Does a person become a citizen by marrying a citizen?

Question

my daughter, a natural citizen like the rest of the family, MIGHT

marry a citizen of chile who is here on a work visa. will he become a citizen by marriage?

Answer 1

no.

Answer 2

No, he would not be a citizen, but through his marriage to your daughter, he could obtain resident alien status.  I just hope that your daughter really knows this guy and is sure that he's not just using her to get resident alien status.  What are the terms and limitations of his work visa?  Is it about to expire?  If it is then it would be a wonderful coincidence that he fell in love with a natural citizen now!

Answer 3

To answer your question, no, he would not become a citizen. Your daughter has to file a petition for an alien relative (form I-130). When that gets approves the US embassy will give you another package of information and documentation that you need to collect (birth cert, police records etc). the final step is the interview with the US embassy.

A piece of advice, the quickest way to do this is through the direct consular filing. Certain embassy worldwide are allowed to process a "green card" on behalf on the US government. Depending on the volume of the embassy that you have filed at, the time frame can be cut in half. My husband and I have just filed the I-130 and we are now collecting all the documentation for the second stage.  Basically this process is taking as long as it takes us to collect everything.

the thing is with direct consular filing, it is better to get married outside of the US and stay out until your have your green card. Otherwise it just complicates matters.

Good luck with everything.

Answer 4

No, he will not become a citizen through marriage.  And it can take a very long time to obtain paperwork and get it processed. My sister and my neighbor have both struggled with this issue for several years.... more than 2 or 3 years in both cases.  It's a royal pain, and your daughter should avoid it, if possible.

Answer 5

yeah they have to be married a certain amount of time tho i forget how long, but its not real long

Answer 6

Citizenship is NEVER granted automatically by the US government.  If your daughter decides to marry a Chilean citizen, she will have to file form I-130 "Petition for Alien Relative" available at www.uscis.gov.  The application will take about a year to be processed and he will be given conditional permanent resident status for 2 years.  He will not be eligible to become a citizen until 3 years after that (5 years total).