Citizenship

Requirements. Citizenship is conferred on someone who has been a Legal Permanent Resident for five (5) years, been a person of “good moral character” and is over the age of 18. If a person is under the age of 18, they may become naturalized if they have at least one U.S. citizen parent. In the event that you obtained your LPR status through marriage, however, you need only wait three (3) years, even if you were granted two years’ “conditional” residence.

“Good moral character” requires that you not have committed any criminal offense within five (5) years of your application. Arrests do not count against you, only convictions. You must, however, disclose your arrests and any court dispositions where court supervision may have been granted, since these items will be discovered by the Bureau when it does your background check. Further, even if you have offenses older than five (5) years, the Bureau may use them to deny your application and, depending upon the seriousness of those offenses, the Bureau may also choose to place you into removal proceedings.

The Citizenship application includes submitting a N400 (Naturalization Application), Form G-325A (Biographic Data), three (3) immigration-type photos, and the required fee to the National Service Center for your state. If you reside In Illinois, for instance, you would submit the application to the Nebraska Service Center. Anytime within four months of the submission of your application you will be asked to be fingerprinted for purposes of a criminal background check. You will receive a notice of submission, which will set forth your anticipated waiting period for the interview. It is not unusual for the wait time for an interview to be as long as 2 ½ years from the time that the application is submitted.

When you appear at you interview, you will be given a U.S. Citizenship examination which tests your knowledge of U.S. government and history. In conjunction with that test, the examiner will also be listening to your ability to speak English. See, Questions for Naturalization Test. You must pass this test to be eligible. If, however, you are over 65 years of age, and have had LPR status for 20 years or more, you are eligible to receive an easier test, and to take the test in your own language.

Benefits. After your swearing in ceremony, you are provided a certificate of citizenship which cannot be taken away, except where the Bureau asserts that you obtained it by fraud. You hold the same rights as any other U.S. citizen. Therefore, you cannot lose your citizenship if you leave the United States for any extended period of time nor be deported if you commit a crime. And, lastly, you may begin to sponsor other relatives as a U.S. citizen, which is the basis for faster applications for any particular beneficiary.

Denial & Appeals. Usually, the Bureau provides you written notice of your denial, states the reasons, and provides instructions on how and where to appeal. Your appeal is initially submitted to the Bureau itself. In the event that the Bureau denies your appeal, you may also appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in the circuit in which you live.