Liwen Liang

When should I apply for the naturalization?

I have been married to my husband, who has been a US citizen since early 80's. We
were married on September 20, 1997.

I got my green card through employment since Jan. 1997.

I applied for naturalization on July 20, 2000, the application for naturalization was
filed on July 28, 2000.

I was finger-printed on Sept. 2000, and scheduled for interview on May 16, 2001. I
passed the test, but now my application is denied becasue I had not been married to
my US citizen husband for 3 years when I filed my application for naturalization???

Is this right? I thought I could file 3 months before our 3-year anniversary date,
and it was even verified when I went for the interview.

Now I can either pay $170 for the hearing or re-apply and pay $250.

I felt I was right, but am I?

Thanks for any advice.

LiWen

Uchakra

To the best of my knowledge, it's exactly 3 years for spouses of US Citizens and it's
4 years 9 months for employment based cases.

You can talk to an attorney in your area to see if the hearing will be helpful. You
might request your congressman and Senator to consider your case . All these will
take time. If you reapply right away ( unless there is wait itme before you can
reapply), you may be able to get your processing done faster in stead of going
through the lenghty hearing process.

To keep it simple, talk to a good attorney.

Liwen Liang

Thanks, yes, I will talk to an immigration lawyer to confirm this.

Thanks again.

LiWen

in article [email protected], Uchakra at [email protected]
wrote on 8/1/01 12:47 AM:

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Charles

That is really interesting and subtle topic. I rechecked the INS "requirement of
naturalization", It said: 3 month in-advance only apply to "Continuous Residence"
Requirement. There is another requirement called "Time as Permenet Resident" (it is
either 3 years or 5 years.) If understand your case correctly, INS interprets the 3
months in advance is only applied to who break the "Continuous Residence"
Requirement. (Most people do not break this requirement and can not enjoy the 3
months in advance..)

Any Comment?

Charles

LiWen Liang wrote:

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Liwen Liang

Hi, all,

Thanks for all the input, and this is what I found out when I talked to the lawyer
who helped me years ago to get my employment-based green card

He said that since I got my green card on employment-based, I would have to wait for
4 years and 9 months to be able to file the application for naturalization, even I
married to a US citizen.

He said the case would be denied anyway, but it is denied now for the wrong reason.
And yes, if I got my green card by marrying a US citizen, I would have to wait for 3
years to file the application.

It seems the law is confusing as INS actually let me go through the interview and the
officer who interviewed me even made sure that I didn't apply too early, and it was
within 3 months to our 3-year anniversary date.

A lesson to learn, is it?

Thanks again for everyone's input.

LiWen

in article [email protected], Charles at [email protected] wrote on
8/1/01 1:40 PM:

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[usenetquote2]>> When should I apply for the naturalization?[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>>[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> I have been married to my husband, who has been a US citizen since early 80's. We[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> were married on September 20, 1997.[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>>[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> I got my green card through employment since Jan. 1997.[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>>[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> I applied for naturalization on July 20, 2000, the application for naturalization[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> was filed on July 28, 2000.[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>>[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> I was finger-printed on Sept. 2000, and scheduled for interview on May 16, 2001. I[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> passed the test, but now my application is denied becasue I had not been married[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> to my US citizen husband for 3 years when I filed my application for[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> naturalization???[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>>[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> Is this right? I thought I could file 3 months before our 3-year anniversary date,[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> and it was even verified when I went for the interview.[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>>[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> Now I can either pay $170 for the hearing or re-apply and pay $250.[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>>[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> I felt I was right, but am I?[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>>[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> Thanks for any advice.[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>>[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> LiWen[/usenetquote2]

S Pai

Check out the INS web site, in particular the Guide to Naturalization:
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/se...atz/insfnl.pdf

Page 19 or thereabouts.

For a permanent resident married to a US citizen the continuous permanent residence
requirement is 3 years provided the resident is married to the same US citizen for
those 3 years. However, the application can be filed 3 months before the 3 years are
up. Thus, Ms Liang ought to have filed only after October 2000 (3 months before
January 2001 when the continuous permanent residence would have reached 3 years).

It's not 3 years from the date of the wedding.

--S.

Rich Wales

LiWen Liang wrote:

> the lawyer who helped me years ago to get my employment-based green card . . .
> said that since I got my green card on employ- ment-based, I would have to wait
> for 4 years and 9 months to be able to file the application for naturalization,
> even I married to a US citizen.

I'm a bit confused by the above. My understanding of INA 316(a) [8 USC 1427(a)] is
that a resident alien qualifies for the three-year residence rule (as opposed to
the normal five-year rule), as long as he/she "during the three years immediately
preceding the date of filing his[/her] application has been living in marital
union with the citizen spouse, who has been a United States citizen during all of
such period".

The above does =NOT= say that the applicant for citizenship must have been married to
a US citizen at the time he/she first got a "green card" -- or that the green card
must have been granted on the basis of marriage (as opposed to employment).

In other words, it really sounds to me like LiWen's lawyer was wrong, or that she
misunderstood what the lawyer said. Even if it turns out that LiWen filed for
citizenship too early (because of confusion over whether she could have filed three
months in advance or not), I would think that she would be eligible to file again
immediately, since she has had her green card since January 1997 and has been married
to her American husband since September 1997.

I'd suggest to LiWen that she get a "second opinion" on her situation from a
different lawyer.

Rich Wales [email protected] http://www.webcom.com/richw/dualcit/
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.

Liwen Liang

Hi, Rich,

Thanks..

I am not that in a hurry, and I would definitely want to play it safe this time - I
have paid $250 the first time, and I can't avoid paying it the second time, but I
would definitely want to avoid the 3rd time.

What my lawyer told me was that INS probably didn't realize that I didn't get my
green card through marriage, so they only looked at the "3 year rule".

What I really learned is the law isn't clear, because even the INS officer who
interviewed me didn't say anything about that I had to marry to my husband for 3
years before I could file the application. As I clearly remembered, she even counted
that I applied less than 3 months ahead of time.

What this tells me is it depends on who is looking at the case, I may get
different results.

Since it is August now, and I can definitely file the application again after mid
October, it is only 2+ months away, I am not in any hurry to do anything... and who
knows, the whole process may get faster by the time I file my application again...

Thanks anyway. I just want to post my experience to share with all the people in this
newsgroup...

LiWen

in article [email protected], Rich Wales at
[email protected] wrote on 8/2/01 2:34 PM:

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[usenetquote2]>> the lawyer who helped me years ago to get my employment-based green card . . .[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> said that since I got my green card on employ- ment-based, I would have to wait[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> for 4 years and 9 months to be able to file the application for naturalization,[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]>> even I married to a US citizen.[/usenetquote2]
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