Citizenship through Naturalization

In order to become a United States Citizen through Naturalization you must meet the following criteria:

1. Be at least 18 years old;
2. Be a Permanent Resident of the United States and have been issued a Permanent Resident Card;
3. If you received your Permanent Resident status as a result of marriage to a United States Citizen, you must have been a Permanent Resident for 3 years and not been outside the United States for 18 months or more during that 3 year period;
4. If your Permanent Resident Status was not based on marriage to a United States Citizen, then you must have been a Permanent Resident for the last 5 years and not been outside the United States for 30 months or more;
5. For the 3 and 5 year requirement, all trips outside the United States during that time must be less than 1 year in duration;
6. You have to have lived in the State where you are applying for Citizenship for at least the last 3 months prior to applying;
7. You must be able to read and write English;
8. You must know the fundamentals of U.S. history and government; (study materials can be found at the following links on the USCIS website):

• http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/quiz/learners/study-test/study-materials-civics-test/naturalization-self-test-1 and
• http://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test

9. You must be of good moral character;
10. You must be willing to perform military service for the U.S. if required;
11. You must support the U.S. Constitution; and
12. You must understand and take an oath of allegiance to the United States.

The foregoing list is a general overview of the requirements that need to be met to become a United States Citizen.  There are exceptions to some of the above requirements which would need to be discussed with an immigration attorney.