US CITIZENSHIP BY NATURALIZATION
Individuals who are legal permanent residents (green card holders) can become US citizens by the process called naturalization.
Permanent residents who obtained green card as a victim of an abusive US citizen; as the child of a victim abused by a US citizen spouse; as the permanent resident who obtained green by marriage and continue to maintain marital relationship are eligible to apply for US citizenship 90 days prior to the 3-year anniversary of the date when they received their green card.
Permanent residents who obtained green card based on other grounds are eligible to apply for US citizenship 90 days prior to the 5-year anniversary of the date when they received their green card.
Applicants for US citizenship must meet the following requirements:
Continuous Residence
An applicant must reside continuously in the US during the last 3 or 5 years of the permanent residence period, e.g. maintain a domicile or actual dwelling place in the US, and have not interrupted their continuous residence by extended absences outside of the US (more than 6 months).
Extended absences for more than 6 months but less than 1 year.
Extended absences outside of the United States for more than 6 months but less than 1 year create a rebuttable presumption that the absence may have disrupted the continuous residence period. The applicant can still demonstrate that the continuous residence was not disrupted by providing additional evidence: the applicant’s immediate family members remained in the US, the applicant owned or leased a house or apartment in the US; the applicant’s employment was not terminated in the US.
Extended absences for 1 year or more
Extended absences for 1 year or more automatically break the continuous residence period.
Please note that obtaining a reentry permit does not affect the continuous residence requirement, e.g. a reentry permit holder will break the continuous residence period even where the reentry permit was issued.
If the applicant is applying based on the 3-year continuous residence period and was absent from the US for more than 1 year, the applicant will have to wait in the United States a new period of at least 2 years and 1 day and overcome the presumption of a break in continuous residence or wait for a total of 2 years and 6 months to qualify again for naturalization.
If the applicant is applying based on the 5-year continuous residence period, and was absent from the US for 1 year or more, then the applicant must wait in the US a period of 4 years and 6 months to be meet the continuous residence requirement for naturalization.
There are exceptions to the continuous residence requirement if the applicant worked for a qualified employer outside of the US and the employer filed Form N-470. The qualified employers are:
- The U.S. government.
- An entity that is currently recognized by USCIS as an American institution of research.
- An American firm or corporation (or a subsidiary of that firm or corporation) where you engage in developing the foreign trade and commerce of the United States.
- An American firm or corporation engaged in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the United States, where you protect the property rights outside the United States of that American firm or corporation.
- A public international organization of which the United States is a member by treaty or statute.
- A denomination or mission that has a bona fide organization in the United States in which you perform ministerial or priestly functions or your sole role is a clergyman or clergywoman, missionary, brother, nun, or sister.
Physical Presence
In addition to the continuous presence requirement, applicants for naturalization must also meet the physical presence requirement.
Applicants for naturalization based on the 3-year continuous residence requirement must prove that they were physically present in the US for a period of 18 months within the 3-year period before applying for naturalization.
Applicants for naturalization based on the 5-year continuous residence requirement must prove that they were physically present in the US for a period of 30 months within the 5-year period before applying for naturalization.
Applicants for naturalization must also prove that they have resided for a period of 3 months immediately preceding the filing of the application in the USCIS district or state where the applicant resides.
Spouses of military service members can include the time they resided abroad with their spouse towards the physical presence requirement or can be allowed to naturalize from abroad.
Application Process
- File Form N-400 with evidence as instructed by USCIS.
- Receive a receipt I-797C in the mail confirming that the naturalization application was received by USCIS.
- USCIS will schedule a biometrics appointment that the applicant needs to attend.
- Prepare for the civics test closer to the naturalization interview date. Read more about the civics test.
The naturalization applicant who is 65 years old or older and has been a legal permanent resident for 20 years can take a simplified version of the civics test and the test can be conducted in the native language.
If the naturalization applicant is at least 50 years old and has been a legal permanent resident for 20 years or more, or if the applicant is at least 55 years old and has been a legal permanent resident for 15 years or more, the civics test can be administered in the applicant’s native language and with the help of an interpreter.
The test can be waived if the applicant can prove through a professional diagnosis that the applicant suffers from a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment.
- Depending on the processing time, USCIS will schedule a naturalization interview.
- If the applicant successfully passes the civics test and satisfies the rest of the requirements at the interview, the USCIS officer will inform the applicant about the approval at the interview. If the applicant wishes to change her/his legal name, the USCIS officer needs to be informed at the interview. In this case, your naturalization certificate will be issued in the new name.
- The next step is the naturalization ceremony. USCIS will notify you about the date and time.
- Once the applicant receives the naturalization certificate, she/he can apply for US passport.
