Citizenship Question: 3 year or 5 year rule

[jinenash]

Hello all. Hope you can help me with this. I am a US citizen. My wife got a Green Card in 2011(expiry 2021). We were married for 2 years before she got her green card. We always thought that my wife had to wait for 5 years minus 90 days before applying for citizenship. In August of 2016, it would be 5 years. However it was brought to our attention by a friend who saw my wife's Green card that my wife could have applied for her citizenship 2 years ago base on her being married to me and living with me for 3 years and because I was a Citizen for more than 3 years. The question I have is should she now apply under the 3 year rule or 5 year rule? will this cause a problem with the immigration people?

[rayb]

Apply under the "5-year rule." The burden of evidence and aggressiveness of interviewer is less if not applying based on marriage and using the "3-year rule."

--Ray B

Hello all. Hope you can help me with this. I am a US citizen. My wife got a Green Card in 2011(expiry 2021). We were married for 2 years before she got her green card. We always thought that my wife had to wait for 5 years minus 90 days before applying for citizenship. In August of 2016, it would be 5 years. However it was brought to our attention by a friend who saw my wife's Green card that my wife could have applied for her citizenship 2 years ago base on her being married to me and living with me for 3 years and because I was a Citizen for more than 3 years. The question I have is should she now apply under the 3 year rule or 5 year rule? will this cause a problem with the immigration people?

[jinenash]

Apply under the "5-year rule." The burden of evidence and aggressiveness of interviewer is less if not applying based on marriage and using the "3-year rule."

--Ray B

Hello Ray,

If I understood your reply correctly, Did you mean, if she applies under 5 year rule, it will be a easy process? and if she applies under 3 year rule it will be a difficult process? At this point she qualifies for both.

[mskathir]

Hello Ray,

If I understood your reply correctly, Did you mean, if she applies under 5 year rule, it will be a easy process? and if she applies under 3 year rule it will be a difficult process? At this point she qualifies for both.

jinenash:

At this stage and point in time, even though you qualify under both the 3-year and 5-year qualifiers, and you are past (crossed) the 3-yr basis - in my opinion you would stand a better chance to file based on the "married to a US citizen for 3 years." Those cases apparently seem to get adjudicated quicker than than the 5-year cases. Could be illusory though...

However, with the new IOE-forms system (versus the older NBC), I would also tend to think that it may not really make a substantial difference as to which route you choose.
Just my 2 cents...

*I am not an attorney nor have I been trained in immigration law or claim to be any authority in the immigration legal area and neither am I a non-attorney spokesperson. Whatever I have attempted to provide is purely as suggestive help (not even advice) and should not be considered as legal opinions. Please consult a competent immigration attorney for professional advice & guidance.

[rayb]

Jinenash,

When one applies for Naturalization based on 5 years continuous residency, and without marriage being a piece of the elgibility criteria, there is less evidence and interview pressure compared to having to prove cohabitation and commingling of financial affairs as a 3-year applicant.

Your terms of "easy" and "hard" don't really apply. Using the 5-year rule for eligibility is simpler in terms of evidence required.

--Ray B

Hello Ray,

If I understood your reply correctly, Did you mean, if she applies under 5 year rule, it will be a easy process? and if she applies under 3 year rule it will be a difficult process? At this point she qualifies for both.