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ChaangNoi

How long will it take to get my wife citizenship?

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Filed: Timeline

Hi, I have done a fair bit of research but just want to make sure I understand all of this, so if anyone knows more about this than I do or has personal experience please let me know. I tried searching for information on the forum but did not find anything directly related and there is just so much here it is overwhelming.

My Thai wife of 3 years has her US green card. It is a conditional 2 year version because when she got the green card we had not been married for a two full years. I understand that she needs to spend at least one year in the USA and be in the USA on her 2 year anniversary to get her new non-conditional 10 year green card.

She has spent some time (about 10 months) in the USA and even gave birth to an American child in the USA but she has not yet spent a full year there. She will go back to the USA soon to make sure she checks off that 1 year requirement before filing for the 10 year green card. We pay our taxes in the USA and everything is good legally so I do not think there will be any issue getting the new green card.

How long will it take my wife to get citizenship after getting her 10 year green card? I have read on different places that if she is married to an American and has a green card for three years she would be able to apply for citizenship assuming she has lived in the USA for at least half the time, no criminal record and taxes paid. Is this correct?

We spend an equal amount of time in the USA and Thailand, own property in both and have children with both nationalities. She wants the passport as one of the things that might come in handy one day. Since we pay taxes and she owns property in the US we thought we might as well go for it assumig it will only take an extra year. However I have heard stories of people telling me they have failed to get citizenship after 10 years of trying. Are they doing something wrong or is this normal?

We are mostly looking for a realistic timeframe on how long it will take her as we need to plan for the future as our children are in school.

Thanks so much in advance!

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Filed: Country: Vietnam (no flag)
Timeline

Hi,

Go through the N-400 naturalization application. There is a flow chart of the various requirements to see if a person is eligible for naturalization.

Her trips outside the U.S. may affect her eligibility.

Best of luck.

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Filed: Timeline

I took a look at the government websites and my understaning is as long as she was not outside of the USA for more than 180 days at a time and has spent over 50% of the time in the USA she is eligable.

My question is not about eligibility but how long will the process take. Is it the easy 1 year the government websites make it out to be or is it the 10 years of pain all my friends tell me?

Thank you.

Edited by ChaangNoi
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Filed: Country: Vietnam (no flag)
Timeline

It does not take 10 years to go through the naturalization process. I have never heard of this. There may be delays for people who fail to get the right paperwork in and get RFEs.

The process takes about a year for most people that I know that have naturalized. The ones that have taken longer than a year have received RFEs or failed the test.

Edited by aaron2020
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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Poland
Timeline

I took a look at the government websites and my understaning is as long as she was not outside of the USA for more than 180 days at a time and has spent over 50% of the time in the USA she is eligable.

My question is not about eligibility but how long will the process take. Is it the easy 1 year the government websites make it out to be or is it the 10 years of pain all my friends tell me?

Thank you.

Took me exactly 3.5 month from the time I sent out N-400. Typical time is ~6 months to a year.

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Filed: F-2A Visa Country: Nigeria
Timeline

Depending on the field office, some take longer times, some take less time, we filed for N400 in Dallas field office since September 2014, some in other field offices take less than 6 months from start to finish. Check the current processing time of your proposed field office. https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplay.do Read this for when she can be eligible to file. Good luck

Month/Day/Year 09/24/2013 - Priority Date09/26/2013 - NOA112/18/2013 - NOA2 - Approved01/06/2014 - NVC Received my case02/13/2015 - Received email to pay AOS/ DS-261 WAIVED02/14/2015 - AOS & IV Fees Paid03/06/2015 - Financial Documents and Civil documents sent to NVC03/09/2015 - NVC Received03/09/2015 - NVC Scan Date03/09/2015 - Ds260 completed and submitted03/11/2015 - NVC sent confirmation via email04/04/2015 - AOS Checklist 04/06/2015 -Response to Checklist04/07/2015 - New Scan Date04/30/2015 - Case complete confirmation via phone05/07/2015 - Received case complete confirmation mail06/02/2015 - Interview Date ( 2nd July 2015) over the phone 06/08/2015 - Interview Letter arrived via Email 06/15/2015 - Medical Test Completed06/10/2015 - Case shows READY at CEAC portal<p>Visa Approved, waiting to pick up passport :)
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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Egypt
Timeline

I took a look at the government websites and my understaning is as long as she was not outside of the USA for more than 180 days at a time and has spent over 50% of the time in the USA she is eligable.

My question is not about eligibility but how long will the process take. Is it the easy 1 year the government websites make it out to be or is it the 10 years of pain all my friends tell me?

Thank you.

This is not entirely correct.

"In addition, absences of less than 6 months may also break the continuity of residence depending on the facts surrounding the absence.​"

http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter3.html

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: Timeline

This is not entirely correct.

"In addition, absences of less than 6 months may also break the continuity of residence depending on the facts surrounding the absence.​"

http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartD-Chapter3.html

I was no aware of this. Is there any way to get more information about this policy?

This seems very vague. Hard to plan for :(

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Egypt
Timeline

I was no aware of this. Is there any way to get more information about this policy?

This seems very vague. Hard to plan for :(

I think it's hard to plan for because you're not supposed to plan for it.

The whole point is that you live and work in the US while you are a permanent resident.

So USCIS has no interest in making it easy for someone to live abroad while waiting to become an American citizen.

Now, they understand that people will have to travel, so what they tell you is that if you're away for more than a year, you've broken your continuous residence. If you're away for more than 6 months, then you may have broken your residence and you have to explain why you haven't. If you're away away for less than six months, then they'll only ask questions if they are suspicious. For example, if you're here for 3 years except for two 4 month trips, then you'll probably be totally fine. If you've spent all three years spending 4 months abroad followed by one month in the US, you'll probably be denied.

I know it's vague, but if you live and work in the US you'll be fine. If that's not the case at the moment, you can wait a few years until you're permanently living in the US and then apply.

The link in my previous post has lots of good information.

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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