When can my husband apply for citizenship?

You can apply if you’ve been married to a US citizen for at least 3 years, if they have been a citizen for more than 3 years.

Here is a link that confirms @tragiclikebowie‘s response. Just to clarify, the person must still be married to and living with the said US citizen.

A person can apply all they want. Just because you pay all the fees doesn’t guarantee you approval, though. There are many provisions to being approved, not the least of which are hardship cases. He needs a sponsor, and that sponsor has to make a minimum income (gross, not net), which varies per number of household members.

If the applicant has lived here illegally, in order to be approved for a green card they MUST return to the US embassy in thier country, regardless how many years they have lived here. If they don’t have a record of income tax returns, the likelihood of even being able to obtain a work permit is significantly diminished.

FYI, if either of you are on any kind of government assistence, get off of it NOW. If any member of the immediate family is on government assistence, the applicant will be rejected, and given a set amount of time to leave the country or be shipped out.

@phillis The question is about applying for a citizenship, not a green card. Obviously, the person already has a green card.

Nice catch. I misspoke when I said ‘green card’. I meant to mention legal status, not green card.

The problem is that they must first be legal here in the US for a minimum of three years, whether they are married to a US citizen or not. Just because you have a green card, doesn’t mean you are legal. Since most people will specifically leave out of a conversation whether the person is legal for fear of showing up on the radar, I had little choice but to assume that’s why it wasn’t mentioned. It happens so often when the topic comes up that you often have to read between the lines.

Supergirl, my husband and I have been working on this since 2005. If you need or want any further assistance you may PM me privately.

In normal circumstances, an immigrant should be a permanent resident for five years to be eligible for citizenship. If you are married to a US citizen, then it is three years of permanent residency.It is that you have to be in marriage to a U.S citizen and should be living with that U.S citizen for the past 3 three years of your permanent residency for the criteria to be applicable to you.

Current regulations do allow a person to start the application process ninety days before they fulfill their residency requirement.

3 years after receiving the green card the alien spouse can apply for a US citizenship.