TEN BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR NATURALIZATION
- The first basic requirement is that the individual must
be eighteen years of age and a Lawful
Permanent Resident (LPR). Exception: LPR status/18
year age limit is not necessary if the person honorably
served in time of war or declared hostility.
- The individual has to establish ‘continuous residence’
for 5 years before filing the application.
Exceptions: A spouse of a U.S. citizen who is ‘living
in marital union’ with the U.S. citizen or a battered
or abused spouse of a U.S. citizen, would be eligible
with a reduced period of 3 years.
- To satisfy the continuous residence requirement in item
2 above, the applicant must be physically present
in the U.S. for a total of at least one half of
the 5 or 3-year period. (‘The statutory period.’)
- Further, no single trip of over a year outside the
U.S. can be made up to the time of admission
of citizenship. (Re-entry permits would not overcome
this problem.) If the applicant has spent over a
year outside the U.S., the law requires that a fresh
waiting period of 4 years and 1 day, (or 2 years
and 1 day where the statutory period is 3 years),
from the date of return into the U.S.
- Since trips over 6 months are also presumed to break
the continuity of residence requirement, the
safest route is to ensure all trips outside the
U.S. during this period are for less than 6 months.
It is possible to rebut this legal presumption with
proper evidence that the applicant did not in fact
abandon his residence in the U.S. based on the facts
of each case.
- Prior to the filing of an application for Naturalization,
the applicant must be able to establish his/her
physical presence in a specific state for 3 months,
in order to be able to file an application in that
jurisdiction.
- The applicant must be able to establish his/her ‘good
moral character’ during the statutory period.
(The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
may, however, also look into any criminal or other
problems preceding the statutory period.) A criminal
record during this period would require to be revealed
in the naturalization form. Serious crimes, such
as murder and aggravated felony, would bar the applicant
permanently. Other issues, which may preclude naturalization
only if they occur during the statutory period and
are important when determining the moral character
of the applicant, are conviction for a crime of
moral turpitude, conviction for two or more offences
with a total sentence of 5 years or more, conviction
for any controlled substance law, being confined
to a penal institution for 180 days or more, conviction
for two or more gambling offences, activities involving
prostitution, gambling, smuggling of illegal aliens
into the US, being a habitual drunkard, practicing
polygamy, willful failure to support dependents
and also willful violation of the compulsory military
draft registration requirements.
- There are statutory bars, which would also bar
an application for naturalization. These include
subversive activities, being a member of the communist
party, a convicted deserter during war, an alien
under deportation proceedings.
- All the above requirements must be satisfied by the
applicant not just at the time of filing the application
for naturalization but also during the whole waiting
process, the interview and up to the oath ceremony.
In other words, the applicant must be particularly
aware of all the travel restrictions until he/she
is actually sworn in as a U.S. citizen.
- The last requirement is that the applicant must pass
the interview. For this the applicant must demonstrate
a basic understanding of reading, writing and
spoken English and it is at the discretion
of the INS officer whether the applicant meets this
requirement. The applicant is also required to have
knowledge of U.S. history and civics
and must correctly answer at least 7 out of 10 questions
to pass the test and the interview. An applicant
who fails the first time is given a second chance
within 90 days of the first interview. Exception
to the English and knowledge requirements exist
for persons with physical or mental disabilities.
Exceptions to these requirements also exist depending
on the age of the individual and the number of years
in LPR status.
InfoLinks:
- Citizenship (Naturalization)
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