Naturalization

In order to be eligible for citizenship in the United States the applicant must meet the following requirements to file for Naturalization.

1. The applicant must be admitted to the permanent residence status, that means must have a valid Green Card.
2. The applicant must have continuous residence in the United States for a minimum period normally of five (5) years, three (3) years if LPR on marriage based.
3. The applicant must be residing in the state of application for a minimum period of three (3) months. That means if you are applying for a particular state you should be resident of that state for at least three (3) months before you file from that state.
4. The applicant must have been physically present in the United States for at least half of the period required for the continuous residence. That means if you are applying through marriage you should be physically present in the United States for a year and a half. All other cases, two and a half years.
5. The applicant must have been present in the United States for five (5) years without any interruption. Interruption means that if you stay out of the United States more than six (6) months your continuity breaks and when you come back, you start all over again with your five (5) or three (3) years.
6. The applicant must be able to read, write, and speak ordinary English. Must have knowledge of United State’s history and government.
7. Must have good moral character.
8. The applicant must have attained 18 years of age at the time of filing the Naturalization application.

Lawful admission as a permanent resident means, that you must have obtained your Green Card through legal means. This is the second time when they go back on the applicant's Green Card and see if the Green Card was legally issued. Sometimes if the immigration has committed a mistake or there was a misrepresentation on the applicant’s part and the Green Card was not legally issued, they can deny your Naturalization application and also start removal proceedings.

Medical disability waivers for Naturalization: there are some people who cannot, speak, write, or read English or cannot memorize the civic and history test. If there is a certificate from a doctor to establish that the person has a disability which is permanent and because of which, he/she cannot memorize and remember things, he/she can be exempted from taking the civic test and from speaking, reading, and writing test in English.

In addition to this, if a person has a Green Card for 20 years or more and is over 65 years of age, he/she can take the test of 25 questions and only answer 6 and can be taken in their own language. There is no English test. There are only history questions that are asked in their language via translator for this waiver.