Citizenship Header

Naturalization

There are two ways in which an individual can become a US citizen. One is by birth, and the other is by naturalization. You may become a US citizen by naturalization by satisfying the following statutory eligibility requirements.

How to Qualify:

  1. You are at least 18 years of age when you file your application for naturalization,
  2. You are a lawful permanent resident of the US,
  3. You have resided in the US as a permanent resident for a continuous period of 5 years immediately before filing your application (If you are married to a US citizen, you have resided in the US for a continuous period of 3 years),
  4. You have been physically present in the US for at least 30 months of the 5 years before filing your application (If you are married to a US citizen, you have been physically present in the US for 18 months of the 3 years),
  5. You have resided in the state or district where the application is filed for at least 3 months immediately before filing your application,
  6. You are proficient in English in that you can read, write, and speak basic English,
  7. You have a fundamental knowledge of the history and government of the US,
  8. You are a person of good moral character, and
  9. You must support the Constitution of the US and pledge allegiance to the US.

You may request an interview in your native language rather than English if:

Additionally, if you are older than 65 and have resided in the US for at least 20 years as a permanent resident, your civics test questions will come from a list of only 20 instead of the standard 100 questions.