I am in grad school on a F 1 visa. My visa is valid until 2015. My boyfriend is a green card holder for the past 12 years.
We want to get married and I would like to become a permanent resident so that I don't have to worry about having to separate and leaving the country. I am guessing it will be easier if my boyfriend applies for US citizenship, instead of us getting married when he is only a permanent resident.
My questions are:
1. How long is the approximate waiting time for a green card holder to get citizenship?
2. If we would get married while he's applying for citizenship, but would be a permanent resident at the time of our marriage, would that influence my F 1 status in a negative way? If he's a permanent resident, can we file for a family-based green card for me as soon as we are married?
3. If he would get his citizenship and we would get married, and my F 1 Visa would expire, after we got married, would I still be able to stay in the US due to the fact that he would be a US citizen?
I very much appreciate any help,
thank you very much!

