E2 to residency to citizenship?

Question

I am a Canadian in the United States on an E2 visa. I have been in the U.S. since 01 on a J2 ( ex spouse was the primary on the J2 and I do not have a requirement to return to Canada ), changed to an E2 in 2005 and was married to a U.S. citizen in 2007.

Is there a need to notify the INS of my marriage? Must I process permanent residency or can I just stay on my E2?

If I process residency must I wait the 3 years to process citizenship as I have been in the U.S. legally already for 8 years?

If I wait until past the 2 year mark before processing residency is the process less formal than going for the interviews and such as I expect I would need to if I processed now.

Tks

Scott

Answer 1

First of all, it is not INS anymore. INS was decommissioned on March 1, 2003. INS was divided up into 3 dysfunctional pieces. The adjudications branch of INS became Citizenship and Immigration Services. And, no, they don't care if you are married now.

If you become a permanent resident after being married to a U.S. citizen for two years, you will not be classified as a conditional resident. So, you're smart to wait until a date after your 2nd wedding anniversary to apply for permanent resident status.

You have the luxury of continuing as an E-2. As long as you're maintaining status as an E-2, you're in good shape except that none of the time you spent as a J-2 or as an E-2 will count toward naturalization.

You will have to be a permanent resident and married to a U.S. citizen for three years in order to naturalize.