Question:

Would he be a full-fledged citizen if we married?

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He moved here from China when he was 14. He's now 25. I was born and raised in the US. If we got married, would he be able to vote and all?

I asked him about his political views and he said he doesn't pay attention since he can't vote. We had a small disagreement over if he would or would not have the right to vote. Just wondering who is right.

Thank you

B

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My wife is Chinese. She came here to go to University after graduating University (post grad work). We met while in college. We got married, applied for green card, had to wait 3 years after getting green card, take naturalization test, and then she got her citizenship. Now that she is a citizen she can vote.
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He is not a citizen right away. First you get married and then you have to apply for a K3 visa for him. The K3 is for when the foreign person is in the USA legally. There is also a K1 visa if the spouse is outside the USA. There is no category for a foreign spouse who is in the USA legally.

The process can take several months and you may want to hire a consultant to guide the process. Do a web search for "K3 visa". A consultant will cost from $550 to $1250 and is worth the cost as it will halve the processing time.

And you have to live together for several years. If you split up in less then two full years of marriage, he will lose his visa. Then, after several years in the USA, if he is a good resident, he can apply for citizenship.
Report (0) (0) | earlier
No, he does not become a full-fledged citizen just because you marry him! It is a long process that involves much more than marraige.
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No,marriage does not grant anyone citizenship. If he is here illegally, he must return to china and apply from there. If caught here illegally he will be deported and banned.
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No.  Citizenship-by-marriage does not exist.  He would have to apply for and earn citizenship soley on his own merits.

If he is a permanent legal resident, then he's half way there already, and probably only needs to finish up the paperwork, meet the requirements and take the citizenship test.

If he is out of status, undocumented, or here illegally, then he'd need to return to China first, get at the end of the line and you would have to apply for a fiance or spousal visa (one to three year wait).  That includes proving that you can support him (you earn above the legal poverty level, which I think is $17,000 at this time) as well as put up a surety bond of $30,000 as a guarantee.

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He cannot vote just because he married you.  When you do get married you need to petition him to green card status. When he gets the green card he must then WAIT 3 YEARS BEORE he can apply for citizenship and your marriage MUST STILL be good.

NOONE gets citizenship automatically just because they married a US citizen.That rule was dumped a very long time ago.
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