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Pathway

U.S. Citizenship Through Citizen Spouse

United States Citizenship
Pathway overview

At a glance

If you have a U.S. green card and are married to a U.S. citizen, you may be able to apply for citizenship after three years as a permanent resident. This is shorter than the usual five-year route, but you still need to meet the other citizenship requirements.

Core timing
Usually three years as a lawful permanent resident married to a U.S. citizen
Requirements
The required marriage and shared home, residence and time in the U.S., good character, English, and U.S. history and government knowledge
Physical presence
Normally at least 18 months in the United States during the qualifying three years

Summary

Some green-card holders married to U.S. citizens can apply for citizenship under a three-year route, provided the marriage and U.S. residence requirements are met together. The same spouse generally must have been a U.S. citizen throughout that period, and the couple must have lived together for the required time. Marriage alone does not shorten every citizenship application.

You generally must have been married to and living with the same U.S. citizen spouse throughout the required three years. Your spouse must have been a citizen throughout that time and remain one until you take the oath.

Could this pathway work for you?

Eligibility

An applicant normally must:

Filing may be possible up to 90 days before the three-year continuous-residence period ends, but early filing does not shorten the required periods of marriage, living together, or your spouse's citizenship.

Start with permanent residence and the marriage timeline
  1. Before filing Record the key dates Document permanent residence, the spouse's citizenship, living together, and travel.
  2. Generally 3 years Check the required period living together Confirm the same U.S. citizen spouse and continuous U.S. residence requirements.
  3. Application and review Prepare the citizenship application Document the other requirements and review any separation or long trips abroad.

This does not apply for a marriage-based green card. Changes to the marriage can affect eligibility before citizenship is completed.

What This Route Allows

After USCIS approves the application and the applicant takes the oath, the person becomes a U.S. citizen with the same citizenship status as someone naturalized under the five-year rule.

Separate rules under section 319(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act may help some permanent residents married to U.S. citizens who are regularly stationed abroad in qualifying employment. That route has different residence requirements and should not be confused with the ordinary three-year rule.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a marriage-based green-card application. The applicant must already be a lawful permanent resident.

A separation, divorce, death of the citizen spouse, or end of living together as a married couple can remove eligibility for the three-year route, even if the marriage was genuine. The person may still qualify under the ordinary five-year route. Separate rules preserve the three-year route for some abused spouses and children who obtained permanent residence through a U.S. citizen, without requiring an ongoing marriage or shared home. Long trips, arrests, taxes, false claims to citizenship, unlawful voting, or problems in the original green-card case also require careful review.

Next Steps

  1. Build a timeline for permanent residence, marriage, the spouse's citizenship, shared residence, and travel.
  2. Gather marriage records, the spouse's citizenship proof, joint residence and financial evidence, tax transcripts, and all passports or travel records.
  3. Check whether any absence longer than six months affected continuous residence.
  4. Confirm which naturalization civics test and any exception applies.
  5. If separated, divorced, living apart, or facing questions about the green-card case, obtain advice before filing under the three-year rule.

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Other routes in United States.

Sources