greencard after two years of marriage

[harshaamin]

Hi,

I have been married to USC for little over 2 years now. I am on H1B visa and we have applied for our Green card and it is in process. Was reading forums and came across that temporary GC period of two years is counted towards permanent residency for Naturalization.

As far as my knowledge goes i am suppose to get permanent greencard seeing our marriage is over two years. And i believe our case we need to wait for 3 years after we get permanent residence to apply for Naturalization. (Implies 5 years of marriage).

So question for general knowledge purpose is
Does it make more sense to apply once you get married for Green card so that the 2 years on temp GC is considered as permanent residence? (assuming your temp GC got converted into permanent GC)

[Turk]

Yes; all thing being equal and you have the option to start GC and then citizenship procedure, that would minimize your citizenship wait time.

When you get a conditional GC, you are still a permanent resident. You just need to remove the condition on it when you are 2 years into marriage:

https://www.uscis.govhttps://www.imm...nent-residence

And the requirement of citizenship application is that you are a permanent resident (you have a GC) for 3 years:

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization/naturalization-spouses-us-citizens

Hi,

I have been married to USC for little over 2 years now. I am on H1B visa and we have applied for our Green card and it is in process. Was reading forums and came across that temporary GC period of two years is counted towards permanent residency for Naturalization.

As far as my knowledge goes i am suppose to get permanent greencard seeing our marriage is over two years. And i believe our case we need to wait for 3 years after we get permanent residence to apply for Naturalization. (Implies 5 years of marriage).

So question for general knowledge purpose is
Does it make more sense to apply once you get married for Green card so that the 2 years on temp GC is considered as permanent residence? (assuming your temp GC got converted into permanent GC)

[harshaamin]

Well i just started GC process late thinking why do process twice.

Also according to this link of UCIS, https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/H...-Chapter3.html

Looks like you can apply directly for citizenship if you are married for 3 years and live in US. If i interpreted this correctly i guess i should have just stayed on H1b and not applied for green card right now.

[TarCas]

You have to be a permanent resident as well apart from being married to a USC and other requirements.

[Turk]

That page mentions the same requirements:

"
•LPR at the time of filing the naturalization application.
•...
•Continuous residence in the United States as an LPR for at least three years immediately preceding the date of filing the application and up to the time of naturalization.
•...
"

There are many ways you cannot apply for citizenship, but there is one way to apply in your situation:

• Be married
• Keep a Green Card for 3 years (among other requirements on that page), and only after then;
• Apply for citizenship.

Well i just started GC process late thinking why do process twice.

Also according to this link of UCIS, https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/H...-Chapter3.html

Looks like you can apply directly for citizenship if you are married for 3 years and live in US. If i interpreted this correctly i guess i should have just stayed on H1b and not applied for green card right now.

[harshaamin]

Sorry for late reply. If you see section B in that link it states 3 years of marriage and doesnt mention anything about permanent residency.

[Turk]

You cannot cherry pick, it's a document as a whole. After reading section A, I would suggest continue reading section C as well.

However, if you decide to apply only after 3 years of marriage but not 3 years of GC let us know how it goes.

Sorry for late reply. If you see section B in that link it states 3 years of marriage and doesnt mention anything about permanent residency.