Naturalizing provides many benefits, including new legal rights and protections. The road to naturalization can be long but well worth the wait. Below, we explore how to become a naturalized citizen, including the steps you must take and how to become eligible.
The multi-national staff at the Law Office of Rosina C. Stambaugh can help you with anything from applying for a green card to taking the Oath of Allegiance. With our immigration history, we do not shy away from even the most complicated cases. Contact us to learn more.
What Are the Steps to Become a Naturalized Citizen?
Becoming a naturalized citizen is usually the final step in a journey many years in the making. Let’s look at the steps required to become naturalized.
- Obtain a green card;
- Maintain your valid legal status for several years;
- Continuously reside in the U.S. for several years;
- Remain physically present in the U.S. for several months;
- Submit Form N-400, Application for Naturalization and supporting documents to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS);
- Pass a naturalization interview, civics test, and English test; and
- Take the Oath of Allegiance.
The primary exception is naturalization through military service, which can require fewer steps.
What Are the Requirements for Naturalization?
You generally establish eligibility to naturalize by:
- Becoming an LPR,
- Continuously residing in the U.S. for five years and the state where you apply for at least three months,
- Being physically present in the U.S. for at least 30 months, and
- Proving you have good moral character (GMC).
The qualifications for naturalization vary slightly for LPRs married to U.S. citizens, who must:
- Continuously reside in the U.S. for three years,
- Be physically present in the U.S. for at least 18 months, and
- Live together in a marital union for three years or more.
Because military qualification varies more significantly, we address it separately below.
Military Applicants
You may qualify to naturalize through military service if you complete one year of honorable service during peacetime or a period of active hostilities. September 11, 2001, to the present, qualifies as a period of active hostilities.
If you apply based on service during active hostilities, you:
- Are exempt from the physical presence and continuous residence requirements;
- Need not be an LPR if you were physically present in the U.S., its territories, or a U.S. vessel when you enlisted; and
- Only have to show GMC for one year.
If you apply while serving or within six months of honorable discharge during peacetime, you are exempt from the physical presence and continuous residence requirements. You do not qualify for the other exemptions, and applying later requires you to meet the five-year timeline.
Green Card
You can get a green card in several ways, including the following:
- If you have close family relationships with citizens, like your parents or children;
- If you have certain types of employment opportunities;
- If you are a refugee or asylee;
- If you are a victim of human trafficking or other crimes; or
- If you are the victim of abuse.
This is not an exhaustive list, and even if you fall into one of these categories, getting your green card can be a lengthy, complicated process.
Continuous Residence
You accrue continuous residence over time. The accrual can be interrupted if you leave the U.S. for six months or longer, but the consequences vary depending on whether your absence is more than six months but less than a year—or over a year.
Six months to a year
If you leave the U.S. for over six months but less than a year, the government presumes the absence interrupted your continuous residence. However, you may prove that you actually maintained your residence.
A year or longer
Your continuous residence automatically breaks if you leave the U.S. for a year or longer. You can only maintain residence when leaving to perform specific work and with prior USCIS approval. Otherwise, your continuous residence clock resets.
Physical Presence
You must be physically present within U.S. borders for the required cumulative days. Interruptions to physical presence do not negatively impact your eligibility.
Good Moral Character
The USCIS officer reviewing your application will determine whether you have GMC based on a variety of factors. Some of these factors include:
- Family relationships and history,
- Criminal history,
- History of compliance with the law, and
- Credibility.
This is not an exhaustive list. Typically, criminal history plays the most significant role in determining that someone lacks GMC.
The law establishes temporary and permanent bars to establishing GMC. USCIS generally considers the required statutory residence period for temporary bars and your lifetime for permanent bars.
Temporary bars
You may be temporarily barred if you commit certain crimes, willfully fail to support your dependents, or commit adultery. If you are temporarily barred, you can usually naturalize once enough time passes.
Permanent bars
You may be permanently barred if you commit or attempt certain crimes the law regards as particularly severe, including murder, aggravated felonies, persecution, genocide, or torture.
Aggravated felonies include—but are not limited to—the following:
- Rape or sexual abuse of a minor,
- Human trafficking and related offenses,
- Trafficking in controlled substances,
- Trafficking in firearms or explosive devices,
- Crimes of violence, and
- Various fraud and money laundering offenses.
Because of the severe consequences, it is essential to have a criminal defense attorney who is familiar with immigration law if you are charged with one of these crimes.
Get Help Naturalizing
No matter where you are in the naturalization process, the Law Office of Rosina C. Stambaugh can help. Reach out to learn more about how to become a naturalized citizen in your unique circumstances.
