Immigration

In general, after having legal permanent residency for 5 years, an individual can apply for US citizenship.  (You can see this information on the US government website here:http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-naturalization/p…).  However, there are some special rules where a person with a green card can apply for citizenship before the normal 5-year waiting period - for example, if a person got his/her green card based on marriage to a US citizen, approved VAWA self-petitioners who were married to abusive USCs, or if the green card holder is in the military. The VAWA self-petitioner can apply for naturalization in 3 years IF s/he was married to an abusive U.S. citizen (as opposed to an abusive legal permanent resident).  But generally speaking, for all others, including those who got their green cards through U or T visa status, it’s after 5 years.

NOTE TO SELF - HERE IS THE REFERENCE FOR THE 3 YEARS’S STANDARD - DO NOT GIVE THIS TO PEOPLE WHO WRITE TO US - TOO COMPLEX: take a look at INA 319(a) and this 2005 USCIS memo if you w (http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/Static_Files_Memoranda/Archive…)