read every sentence of that guide...

You/he can file 90 days before the 3 year date of of the original GC issue. Nothing to do with how long you were/are married.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Dakine, you can file the 90 days before you reach the third anniversary of your Green Card AS LONG AS you are already married 3 years at the time you submit your application. If your third wedding anniversary falls later than the 90 day window opens, then the earliest date you can file is when you reach your 3rd wedding anniversary. The instructions are very clear. If you file before you have been married 3 years then your application will be returned. If you file during the 90 day window prior to your third green card anniversary but you have been married 3 years at the time, your application will be accepted. It is only the permanent residency requirement that you are allowed to file early on. You have to meet all of the other requirements on the date that you file.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf read the very clear statement on page 22 from "The Guide to Naturalization" . You may apply 90 days early on the continuous residency requirement only. All other requirements - including 3 years married to the same US citizen- have to be met on the day you apply.

Edited January 24, 2010 by Kathryn41

[a&o 4]

Thanks Kathryn41! Looks like we'll be waiting until our anniversary and sending off the application then.

[Dakine 26]

Dakine, you can file the 90 days before you reach the third anniversary of your Green Card AS LONG AS you are already married 3 years at the time you submit your application. If your third wedding anniversary falls later than the 90 day window opens, then the earliest date you can file is when you reach your 3rd wedding anniversary. The instructions are very clear. If you file before you have been married 3 years then your application will be returned. If you file during the 90 day window prior to your third green card anniversary but you have been married 3 years at the time, your application will be accepted. It is only the permanent residency requirement that you are allowed to file early on. You have to meet all of the other requirements on the date that you file.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf read the very clear statement on page 22 from "The Guide to Naturalization" . You may apply 90 days early on the continuous residency requirement only. All other requirements - including 3 years married to the same US citizen- have to be met on the day you apply.

True Kathy. Normally length of marriage doesn't come into play as not that many people get their GC within 90 days after their date of marriage.

In the OPs case it does.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

True Kathryn. Normally length of marriage doesn't come into play as not that many people get their GC within 90 days after their date of marriage.

In the OPs case it does.

Yep - that's the situation exactly. Nice problem to have, actually - means things got processed quickly.

[HeatDeath 430]

It's becoming much more common. I would say a very substantial percentage of the October 2009 AOS filers have or will have received their green card within 90 days of their marriage. It may be a good idea to make sure this point is properly emphasized in the citizenship guides going forward, if it isn't already.

[NickD 203]

Due to delays in processing wife and daughter didn't get their conditional green cards until almost a year after we were married, far more the typical case, So I gather the LPR in this case wasn't due to marriage since he already was a LPR before the two got married. So did he already have his ten year card?

We were in the situation as many here that applied for the N-400 before that ten year card came in. The long delays in I-751 processing with the insecurity is why many of us applied at the earliest date. But we were already married much longer than that LPR date. Your case is just the opposite, first one that I have read like yours.

[a&o 4]

He wasn't a LPR before we got married. He came over on a fiance visa. We were lucky to get the AOS process finished so quickly. I have no idea why it went so fast: we were prepared for a long wait. Here's the timeline:

2/14/2007 Valentine's Day wedding!

AOS/EAD

2/21/2007 Sent I-765 (EAD renewal) & I-485 (AOS) to Chicago lockbox

3/17/2007 Biometrics appointment

5/3/07 Green Card production ordered

5/12/07 Green card arrives in mail

[payxibka 10,045]

True Kathy. Normally length of marriage doesn't come into play as not that many people get their GC within 90 days after their date of marriage.

In the OPs case it does.

but not everyone arrives on a spousal visa and then gets a greencard... If you adjusted your status based on an employment petition (or greencard lottery) and were an LPR first before you married a USC... Then when applying on the basis of that marriage, the latest date in the eligibility determination would not be the RESIDENT SINCE date but the three year anniversary of the marriage.

Another scenario is that you were married and both were greencard holders and then one of the spouses "naturalized". then the eligibility date is neither the 3 year anniversary of the resident since date or the marriage but the three year anniversary of the USC becoming a naturalized citizen...

Bottom line is you need to calculate all three eligibility dates based on the criteria, and then your eligibility is based on the latest date.

Edited January 25, 2010 by payxibka

[lucyrich 20]

but not everyone arrives on a spousal visa and then gets a greencard... If you adjusted your status based on an employment petition (or greencard lottery) and were an LPR first before you married a USC... Then when applying on the basis of that marriage, the latest date in the eligibility determination would not be the RESIDENT SINCE date but the three year anniversary of the marriage.

Another scenario is that you were married and both were greencard holders and then one of the spouses "naturalized". then the eligibility date is neither the 3 year anniversary of the resident since date or the marriage but the three year anniversary of the USC becoming a naturalized citizen...

Bottom line is you need to calculate all three eligibility dates based on the criteria, and then your eligibility is based on the latest date.

Another scenario is folks who enter on a CR-1 visa, where they only begin to share a household on the date of entry to the US. Note that the requirement is not only 3 years of marriage, but 3 years of "living in valid marital union with" a USC spouse. The box at the bottom of page 22 of the M-476 phrases it as "married to and living with" a USC spouse. There has been some debate here as to whether time spent married but living apart while waiting for a visa ought to count, but at least one couple in that situation has reported that their application was denied when they had submitted it 90 days before the three year anniversary of entering the US. They had three years less 90 days of LPR status, and over three years of marriage (and the USC spouse had been a USC since birth), but they didn't start sharing a household until the LPR status started, so they didn't have a full three years of being married to and living with a USC spouse on the date the application was mailed.

That was also our situation (see timeline below), but we waited until after we had a full three years of LPR status living together inside the US before filing for naturalization. We were approved, and the examiner noted that we had applied as soon as we could have.

[NickD 203]

He wasn't a LPR before we got married. He came over on a fiance visa. We were lucky to get the AOS process finished so quickly. I have no idea why it went so fast: we were prepared for a long wait. Here's the timeline:

2/14/2007 Valentine's Day wedding!

AOS/EAD

2/21/2007 Sent I-765 (EAD renewal) & I-485 (AOS) to Chicago lockbox

3/17/2007 Biometrics appointment

5/3/07 Green Card production ordered

5/12/07 Green card arrives in mail

Something wrong with the math here if you were married 2/14/2007 and your spouse received, I assume, a "condition" green card on or about 5/3/07 to 5/12/07, the really important date is the one on his green card that defines his anniversary date to which you apply three years, and subtract 90 days from that date to the earliest time he can apply for the N-400.

Point is, you were married at least two and a half months longer than when he first became a LPR. The precise date would be the anniversary date on his green card.

[payxibka 10,045]

Something wrong with the math here if you were married 2/14/2007 and your spouse received, I assume, a "condition" green card on or about 5/3/07 to 5/12/07, the really important date is the one on his green card that defines his anniversary date to which you apply three years, and subtract 90 days from that date to the earliest time he can apply for the N-400.

Point is, you were married at least two and a half months longer than when he first became a LPR. The precise date would be the anniversary date on his green card.

The confusion is the eligibility date versus the opening of the N-400 application window (eligibility date minus 90). when she calculates the application window opening date and is then comparing it to the three year anniversary of the marriage... no reason to do that

Edited January 25, 2010 by payxibka

[NickD 203]

The confusion is the eligibility date versus the opening of the N-400 application window (eligibility date minus 90). when she calculates the application window opening date and is then comparing it to the three year anniversary of the marriage... no reason to do that

Now I am getting confused. If his marriage date is prior to his green card initial date, can forget about that, so just consider the 3rd anniversary date of his green card. USCIS says he can apply 90 days prior to the 3rd anniversary of his green card that means you can apply even though you have not been a LPR for three years yet, but three years minus 90 days. N-400 processing is much faster now, a couple of years ago it was over 18 months with many applications taking over two years. So that 90 day pre-3rd anniversary date wasn't enough. See some now getting their interview today prior to their 3rd year anniversary date, but they have to wait until that 3rd anniversary date passes before they can get their certificate.

As long as you have been married prior to getting that green card, can just base your application date on your 3rd anniversary and meet the three year marriage requirement.

If say you did get married a week after getting a green card, would have to wait an extra week before applying.