text: do you automaticly become a citizen of the u.s. when you marry a u.s. citizen or is there a waiting period?   i'm married to a u.s. citizen; you get a temporary green card for 2 years since the date you get married.  on your 2nd anniversary you apply to remove conditional residency, meaning you get a regular green card.  and on your 3rd anniversary you are eligible to apply for citizenship. so in total it's a 3 years process but you have to file for the paperwork, they will not just hand it over to you, you have to ask for it.