Selecting eligibility requirements part 1 of N-400

[scottsvisa 9]

So I came to the US on a k1 got married did the AOS and so on.  I didn’t file my N-400 until the other day 9/10 years later.  My question is on part 1 of the N-400 what do I select?  A or B? Problem is I filed the other day selecting B.  Am I wrong? The way I am reading it I could file using either A or B. Maybe I’m wrong?  Please help! Any other perspectives would be nice or help.

 

A. Have been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for at least 5 years.

 B. Have been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for at least 3 years. In addition, you have been married to and living with the same U.S. citizen spouse for the last 3 years, and your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last 3 years at the time you filed your Form N-400

[Elf 146]

You're right, you qualify for both options -- and therefore you should definitely select A 😃. Filing under B shouldn't cause you any problems, though.

 

Filing after only 3 years instead of 5 is a "perk" of being married to a US citizen, but to take advantage of it you need to submit evidence with the application proving that you've been in a bona-fide marriage to a US citizen for the past three years, a bit like a mini-ROC.  Applying under the 5-year rule is much more straightforward.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Elf

[Boris Farage 353]

You're right that you could choose either A or B, if you are still married to your spouse, given that you have lived here as a permanent resident for so long. The wrinkle is that filing under A is, in my opinion, more straightforward. There are far fewer documents you must provide for A, since you do not have to provide evidence that your spouse is a citizen or evidence of your marital union for the past 3 years (leases, insurance, financial documents, etc.). I chose to postpone my citizenship until I could file under the 5 year rule for this very reason -- didn't feel comfortable having them pry even more into my life than they already had to. But if you file under B, my understanding is that processing time is the same provided that you give them sufficient evidence of your marital union in the application. Can you tell us what you did provide? I handled my own naturalisation, but since it was under the 5 year rule, others may be more knowledgeable than I about what is necessary under the 3 year rule.

[scottsvisa 9]

Documents I uploaded...

 

marriage certificate

wife's birth certificate 

daughters birth certificate

last 3 years tax returns

last 3 years tax transcripts

mortgage statement

3 year bank statements 

Copy of resident card front and back

 

Any other suggestions as far as documents go?

 

it seems like it’s moving kinda fast I filled 7/12/19 and biometrics is scheduled for 8/1/19 and I have a total completion date of December 2019 

[Wuozopo 4,285]

11 hours ago, scottsvisa said:

Documents I uploaded...

 

marriage certificate

wife's birth certificate 

daughters birth certificate

last 3 years tax returns

last 3 years tax transcripts

mortgage statement

3 year bank statements 

Copy of resident card front and back

 

Any other suggestions as far as documents go?

 

it seems like it’s moving kinda fast I filled 7/12/19 and biometrics is scheduled for 8/1/19 and I have a total completion date of December 2019 

You didn't need all that for Option A (five years). Your marriage doesn't require any proof of still being together, nor do you need to prove spouse is a citizen. Biometrics tends to be fast, then it can all slow down. 

[scottsvisa 9]

20 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

You didn't need all that for Option A (five years). Your marriage doesn't require any proof of still being together, nor do you need to prove spouse is a citizen. Biometrics tends to be fast, then it can all slow down. 

I realize that I wouldn’t of needed that for option A but I already filed using option B.  I only say it’s moving fast due to the estimated completion date of December 2019.  Everyone that filed similar times to me have much longer estimates on completion date.  Any other documents that I might of missed? 

Edited July 17, 2019 by scottsvisa

[arken 4,197]

List loos good.

[Wuozopo 4,285]

1 hour ago, scottsvisa said:

Everyone that filed similar times to me have much longer estimates on completion date.  

That may be because you are way past your eligibility date and can move forward immediately. Many file 90 days before eligibility and have an extra 3 months built in just to get to where you are now. And some offices are much slower than others. 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Wuozopo

[scottsvisa 9]

That makes sense! I have been super slow with my filing and I’m way past eligibility date.

Edited July 17, 2019 by scottsvisa

[Wuozopo 4,285]

25 minutes ago, scottsvisa said:

That makes sense! I have been super slow with my filing and I’m way past eligibility date.

Yeah, you could have started in August 2011. 

[Elf 146]

8 hours ago, scottsvisa said:

 I only say it’s moving fast due to the estimated completion date of December 2019.  Everyone that filed similar times to me have much longer estimates on completion date.  Any other documents that I might of missed? 

The Norfolk, VA field office processes N-400 relatively quickly.  The official USCIS processing estimate is 9 to 13 months, whereas for Baltimore it's currently 13 to 25.  Recent VJ timelines suggest you might be done quite a bit faster than that - looks like interview dates have been about 4 months after filing. 

 

Your documents list looks good.  I suspect that what will actually happen is that they'll recognize that you're eligible under the five-year rule and interview you on that basis anyway, so you don't really need to worry about proving that you're still in a bona-fide marriage.  You'd still need to provide the marriage certificate, tax transcripts and copies of your GC, but my guess is that they're not going to look at the bank statements or mortgage.

[scottsvisa 9]

1 hour ago, Elf said:

The Norfolk, VA field office processes N-400 relatively quickly.  The official USCIS processing estimate is 9 to 13 months, whereas for Baltimore it's currently 13 to 25.  Recent VJ timelines suggest you might be done quite a bit faster than that - looks like interview dates have been about 4 months after filing. 

Thanks for all the good information!!

[Boris Farage 353]

6 minutes ago, scottsvisa said:

Thanks for all the good information!!

Good luck -- I found it all fairly painless compared to some of the other processes they put us through!