A: Assuming you are still with your husband, you qualify to naturalize three years after the USCIS granted you conditional permanent residence. You may file your application three months before that date. To qualify to naturalize under the special rules for the spouse of a U.S. citizen, you must have been married to and living with the same U.S.-citizen husband for three years while a permanent resident. That includes time in conditional-residence status.

Note that to apply three months before the third anniversary of your getting residence, you must have been married to and living with your husband a full three years before applying. Put another way, you can apply three months before the third year of residence if by then you have been married for three years. In your case, I'm sure you can file three months before you have three years' residence. It takes more than three months for the U.S. to grant permanent residence. I mention the three-years-of-marriage rule because some individuals get residence (for instance, through a parent), then marry a U.S. citizen. In those cases, the applicant must wait until he or she has been married for a full three years before submitting a naturalization application. Or he or she must qualify under the five-years-of-residence rule that applies to most applicants.

EVEN VETERANS MUST APPLY FOR U.S. CITIZENSHIP

Q: The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is trying to deport me despite my six years of military service. How can I fight this? I am a permanent resident. I've been in the United States as a permanent resident since I was 19 years old. I am now 53. I served in the U.S. Army for six years. Twice the police arrested me for possession of marijuana for personal use. Both times the judge granted me probation. I never served time in jail. When I joined the Army, my recruiter told me that if I got an honorable discharge I would become a U.S. citizen. — Patrick M., Freehold, N.J.

A: You are not a U.S. citizen, but you may have a chance to fight your deportation (now called "removal"). The law provides for an easier path to U.S. citizenship for veterans and active-duty members of the armed services, but you would have had to applied before you committed your crimes. Citizenship for veterans is not automatic. Still, as a long-term permanent resident, you may qualify for "cancellation of removal" and stay in the United States. You may even eventually qualify for U.S. citizenship.

A permanent resident qualifies for cancellation of removal if he or she has been a permanent resident for five years. The person must have lived here for seven years after having been admitted, in any status. You meet this test, though it doesn't apply to applicants who have served in the military for a minimum of 24 months and were honorably discharged. Note that individuals convicted of what the law calls "aggravated felonies" are not eligible for cancellation of removal. Simple possession of marijuana is not an aggravated felony. To decide whether you deserve cancellation of removal, an immigration judge will consider positive and negative factors. Positive factors include family ties here, length of residence, employment history, proof of rehabilitation and service in the armed forces. Negative factors include your criminal record and other evidence of bad character or undesirability.