How do We Start This?

[80schild 0]

Hi all!

I became a permanent resident of this country on January 8th 2010. I believe that I'm eligible for citizenship 90 days to the day of my 3rd year anniversary as a permanent resident ( this puts me at October 11th, 2012); since I've been married to the same US Citizen for the last 3 years and a half. Is this information correct?

This 90 day rule, does this mean that I should mail my Packet with all the forms on this day 10/11/12? Or I should mail it BEFORE this date so it lands on their hands AFTER 10/11/12? The USCIS representatives at the 800 number are not too well informed and give me different info regarding this (one even told me that I was eligible for citizenship right away, for which I was not). One more thing, my husband and I did not file for this tax year together (we filed as married but separately)could this be a problem? I honestly don't see it as a problem but I've heard that all documents must coincide (Apartment lease, bank accounts, and filing of taxes)...

Thanks in advance for all the info that you guys can give me and have a great evening!

[OKflyboy 35]

Hi all!

I became a permanent resident of this country on January 8th 2010. I believe that I'm eligible for citizenship 90 days to the day of my 3rd year anniversary as a permanent resident ( this puts me at October 11th, 2012); since I've been married to the same US Citizen for the last 3 years and a half. Is this information correct?

This 90 day rule, does this mean that I should mail my Packet with all the forms on this day 10/11/12? Or I should mail it BEFORE this date so it lands on their hands AFTER 10/11/12? The USCIS representatives at the 800 number are not too well informed and give me different info regarding this (one even told me that I was eligible for citizenship right away, for which I was not). One more thing, my husband and I did not file for this tax year together (we filed as married but separately)could this be a problem? I honestly don't see it as a problem but I've heard that all documents must coincide (Apartment lease, bank accounts, and filing of taxes)...

Thanks in advance for all the info that you guys can give me and have a great evening!

Since the application lands on their hands a couple of days after it get out of your hands, what's the difference? Just make sure they do not receive it too early, they might just deny it based on your ineligibility. Anyway, since that day is still over a year away, you can't tell if you'll be able to mail it on this exact date. I ended up filing 6 months after my minus 90 days anniversary.

[80schild 0]

Since the application lands on their hands a couple of days after it get out of your hands, what's the difference? Just make sure they do not receive it too early, they might just deny it based on your ineligibility. Anyway, since that day is still over a year away, you can't tell if you'll be able to mail it on this exact date. I ended up filing 6 months after my minus 90 days anniversary.

OKflyboy thank you so much for answering! So as long as I don't file too soon I'll be ok? Sounds fair to me... Do you know if filing the taxes separate but as married will be an issue? My husband had a problem with his taxes that he didn't know about (we found out not too long ago, and if we file together Uncle Sam will keep our refund until the debt is paid, therefore I filed with our 2 kids and he filed by himself but as married). Someone told me that this shouldn't be an issue and that I'm good to go, but is always good to ask and anticipate any problems that can arise in my path. Thanks in advance again!

[OKflyboy 35]

OKflyboy thank you so much for answering! So as long as I don't file too soon I'll be ok? Sounds fair to me... Do you know if filing the taxes separate but as married will be an issue? My husband had a problem with his taxes that he didn't know about (we found out not too long ago, and if we file together Uncle Sam will keep our refund until the debt is paid, therefore I filed with our 2 kids and he filed by himself but as married). Someone told me that this shouldn't be an issue and that I'm good to go, but is always good to ask and anticipate any problems that can arise in my path. Thanks in advance again!

Not sure about the taxes, but if you tax papers say you're married and you have other papers with both names on it, you'll be okay. If possible, file jointly for 2011. You'll also need the 2009 taxes. Are those joint? Also, since you're filing late in the year, you might get an interview date in 2013 (haha if the world doesn't end in December 2012 that is), and they might ask you to bring the 2012 taxes. Or they might not. It happened to me when I filed for AOS, so they do that at least sometimes.

Regardless, I think you'll be just fine.

[v333k 59]

Before that, you need to focus on your I-751 assuming you got the 2 year GC as everyone else did.

You need to read up on form I-751 and you must file within the 90 days before it expires so you can "remove your conditions".

Here's a direct link http://www.uscis.gov/i-751

Read carefully since this step is a bit more tedious than naturalization and a lot of "book-keeping" needs to be done for it.

There is another forum here for Removing Conditions and you can go through it and see what other people discuss. Get familiar with it and mark on your calendar when you have to apply....

Good luck!

[NickD 203]

Before that, you need to focus on your I-751 assuming you got the 2 year GC as everyone else did.

You need to read up on form I-751 and you must file within the 90 days before it expires so you can "remove your conditions".

Here's a direct link http://www.uscis.gov/i-751

Read carefully since this step is a bit more tedious than naturalization and a lot of "book-keeping" needs to be done for it.

There is another forum here for Removing Conditions and you can go through it and see what other people discuss. Get familiar with it and mark on your calendar when you have to apply....

Good luck!

See the USCIS is still posting USCIS National Average - 15.2 Month(s) for the I-751. By applying exactly 90 days early and with that one year extension notice you also have to carry with your with your expired green card, may still put you over the expiration date of that one year extension. In which case, have to make an inforpass appointment to get an I-551 stamp in your current valid foreign passport or apply for an I-94 with two passport photos.

I-751 requires a lot of evidence for your marriage, make extra copies as they will want the same evidence again when applying for the N-400 with marriage.

I see they doubled the fees for the I-751 since we applied, did read they were going to do that to expedite the process. But it doesn't look like they are doing that.

When we applied for the N-400, didn't even have a current green card, so had to send in a copy of the expired card and one year extension notice. Only the USCIS is aware of this extension notice, nobody else was, like my wifes' employer or our DMV. Her employer wanted to can her, and the DMV refused to renew her drivers' license. That was a mess.

[80schild 0]

Not sure about the taxes, but if you tax papers say you're married and you have other papers with both names on it, you'll be okay. If possible, file jointly for 2011. You'll also need the 2009 taxes. Are those joint? Also, since you're filing late in the year, you might get an interview date in 2013 (haha if the world doesn't end in December 2012 that is), and they might ask you to bring the 2012 taxes. Or they might not. It happened to me when I filed for AOS, so they do that at least sometimes.

Regardless, I think you'll be just fine.

Ohh got it... I'll die happy 'cause I'll have a date for my naturalization interview, Lol Anyhow, we'll be filing taxes together from now on to avoid any problems, thank you so much for the info, God bless!

[80schild 0]

Before that, you need to focus on your I-751 assuming you got the 2 year GC as everyone else did.

You need to read up on form I-751 and you must file within the 90 days before it expires so you can "remove your conditions".

Here's a direct link http://www.uscis.gov/i-751

Read carefully since this step is a bit more tedious than naturalization and a lot of "book-keeping" needs to be done for it.

There is another forum here for Removing Conditions and you can go through it and see what other people discuss. Get familiar with it and mark on your calendar when you have to apply....

Good luck!

Actually our interview was on December 2009 and even though our IO told us that based on our marriage I was going to get the 2 year conditional GC (our anniversary is on Jan 2, we were days away from our 2 year anniversary) she was kind and understanding to our situation and she closed the case, then re-opened it and on Jan 3rd 2010 I received a letter informing me that I should receive by mail my 10 yr GC and that's exactly what I got... We were not expecting that at all but that was my best Xmas present ever! So now I have a GC for 10 years and I can start the procedure to become a US citizen by October 2012 (that is if the world doesn't end by Dec. 20 of that year, Lol)...

Thanks for the info and the good wishes!

[80schild 0]

See the USCIS is still posting USCIS National Average - 15.2 Month(s) for the I-751. By applying exactly 90 days early and with that one year extension notice you also have to carry with your with your expired green card, may still put you over the expiration date of that one year extension. In which case, have to make an inforpass appointment to get an I-551 stamp in your current valid foreign passport or apply for an I-94 with two passport photos.

I-751 requires a lot of evidence for your marriage, make extra copies as they will want the same evidence again when applying for the N-400 with marriage.

I see they doubled the fees for the I-751 since we applied, did read they were going to do that to expedite the process. But it doesn't look like they are doing that.

When we applied for the N-400, didn't even have a current green card, so had to send in a copy of the expired card and one year extension notice. Only the USCIS is aware of this extension notice, nobody else was, like my wifes' employer or our DMV. Her employer wanted to can her, and the DMV refused to renew her drivers' license. That was a mess.

I hope that everything goes well for you, the only thing that makes me nervous is making a mistake while filing the papers.

We started our case by Sept 23rd and by December we already knew how things will be going...

It was supposed to be faster but we used one of those notary people for the filing of the papers but they did many mistakes and I got 2 RFE's letters... That's what happens when you don't read and use the resources available, we pay this Bozo $1,400 to make this mess

However, We're very grateful that everything went as planned and don't expect anything less for the citizenship procedure.

Good luck and God bless...

[v333k 59]

Got it! Yes - then you are not required to apply for removing conditions.

Good luck with you naturalization step!

Actually our interview was on December 2009 and even though our IO told us that based on our marriage I was going to get the 2 year conditional GC (our anniversary is on Jan 2, we were days away from our 2 year anniversary) she was kind and understanding to our situation and she closed the case, then re-opened it and on Jan 3rd 2010 I received a letter informing me that I should receive by mail my 10 yr GC and that's exactly what I got... We were not expecting that at all but that was my best Xmas present ever! So now I have a GC for 10 years and I can start the procedure to become a US citizen by October 2012 (that is if the world doesn't end by Dec. 20 of that year, Lol)...

Thanks for the info and the good wishes!

[NickD 203]

Twas in 1986 they started the lottery, if unlucky, only other way to come here was marriage with lots of fraud. So in 1988, not only made the AOS a lot stricter, but also came out with the conditional green card. That wouldn't have been too bad if they issued that new card within that 90 day window. But back in 1986, some people were naughty so the rest of us have to pay the price. Too boot, the I-751 is loaded with loopholes like it would be hardship for me to return to my home country, or my spouse abused me by not answering a question in a split second. Ignoring is also a form of abuse.

That was nice of your IO to issue a ten year card with only a couple of weeks to go, typically 90 days is 90 days, not a second sooner, 18 is 18, and 21 is 21 for ages, not a day older.