Sorting out the spousal rules
QCan you explain the naturalization rules for the spouse of a U.S. citizen? My wife has been a permanent resident for three years and we have been living together the whole time. I have been a U.S. citizen for a year and a half. Can she apply for citizenship now?
Anonymous, by email Your wife will need to wait another year and a half before she can naturalize. The special naturalization rules for the spouse of a U.S. citizen can be confusing. Let’s try to sort them out.
To naturalize after only three years instead of the usual five years, a permanent resident must have been married to and living with the same U.S. citizen spouse for three years, and been in permanent
Aresident status during those same three years. Since you have only been a U.S. citizen for a year and a half, your wife doesn’t meet the “living with the same U.S. citizen spouse for three years” requirement. That’s because you were not a citizen for the full three years she had her green card. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services allows you to submit your application three months before you meet the three or five year residency requirement. What’s tricky is that USCIS says to qualify under the three-year rule, you must meet the married to and living with a U.S. citizen rule for a full three years before filing.
Permanent residents whose U.S. citizen spouses petitioned for them after marriage all qualify under the three-year rule. And in most of those cases, the person can apply to naturalize after two years and nine months as a permanent resident.
However, suppose you got your green card through employment. Or through marriage to a permanent resident?
Take the case of Tom. Tom got his green card through employer sponsorship. One year after becoming a permanent resident, he married Carrie, a U.S. citizen. Tom must wait until he has been married three years to apply. Only then will he meet the criteria of having been living with a U.S. citizen while a permanent resident for three years.
Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, New York Daily News,4 New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004 or email to questions@allanwernick.com. Follow him on Twitter @awernick.