Pronoun IT

[Anonymous]

Dear Pete (or Rusty):

[1] Which is correct, 'is' or 'has been'? Some say both are correct, and some say only 'has been' is correct. Who is correct?
[2] I think in these sentences "it" is an impersonal pronoun. Am I right?

1. [It] [is, has been] five years since I last was there.
2. [It] [is, has been] ten years since they got married.
3. [It] [is, has been] three years since I started [Japanese learning, learning Japanese]

Thank you very much.
Best regards.

[Pete]

Dear Pete (or Rusty):

[1] Which is correct, 'is' or 'has been'? Some say both are correct, and some say only 'has been' is correct. Who is correct?
[2] I think in these sentences "it" is an impersonal pronoun. Am I right?

1. [It] [is, has been] five years since I last was there.
2. [It] [is, has been] ten years since they got married.
3. [It] [is, has been] three years since I started [Japanese learning, learning Japanese]

Thank you very much.
Best regards.
I think "has been" sounds more natural; it is the tense I would use. Although I suspect that "is" is non-standard, I know that I sometimes hear it used that way.

Yes, I believe that these are impersonal uses of the word it.