From Marriage Green Card to U.S. Citizenship
Getting married with someone who loves you benefits you in numerous ways. The most important thing I can think of is that your life partner gives you unlimited support and comfort when you are in a dire situation. That is not what money can buy. Another benefit? Your immigration journey can be shorter and easier.
If you just got married with a U.S. citizen, that means you are staying in the U.S as a conditional permanent resident. And most of you may start focusing on filing form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, 2 years later. Well, did you know you can also consider applying for U.S. citizenship in this stage? Early as it may sound, a marriage-based green card holder has benefits when it comes to its waiting period to apply for a U.S. citizenship compared to other lawful permanent residents. Learn how this can be achieved in your position and track your form I-751 or N-400 with the best USCIS & NVC case tracker.
Who has a Conditional Permanent Residence?
- If the marriage-based green card applicant and the main sponsor spouse have been married for less than 2 years, the marriage-based Green Card applicant will first receive a CR1 visa, conditional green card. Although the same rights and privileges are given, the CR1 visa holders, the conditional green card holders, must renew their conditional green cards to remove conditions on green cards by filing form I-751 and obtain a permanent Green Card.
Filing form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence
- It is essential that form I-751 be filed timely. If form I-751 is filed too early, USCIS will return the filing. If the form is filed too late, it will most likely fail to remove conditions on Green Card and may lead to removal proceedings.
Considering obtaining a U.S. citizenship in the future?
- While most of green cards such as employment-based ones are required to wait for 5 years before filing form N-400 for a U.S. citizenship, people with marriage-based green cards are eligible to become a U.S. citizen only after 2 years of being a permanent resident. Good news is if you filed form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, so as to transition to a permanent green card holder, that does not prevent you from proceeding to filing N-400 simultaneously. So even if one of the two applications is denied or requires more scrutiny, there is still a possibility of obtaining either a permanent resident card or becoming a U.S. citizen. It's worth trying
How can I check the status of my I-751 or N-400 application?
Regardless of a type of visa you apply for, you don't have to check on the USCIS or DOS website anymore in order to find your case status and predict the processing time of your case. Lawfully came up with a ground-breaking solution to help all immigrants and non-immigrants learn what is going on with their applications. That is why Lawfully has launched the USCIS Case Tracker. Since then, we have tirelessly improved its features with a firm commitment to immigration equality.
With a very small fraction of cost and time it would have taken to struggle with immigration attorneys and USCIS, give yourself 3 minutes to fill in the information about your application. BOOM! You can check your case status along with an expected processing time and compare yours with other similar cases at your fingertips. No need to check in on the USCIS website anymore. Lawfully will deliver updates on your case status in real-time. And don't miss the new feature of NVC case tracking in order to embrace visa applicants outside the U.S.
If you want to get more insights from a certain visa type, try Case Analysis Pro, and among other features, see your ranking compared to others who registered their cases so that you get a sense of where you stand.
Download Lawfully Case Tracker now and stay up to date!
