How long would it take for my wife to get her citizenship if I filed for a I130? 11 Answers as of August 24, 2011

The priority date backlog for the FB-2A spouse of a permanent resident is just under 3 years. You need to file the I-130 now to get her a priority date. After it is current, she would then apply for the immigrant visa.

Since you are a permanent resident, you may only file an I-130 for your spouse which only gives her a place in the line for FB-2a beneficiaries. Each month the State Department publishes the Visa Bulletin indicating what month and year they are working on for the various categories and you can see for FB-2a Philippines it is December 1, 2008. You should apply for your own citizenship as soon as you are eligible as that will move her up to the immediate relative category. In the meantime you may want to consult on other non-immigrant options for her to come sooner. When she does come it will be as a permanent resident and not as a citizen. She must be a permanent resident for five years (3 years if married to a U.S. citizen) before she can petition for her citizenship.

At this moment, about three years, plus you have to add about a year of consular processing if you file this week.

It would be about 3 years from the time of filing a I-130 form for permanent residency. She can apply for cititizenship after 5 years of permanent residency, provided she has not left the U.S. for more than 6 months continuously during the 5 year period.

Before your wife can obtain US citizenship, she will need to obtain her permanent residency ie., green card. If you are a permanent resident and you just recently filed your I-130 for your wife, from the Philippines, it could take up to 3 years for her to complete this process. At such time she can join you in the US. After five years, she can then apply for US citizenship. If you can obtain US citizenship yourself, you may be able to reduce the times considerably.

Per September visa bulletin, around 3 years but you should check the visa bulletin at DOS website each month for updated information.

It depends on the country of nationality for your wife. Assuming she is Filipino, it could be 2 or 3 years before she would be eligible to apply for an immigrant visa after you file the I-130 petition. After she obtains lawful permanent residency in the US, she could apply for US citizenship 3 years after that assuming she is still married to you.

The I-130 process depends upon visa availability. As you are not a U.S. citizen, your wife would have to wait for an immigrant visa to be available. The availability of immigrant visa fluctuates from month to month. As of September 2011, they will have immigrant visas available for cases filed on or before December 1, 2008. The best course of action would be to petition for your spouse and apply for U.S. citizenship as soon as you are eligible. This will allow her petition to be upgraded if you become a U.S. citizen.

If you are a permanent resident, the process should take 3 to 4 years. So, you should become a US naturalized citizen as soon as you are eligible.

It will take approx. 3/4 years if not longer. check the visa bulletin for an accurate time frame.