I want to apply for citizenship this year... how long is the process? I also want to go to colombia and marry my fiance in about a year...Does she automatically become a citizen? if not what would she have to go thru ?
2007-03-10 12:52:25 · 9 answers · asked by JOE 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
If Im a citizen and I marry her does she gain citizenship or would she have to apply for residency first ?
2007-03-10 12:57:49 · update #1
Joe,
Firstly, no citizenship is not automatic on marriage to a US citizen.
1. Only a US Citizen can petition using the I-129F for a fiance (K-1) or for a spouse (K-3).
2. You can file the I-130 for a spouse as a Permanent Resident, which when approved at the service center will be forwarded to the National Visa Center, where it will stay until a visa number becomes available (until priority date is close to becoming current). You can update your status to that of a US Citizen once you have become a citizen. Once you have citizen status there is no waiting for a visa number to be available as your spouse's case is automatically current as an immediate relative.
This visa process is going to take you some time. Depending on how long you have been married on entry with the visa will determine the next step. If married less than two years on entry your spouse will be granted permant residency with conditions which have to be applied to be lifted 90 days prior to the two year anniversary of your spouses entry to the US.
If married more than two years on entry and granted permanent residency without conditions, your spouse will be issued a 10 year green card.
Citizenship can be applied for after 3 years as a permanent resident when married. You can find information on the eligibility requirements in the first link which contains the USCIS Guide to Naturalization.
2007-03-10 13:56:42 · answer #1 · answered by aussiewenchupover 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As a citizen, you have the right to apply for a fiance visa.
What happens is while you're applying, she will go through some applications herself through the embassy in Bogota including a background check, medical check and some other minor things. (For me, the process took about 18 months from the first application.)
When she arrives here (you have to be diseased or a felon to be turned down--my wife had TB markers and still made it in), you'll have a conditional residency with no work permit. You have to apply to get a work permit, then you apply to have the condition removed, and three years after you have the condition removed, you're allowed to apply for citizenship for her.
(The conditions depend on proving you were married and proving that you're mixing your lives, meaning your living in the same place, perhaps having kids, putting her name on assets or bills or your address, etc. In other words, you're not moving her here just for her to live a seperate life somewhere else.)
2007-03-10 23:27:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No Automatic citizenship, she gets a green card first then after 3 years, she can apply for U.S. citizen .
2007-03-10 21:03:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
No, marriage to a US citizen does not automatically make them a citizen. She will have to apply for a visa first and go through the process.
Visit the following US Government immigration / visa sites;
http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov/
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Defense/Citizenship.shtml
Good luck!
2007-03-11 04:27:05 · answer #4 · answered by Mary R 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Auto citizenship - NOOOOOOO!
Sorry but I'm tired of this question being asked. You have to apply. Even if you are married you have to apply. The non-citizen must not be an illegal alien when they apply. As for time - I have no clue but she has to wait like everyone else!
2007-03-10 20:55:49 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
NO She will be able to get a K-1 Visa to enter the United States for 180 Days. at the end of that time you must be Married or she must reapply to stay in the US,
2007-03-10 20:58:28 · answer #6 · answered by david786 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is no auto-citizen ship for marriage. She will have to go through the process just like everyone else.
2007-03-10 21:40:39 · answer #7 · answered by Kikyo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
nope, she is not.
she can come here in the US with fiancee visa.. and u have to marry her in 90 days or her visa will expire. after marrying her, there's a 2 years contest period. proving that it's not an illegal marriage to gain status to stay here in the US. then u can apply or her for citizenship.
www.gandacious.com
2007-03-10 21:37:44 · answer #8 · answered by Fluffy Feather 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
there has not been auto citizenship for decades. old wives tale. my ex still had to apply and he had been in the us for five years before he applied.
it takes about a year from app to the final ceremony. they do an interview and viola. congrats btw. she must wait five years just as you did.
2007-03-10 21:27:54 · answer #9 · answered by CCC 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋