Citizenship & naturalization

How do you become a US citizen if you were not born here?

People born abroad become US citizens in one of three ways: naturalization, acquisition at birth, or derivation as a child. Naturalization is an application an adult permanent resident makes. Acquisition and derivation happen automatically by law, and the paperwork only proves them. A citizenship lawyer starts by working out which of the three fits your facts.

The distinction matters because the forms, the evidence and the risks all differ. A permanent resident who files Form N-400 asks USCIS to grant citizenship. By contrast, a person who files Form N-600 asks USCIS to confirm an existing citizenship. Sometimes that citizenship began decades ago.

Members of the US armed forces have their own provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act, and so do certain spouses of US citizens working abroad. Those cases follow separate rules, and a citizenship attorney assesses them individually.

Who qualifies to naturalize?

You qualify to naturalize if you are at least 18, have been a lawful permanent resident for five years under INA § 316 (or three years under INA § 319(a) if you have been married to and living with the same US citizen), and meet the other statutory requirements. The USCIS officer checks each one at your interview.

• Continuous residence You have lived in the United States without long breaks. A trip of more than six months creates a presumption that residence was broken. A trip of a year or more breaks it unless an exception applies.
• Physical presence You have been inside the United States for at least half of the qualifying period. That means thirty months of the five years, or eighteen months of the three.
• Local residence You have lived for at least three months in the state or USCIS district where you file.
• Good moral character Your conduct during the qualifying period, and sometimes before it, meets the standard in INA § 101(f). Taxes, arrests, child support and truthfulness all count.
• English and civics You can read, write and speak basic English and can pass a civics test, unless an exemption applies.
• Attachment to the Constitution You support the principles of the US Constitution and are willing to take the Oath of Allegiance.

USCIS accepts an N-400 up to ninety days before you reach the five-year or three-year mark. An application filed even one day before that window is denied, and USCIS does not refund the filing fee. The naturalization page walks through the calculation in detail.

What happens after you and your citizenship lawyer file Form N-400?

After you file Form N-400, USCIS takes your fingerprints and runs background checks. It then interviews you at a field office and approves, continues or denies the application. An approval does not make you a citizen on its own; you become one when you take the Oath of Allegiance.

1. Filing You send the N-400 to USCIS online or by mail. It goes with a copy of your green card and whatever evidence your history calls for.
2. Biometrics USCIS schedules a fingerprint and photo appointment at an Application Support Center for its background and criminal record checks.
3. Interview An officer goes through your application with you under oath and gives the English and civics test. Your citizenship lawyer can attend with you.
4. Decision The officer grants, continues or denies the application. A continuance usually means USCIS wants more documents or a retest on a part you did not pass.
5. Oath ceremony You take the Oath of Allegiance, hand back your green card and receive your Certificate of Naturalization. Some field offices hold the oath on the day of the interview; others schedule a later ceremony.

USCIS publishes processing times for each field office, and they change often. A citizenship lawyer can tell you the current range for your office. They can also flag what in your file might slow it down. The firm’s process page explains how a matter runs from the first call to the decision.

What is on the citizenship test?

The naturalization test has two parts: an English test covering reading, writing and speaking, and a civics test on US history and government. The officer assesses your spoken English throughout the interview and gives the reading, writing and civics portions in person.

USCIS has revised the civics test more than once, and the version you take depends on when you filed. USCIS publishes the study materials, the number of questions and the passing score for each version. So the right study list is the one that matches your filing date.

Some applicants do not take the English test at all, and some receive a simplified civics test.

• 50/20 If you are 50 or older and have been a permanent resident for 20 years when you file, you are exempt from the English requirement. You can also take the civics test in your own language with an interpreter.
• 55/15 The same exemption applies if you are 55 or older and have been a permanent resident for 15 years.
• 65/20 At 65 or older with 20 years as a permanent resident, you also receive special consideration on civics: a shorter, designated set of questions, asked in your own language.
• Form N-648 A licensed medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy or clinical psychologist can certify that a physical or developmental disability or a mental impairment prevents you from meeting the English requirement, the civics requirement, or both.

If you fail any part, USCIS gives you one more opportunity, generally 60 to 90 days after the first interview, and retests only the part you missed. Citizenship test help covers preparation, the exemptions and the medical exception in more depth.

Are children of US citizens automatically citizens?

Many children of US citizens are citizens already, without ever having applied. Whether a particular child is depends on the law in effect at birth, or when the last condition was met. Today’s law may not be the one that applies.

Children born abroad to a US citizen

A child born outside the United States can acquire citizenship at birth under INA § 301 or § 309 if a parent was a US citizen and had lived in, or been physically present in, the United States for the required period before the birth. Congress has changed that required period several times, so the birth date decides which version of the rule applies.

Children who immigrated

A child who became a permanent resident derives citizenship automatically under INA § 320 if, before turning 18, at least one parent is a US citizen and the child lives in the United States in that parent’s legal and physical custody. Children who were already 18 on February 27, 2001, when the Child Citizenship Act took effect, fall under the older rules instead.

In either case, proof of US citizenship is a US passport or a Certificate of Citizenship on Form N-600. The pages on children born abroad and the Certificate of Citizenship explain the rules and the evidence.

What does a citizenship lawyer check before you file?

Most citizenship problems come from facts that were already in the file before anyone filed. Typical examples are an old arrest, a long trip, an unfiled tax year, or a question about how the green card was obtained. The N-400 asks about all of them, and the officer reads your answers against USCIS’s own records.

• Filing too early An application filed before the ninety-day window opens is denied, and the filing fee is lost.
• Long trips abroad Absences of more than six months need an explanation, and absences of a year or more usually restart the clock.
• Criminal history Some offenses bar naturalization permanently, others only during the qualifying period, and some make a permanent resident removable. Court records are worth reviewing with a citizenship attorney before the N-400 goes in.
• Taxes and child support Unfiled returns or unpaid support during the qualifying period can count against good moral character unless you have addressed them.
• The original green card USCIS can revisit whether you were eligible for permanent residence in the first place. If it finds you were not, it denies naturalization and the case can move to immigration court.
• Selective Service Most men who lived in the United States between the ages of 18 and 26 had to register. A knowing failure to register within the qualifying period can affect good moral character.

A denial is not the end of the road. You can request a hearing before another USCIS officer by filing Form N-336 within 30 days of the decision. After that, you can seek review in federal district court.

Can you keep your other citizenship when you naturalize?

The United States does not require you to give up another citizenship in practice, even though the Oath of Allegiance includes words of renunciation. Whether you keep your Armenian, Russian or other citizenship depends on that country’s law, not on anything USCIS decides.

Armenia has permitted dual citizenship since 2007. Other countries treat naturalization abroad differently, and some ask their citizens to notify them of a new citizenship. That country’s consulate can confirm its current rules.

Once you are a US citizen, US law requires you to enter and leave the United States on a US passport, even if you also hold another one.

When does a citizenship attorney help most?

Many people naturalize on their own, and a simple N-400 does not always need a lawyer. A citizenship lawyer earns the fee when your file holds something USCIS will ask about. That might be an arrest, a long trip abroad, an unfiled tax year, or a green card obtained through a marriage that later ended.

A naturalization lawyer also helps when the real question is whether you are already a citizen. In that case, a parent’s residence dates, custody orders and old immigration records decide the answer. Ideally, that review happens before you apply for US citizenship, while there is still time to choose the right form and the right moment.

What does a citizenship lawyer cost?

A citizenship matter with this firm is quoted as a flat fee, agreed in writing before any work begins. The fee covers the matter as quoted and does not rise because USCIS takes longer than expected. USCIS sets the government filing fees, and you pay them separately, directly to the government. USCIS also offers a reduced fee or a fee waiver to some applicants based on income.

The first consultation is free and takes about thirty minutes, in person in Glendale or by phone or video; the fees and consultations page has the details.