Type of legal woes key in naturalization

My brother, who is a permanent resident, has had some run-ins with the law. His problems have stemmed from his psychiatric impairment condition. Can he nevertheless become a U.S. citizen?

Name withheld, Dallas Whether your brother can naturalize depends on the nature of his “run-ins with the law.” You’ll want to speak to an immigration law expert before he files his naturalization application. If he has no conviction record, it’s likely he can naturalize.

Usually, arrests without convictions have no impact on a permanent resident’s right to naturalize. At times, even with criminal convictions, a permanent resident can naturalize. His psychiatric condition will not keep him from becoming a citizen.

My wife and I married in February 2015. I filed for my green card last year, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved my application in October 2019. Do I qualify to naturalize under the special rules for the spouse of a U.S. citizen?

Saidou, Novi, Mich.

Not yet. You can submit your naturalization application in July 2022.

Usually, an immigrant must have at least five years’ permanent residence to naturalize. To naturalize under the special three-year rule for the spouse of a U.S. citizen, you must have been married and living with a U.S. citizen for three years. You pass that test.

Then, to naturalize, you must have been a permanent resident while married to your U.S. citizen spouse for three years. You do not pass that test.

However, you can file exactly three months before you became a permanent resident if you have been married for three years. Then, by the time USCIS interviews you will have been a permanent resident for at least three years.

Allan Wernick is an attorney and director of the City University of New York’s Citizenship Now! project. Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, New York Daily News, 7th Fl., 4 New York Plaza, New York, N.Y., 10004 or email to questions@allanwernick.com. Folllow him on Twitter @awernick.