Citizenship eligibility , conditions still not lifted

[AA&S 10]

Hello, i have applied to remove conditions since last year feb 2021.

 

they sent me a letter as an extension for 18 months. Which means right now my conditional visa is still valid while they are processing it. 
 

To apply citizenship, it requires myself to have 3 years of greencard.

 

Technically, in March 2022 i should be eligible but i have not my permission hasn’t been lifted yet. Anyone going through the same situation or knows more about it.

 

from Minnesota.

[Crazy Cat 39,206]

You can apply for citizenship as soon as you become eligible whether the I-751 has been adjudicated or not.  Under the 3 year rule, that would be:

1.  Married to a US citizen for 3 years AND

2.  Have a Green Card for 3 years.

You can submit the N-400 in the 90 day window prior to the above. 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Mike E 11,723]

1 hour ago, Crazy Cat said:

You can apply for citizenship as soon as you become eligible whether the I-751 has been adjudicated or not.  Under the 3 year rule, that would be:

1.  Married to a US citizen for 3 years AND

2.  Have a Green Card for 3 years.

You can submit the N-400 in the 90 day window prior to the above. 

Regarding (1) There is no early filing for the marriage part or marriage to a U.S. citizen part 

 

Example 1:

 

Date of marriage: April 1, 2019.  
Resident since:  April 7, 2019

Nominal early filing date; January 8, 2022 (it’s a leap year)

 

And if you file January 8 (today) your N-400 will go all the way to interview and be denied.  The reason since there is no early filing for marriage part. There is only early filing for the LPR part.  You can file April 1, 2022

 

I haven’t seen one of the above cases because a duration filing + approval less than  90 days  after marriage is rare.  It was however common before 1986 (I became an LPR a week after getting married and would have been ensnared by this had I filed in 1988).  

 

Example 2:

 

Date of marriage: April 1, 2018.  
Spouse was an LPR at the time with a pending N-400
Resident since:  April 7, 2019

Date spouse became a citizen: May 1, 2019

Nominal early filing date; January 8, 2022 (it’s a leap year)

 

And if you file January 8 (today) your N-400 will go all the way to interview and be denied.  The reason since there is no early filing for years of marriage to a citizen  part. There is only early filing for the LPR part.  You can file May 1, 2022

 
This situation is not so rare.  I saw a case last year where by the time of the interview, the LPR’s spouse was a citizen for 3 years but  the spouse was not a citizen for 3 years at the time the N-400 was filed.  At the interview the N-400 case was rejected.  
 

The USCIS N-400 calculator can and will mislead one.  
 

USCIS has a more rigorous tool one should use instead:

 

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/learn-about-citizenship/naturalization-eligibility
 

This tool looks at today’s date and explicitly asks about 3 year early filing window in terms of a range of dates.  For example, given today is January 8, if asks if you bexame an LPR between April 7, 2017 and April 7, 2019. You select that range, click through, and are asked if you are married to a U.S. citizen.

 

If you select yes, you are asked if you have been married 3 years or more.  That question is literally meant as 3 years or from as of today’s date.  It then asks if your spouses has been a citizen 3 years or more.  Again literally meant as of today.  

Edited January 8, 2022 by Mike E

[Crazy Cat 39,206]

8 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Regarding (1) There is no early filing for the marriage part or marriage to a U.S. citizen part 

 

Example 1:

 

Date of marriage: April 1, 2019.  
Resident since:  April 7, 2019

Nominal early filing date; January 8, 2022 (it’s a leap year)

 

And if you file January 8 (today) your N-400 will go all the way to interview and be denied.  The reason since there is no early filing for marriage part. There is only early filing for the LPR part.  You can file April 1, 2022

 

I haven’t seen one of the above cases because a duration filing + approval less than  90 days  after marriage is rare.  It was however common before 1986 (I became an LPR a week after getting married and would have been ensnared by this had I filed in 1988).  

 

Example 2:

 

Date of marriage: April 1, 2018.  
Spouse was an LPR at the time with a pending N-400
Resident since:  April 7, 2019

Date spouse became a citizen: May 1, 2019

Nominal early filing date; January 8, 2022 (it’s a leap year)

 

And if you file January 8 (today) your N-400 will go all the way to interview and be denied.  The reason since there is no early filing for years of marriage to a citizen  part. There is only early filing for the LPR part.  You can file May 1, 2022

 
This situation is not so rare.  I saw a case last year where by the time of the interview, the LPR’s spouse was a citizen for 3 years but  the spouse was not a citizen for 3 years at the time the N-400 was filed.  At the interview the N-400 case was rejected.  
 

The USCIS N-400 calculator can and will mislead one.  
 

USCIS has a more rigorous tool one should use instead:

 

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/learn-about-citizenship/naturalization-eligibility
 

This tool looks at today’s date and explicitly asks about 3 year early filing window in terms of a range of dates.  For example, given today is January 8, if asks if you bexame an LPR between April 7, 2017 and April 7, 2019. You select that range, click through, and are asked if you are married to a U.S. citizen.

 

If you select yes, you are asked if you have been married 3 years or more.  That question is literally meant as 3 years or from as of today’s date.  It then asks if your spouses has been a citizen 3 years or more.  Again literally meant as of today.  

OK.  So, a person can file in the 90 day window proceeding the part # 2 in my post, as long as he/she has been married to a US for 3 years when applying.....correct? 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Mike E 11,723]

1 hour ago, Crazy Cat said:

OK.  So, a person can file in the 90 day window proceeding the part # 2 in my post, as long as he/she has been married to a US for 3 years when applying.....correct? 

I think the way you are staying it is subject to misinterpretation.

 

Less ambiguous would be:

 

On the date and time of filing:

 

1. One has been married for at least 3 years to someone who has been a U.S. citizen for at least 3 years, AND

 

2. One has been an LPR for at least 3 years less 90 days.  
 

It is complex enough that 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/learn-about-citizenship/naturalization-eligibility

is the better way to answer it, but that does depend on USCIS’s software prowess which is always questionable.  

.  
 

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Mike E

[Crazy Cat 39,206]

6 minutes ago, Mike E said:

I think the way you are staying it is subject to misinterpretation.

 

Less ambiguous would be:

 

On the date and time of filing:

 

1. One has been married for at least 3 years to someone who has been a U.S. citizen for at least 3 years, AND

 

2. One has been an LPR for at least 3 years less 90 days.  
 

It is complex enough that 

 

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/learn-about-citizenship/naturalization-eligibility

is the better way to answer it, but that does depend on USCIS’s software prowess which is always questionable.  

.  
 

 

OK.  That sounds good.  That makes it very clear.  Thanks.