A. Confirming Your Permanent Resident Status

• Library: Becoming a U.S. Citizen (Nolo) (2021 Ed.)

A. Confirming Your Permanent Resident Status

Before you can become a citizen, you must—with some exceptions (see Section A3, below)—have been a lawful permanent U.S. resident for at least five years. It's important to be accurate when determining your time as a lawful permanent resident—every day counts. In the following sections, we'll help you analyze the length and status of your permanent residency.

1. Are You a Lawful Permanent Resident?

Your green card—not a work permit, visa, or other temporary right to live in the United States—is what demonstrates that you are a permanent resident. Your green card should look similar to the one shown in Section 2, below.

It's not enough to possess the card; you also have to "deserve" it. If you have been ordered removed or have violated the terms of your stay, you might have lost your legal right to permanent residence even though you still carry your card. Similarly, if you didn't really deserve the green card in the first place, as described in Chapter 1, Section A, applying for U.S. citizenship won't help you. Not only could you be ineligible for citizenship, but you risk removal by applying for it.

However, if your green card simply expired (which it does every ten years), you are still a permanent resident. It's a good idea to renew your card before applying for citizenship. Instructions for renewal are in Chapter 3.

2. How Long Have You Been a Permanent Resident?

To determine how many years you've been a U.S. permanent resident, calculate from the date that the INS or USCIS approved your permanent residence—it's shown on your green card, as seen in the picture below.

As you calculate the time, don't round it off to calendar years. In other words, four years, 11 months, and 20 days does not equal five years. When it comes to determining the date at which you can apply for citizenship, USCIS wants you to count full 365-day years.

EXAMPLE: Loc was granted permanent residence on December 15, 2016. On January 15, 2021, he incorrectly decides that he has been a permanent resident for five years and files his citizenship application. (In actual years, he has been a permanent resident for only four years and one month.) His application will be returned, and Loc will not be eligible for citizenship until December 15, 2021 (although, as we'll see in Section 3, below, a special provision allows him and other applicants to file applications three months before they're eligible).

What if your first two years of U.S. residence are "conditional" rather than "permanent"? Conditional residence is like permanent residence, but it gives USCIS a chance to reevaluate your case at the end of two years (when the conditional residence automatically expires). Often, people who marry U.S. citizens must go through these two years of conditional residence before applying for permanent residence. Similarly, immigrants in category EB-5 who get their green cards as entrepreneurs (by investing in a U.S. business) must spend two years as conditional residents before becoming permanent residents.

If you spent two years as a conditional resident, there's good news: When it comes to applying for citizenship, those two years count as permanent residence so long as you successfully became a permanent resident at the end of them. Count your years of residence starting at the date you were approved for conditional residence. You'll find that date on your green card.

EXAMPLE: Tam invested $1.8 million in NetMiser, a U.S. company, and was approved for conditional residence on April 7, 2018. USCIS approved Tam for permanent residence in July 2020. Tam is eligible for citizenship on April 7, 2023—five years from the date he was approved for conditional residence.

Some conditional residents find that USCIS takes so long to decide on their I-751 petitions to remove the conditions on residence that they reach the date upon which they become eligible for naturalization in the meantime. If this happens to you, you can go ahead and apply for citizenship. This might even push USCIS to approve your permanent residence. In fact, the USCIS officer who reviews your application for citizenship might request the file containing your Form I-751 petition to remove the conditions on residence and decide on both at once.

TIP

Conditional residents who married U.S. citizens—more good news! Assuming your marriage to your U.S. citizen spouse hasn't broken up and you are still living together, you have to wait only three years as a permanent resident before applying for citizenship. That means you can apply one year after the end of your conditional residence.

3. How Many Years of Permanent Residence Are Required?

In this section, we'll help you determine the earliest possible date upon which you can turn in your citizenship application. For most people, that will be after five years of permanent residence, but for some—depending on their circumstances—that date might be sooner.

CAUTION

Don't count on USCIS to tell you that you've counted the days wrong. Although USCIS tries to advise people of errors in their application date soon after they submit it, some applications are bound to slip through the cracks. In other words, you could arrive at your naturalization interview only to be told you have to file again. For that reason, do your best to count your permanent-residency time accurately.

a. The 90-Day Early Application Rule

You can turn in your citizenship application 90 days before your required years of permanent residence have passed. This 90-day period compensates for the fact that USCIS is not likely to act on your application (call you in for an interview) for at least that amount of time.

This doesn't change the fact that you're eligible for citizenship only after...