**Noelle**

Acrosthec

Since you seem to be up to speed on immigration law, maybe you could save me some time...Can you please point me in the direction of any documents that will answer the following questions, or answer them yourself if you know the answers (but supporting documentation would probably be good).  Thanks!1) When a foreign citizen has married a U.S. citizen, without otherwise acquiring citizenship, is citizenship "conferred" as a result of the marriage lasting for a specific number of years?My gut on this one is "no," and I've found some stuff to back that up, but if you know of more, please feel free.2) If so, what is that number of years?3) If a divorce is pending prior to the conferral, but likely to "overlap" the "magic date," is there some way to suspend the grant of citizenship?4) Is there a proper method to delay any grant of citizenship to a foreign citizen during the pendancy of a divorce, provided the marriage is a key component in said citizen's effort to acquire citizenship?As you can see, my job is loads of fun.  If you have any kind of information that would lead to documents regarding these questions, PLEASE let me know.  I'll be gone all weekend, but will check this on Monday first thing.  Thanks again!

noelle24

Yikes.  I learned most of what I know by browsing uscis.gov.  And most of what I know is restricted to the paperwork I need to file once my FI and I get married. I highly recommend talking to an immigration lawyer about this stuff. Here's a link to a PDF version of a general guide to Naturalization.  It's written for people who want to become citizen's, so it's not very technical. http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf I do know that you only get citzenship if you apply for it, and you need to have a green card first.  There's a test you have to take about U.S. government/history to become a citizen, too.  If a foreign national is married to and has been living with a U.S. citizen for 3 years, they are eligible for citizenship.  But you don't HAVE to apply for citizenship at that point.As far as divorce goes, I don't know what exactly happens.  All I know is that divorce does not end my obligation to support my spouse if he cannot support himselfhttp://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864.pdfHonestly, we've spent so much time trying to figure out how to GET citizenship for FI that we haven't looked into what happens if we get divorced.I hope these forms/website are helpful, but I'd definitely give an immigration lawyer a quick call.

Acrosthec

Yea, I know the divorce aspect is probably a bleak topic and not one that newly engaged couples usually talk about, but I had to ask.  Thanks for the links!  Hopefully they will be very helpful!