Thread: How can Canadians get U.S. citizenship?

I'm a Canadian. Let's say I complete my residency in the U.S. on a H1 visa, how would I go about getting U.S. citizenship? How long would it take? Would I have it by the time I finish my residency?

The reason I ask is that since I'm from a smaller community, I'd seriously consider working in an under-serviced area in the States. The beauty is this: I just found out that there are many loan forgiveness programs out there that will definitely knock a good chunk off of my loans, but for most of these, in order to qualify, you need to be a U.S. citizen.

Thanks again everyone,

MedsU

the easiest way would be to marry an american!

It usually takes around 2-3 yrs to receive your green card on an H1 visa. You are eligible for US citizenship 5 years from the day that you get your green card. I think it takes around 1 year to process your citizenzhip application. So you're looking at around 8-9 yrs before you are a US citizen.

Even if you marry a US citizen, you don't become a US citizen right away. You are however eligible for a green card. After the green card, you again have to wait 5 years for US citizenship. There is also additional time spent waiting for the applications to be processed. So you're still looking at around 6-8 yrs.

if i marry an american citizen while attending med school, i will get a green card, right? so would this mean i would have more places i could apply for residency, since i wouldn't have to deal with all the visa stuff?

Originally Posted by skibumdout

if i marry an american citizen while attending med school, i will get a green card, right? so would this mean i would have more places i could apply for residency, since i wouldn't have to deal with all the visa stuff?

that is true/

hmm...now my definition of the perfect women has changed...it now includes american citizenship...hahaha! uhh...maybe i should say "U.S. citizenship considered an asset but not required", that way i wouldn't be excluding just about everyone on the face of this earth, and as you can see, i'm still single, so excluding anyone isn't going to help me out...hahaha...ok i'll shut up now.

All of my canadian classmates did the best thing and married american. They received more interviews for US residencies than the others who didn't marry american!

A.

scenario:

candidate a: step 1, 2 ck/cs = mid 90s, need visa
candidate b: step 1, 2 ck/cs = low 80s, has greencard/citizenship

it's more likely that a program will go with candidate b for the sake of avoiding fees and paperworks involved in sponsoring a visa?

maybe it's time to really look around for an american...

i realize that when you file for marriage and put in the application for citizenship, you get a greencard right away that's valid for two years... with the greencard you can almost immediately obtain a working visa, i guess h1b equivalent except it's marriage sponsored instead of hospital sponsored. so as long as you have the right to work without going through the hospital, it wouldn't make any difference to the programs whether you are on greencard or you are an actual citizen? or is there still noticeable preference toward full citizens?

Once you have a green card you have no visa issues, thus the programs will have no way of distinguishing you from a US citizen who can track his ancestry back to the Mayflower.

Originally Posted by CanIMG

Once you have a green card you have no visa issues, thus the programs will have no way of distinguishing you from a US citizen who can track his ancestry back to the Mayflower.

Sounds practical... I think we should dedicate one part of the valumd.com for CAMS exam.. ( Canadian American Match Service )..

Does anyone want to get married? I am 24, laidback, honest, medical student, no headache, no play games, handsome ....

NEVER LOVE THAT HEART THAT HURTS, NEVER HURT THAT HEART THAT LOVES.

Reza