hello is there anyone can ease my hesitation?

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

It sounds like your lawyer may be trying to line up two years of additional billing.

The three year application was the smallest packed we put together for the entire process: Marriage certificate; three years of joint income tax transcripts; proof of termination of prior marriages; and, proof of co-mingling of finances (one joint checking account statement for each of the three years). The only photos were Olga's for on the Naturalization Certificate.

Dump the lawyer and file the paperwork yourself.

Good Luck.

Well, just maybe "his" lawyer who has seen his documents and assessed them and came to that conclusion.

OP may not have enough or good evidence.

Tim & Olga, you definitely don't believe that lawyer will be billing throughout the entire 2 yrs, do you?

The lawyer probably charged him a small fee or charged nothing to tell him that...smh

If OP has good evidence then go ahead and file within 3yrs..my mum did and it went fine. She was/is on all financial documents in the household.

[cattleya777 5]

I applied under the 3 year rule. Applied September 29, 2015 and I will take my oath in 2 weeks. I didn't use any lawyer, just did the filing myself.

[khwaidee1 196]

I applied under the 3 year rule. Applied September 29, 2015 and I will take my oath in 2 weeks. I didn't use any lawyer, just did the filing myself.

We did ours ourselves too from what I learned here. My wife will be taking her oath with in 2 weeks with you. Congratulations.

[NikLR 13,232]

Personally I have zero intentions of sending the USCIS any more relationship evidence. If you're fine with that, then apply at 3 years. You don't need to ever naturalize either if you don't want to.

[cattleya777 5]

We did ours ourselves too from what I learned here. My wife will be taking her oath with in 2 weeks with you. Congratulations.

Thanks! COngrats to your wife as well.

It was actually my husband who did my paperworks by following the guides on this site. During my interview, the interviewer even said, whoever did your papers did a really good job! haha all thanks to visajourney for the guides.

[khwaidee1 196]

Thanks! COngrats to your wife as well.

It was actually my husband who did my paperworks by following the guides on this site. During my interview, the interviewer even said, whoever did your papers did a really good job! haha all thanks to visajourney for the guides.

Well, when I said "we", I put all the paperwork together, filled out the N400 etc., my wife did the studying so it was a team effort! And yes, the guides here were great.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Attempted thread hijack moved to own new thread~

[bruceleelee 0]

I appreciate all of your enthusiastic responses! Which cleared my doubts.

best luck

[NataliaK 0]

hello everyone,

I am about to be eligible for citizenship based on 3 years rule . And today my lawyer told me that 5 years one is easier ,

which is less of documents collecting hassle.

Here, I see lots of people who just wanna get it done asap by 3 years rule and some choose 5 years one.

Now i am really hesitated. Our daily life related photos are not good enough and it is a bit too late to make up now if we go by 3 years rule.

ps: My original intention is to get it done faster.

Therefore , i am asking your generous opinions.

Great Thanks

If you have a bona fide marriage then there is no reason why you should wait until the 5 years. You will be required to provide documented evidence in support of your bona fide marriage, the strongest of which is evidence of commingling of finances, joint accounts, joint insurances, joint taxes etc. If you have children together than what better proof of bona fide marriage is there than that? Photographs are important, as long as you have a good variety of photos throughout the time you became a permanent resident, you should be solid.

The only reason an attorney would advise you to wait is if you have been married multiple times, if you have any criminal issues or immigration violations that might bring up red flags, or if you have not resided in the United States continuously since becoming a permanent resident. Being out of the country frequently and for more than 6 months at a time is very problematic. If none of these apply, you should file after 3 years.

[bruceleelee 0]

I applied under the 3 year rule. Applied September 29, 2015 and I will take my oath in 2 weeks. I didn't use any lawyer, just did the filing myself.

We did ours ourselves too from what I learned here. My wife will be taking her oath with in 2 weeks with you. Congratulations.

congrats！

[Cathi 5,833]

Why? How was the lawyer wrong?

I have never heard of anyone saying it was easier to wait 5 years

[aaron2020 11,651]

I have never heard of anyone saying it was easier to wait 5 years

You would dump a lawyer for correctly saying the 5 years rule is easier because it requires collecting less paperwork?

[Boiler 47,116]

You would dump a lawyer for correctly saying the 5 years rule is easier because it requires collecting less paperwork?

Do not apply at all, no paper work.

[Aussielad 37]

Just send an updated package for the N-400 of the documents you sent for the I-751…that will be sufficient for the interview based on 3 years. More so if your wife attends the interview with you.

Good luck.

[MiaPA 12]

5 year rule is easier as it requires less paperwork, however, 3 year rule is easy too if you guys are still together and file taxes together. Funny story, I've had my greencard for 6 yrs now and filed under 3 yr rule, at my interview the IO asked me why I filed like that, I said "why not? we're still married" she laughed and said she is just using the 5 yr rule because it's easier and we don't need to go through the hassle of proving a bonafide marriage with all the extra paperwork.

If you can file now with 3 yrs, then do it. There is no reason to wait an extra 2 yrs, the extra paperwork is no big deal since it is something all couples have on hand anyway. I just thought my story was funny and had to tell it

Edited February 13, 2016 by MiaPA