TEN BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR NATURALIZATION

 

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

  1. 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.’)
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.

 

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The information in this article is of a general nature and may not apply to any specific or particular circumstance. It is not to be construed as legal advice and does not establish an attorney-client relationship between The Law Offices of Cyrus S Nallaseth and the viewer.