You may file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, 90 calendar days before you complete your permanent residence requirement if your eligibility for naturalization is based upon being a: Permanent resident for at least 5 years; or. Permanent resident for at least 3 years if you are married to a US citizen.
The 90-day early-filing rule: You may file your naturalization application with USCIS as early as 90 days before the end of your three- or five-year wait period as a green card holder — as long as you've met all other eligibility criteria.
Continuous Residence Requirement. An applicant for naturalization under the general provision must have resided continuously in the United States after his or her lawful permanent resident (LPR) admission for at least 5 years prior to filing the naturalization application and up to the time of naturalization.
If you're a green card holder with no special circumstances, you can apply for United States citizenship at least five years after obtaining your green card. You also must have physically lived in the U.S. for at least 30 months (two-and-a-half years) out of those five years.
As a permanent resident, you are generally eligible for naturalization after five years. This is the most common way that people apply to become a U.S. citizen. To qualify, you must have lived in the U.S. continuously for the five years immediately preceding the date you file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.
You may file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, 90 calendar days before you complete your permanent residence requirement if your eligibility for naturalization is based upon being a: Permanent resident for at least 5 years; or. Permanent resident for at least 3 years if you are married to a US citizen.
A green card provides many advantages, primarily that it allows the green card holder to permanently live and work in the United States, and after a number of years, become a U.S. citizen.
How long does it take to become a U.S. citizen? The national average processing time for naturalization (citizenship) applications is 14.5 months.
Therefore, if you are outside of the United States longer than the date the permit was issued, you may be denied entry into the United States. To apply for a re-entry permit, you must file an application for a travel document (I-131) with the USCIS.
3 Years of Continuous Residence. The spouse of a U.S. citizen residing in the United States must have continuously resided in the United States as an LPR for at least 3 years immediately preceding the date of the filing the application and up to the time of the Oath of Allegiance.
You may file Form N-400 ninety (90) calendar days before you complete your permanent residence requirement if your eligibility for naturalization is based upon being a: • Permanent resident for at least 5 years; or • Permanent resident for at least 3 years if you are married to a U.S. citizen.
You may travel to another country, including your home country, provided no other legal impediment precludes you from doing so. However, if a trip lasts longer than 180 days, USCIS may determine that you have not continuously resided in the United States and therefore are ineligible for naturalization.
$1,170. You may pay the fee with a money order, personal check, or cashier's check. When filing at a USCIS lockbox, you may also pay by credit card using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions. If you pay by check, you must make your check payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
$640. (Add the $85 biometric fee for a total of $725, where applicable. See exceptions below.) If you file your Form N-400 online, you may pay your fee online.
In general, you may qualify for naturalization if you are at least 18 years old and have been a permanent resident for at least 5 years (or 3 years if you are married to a U.S. citizen) and meet all other eligibility requirements.
Yes, the applicant must prove physical presence in the USA for ten years. That part is easy. However, the applicant must also prove that removal from the USA would constitute extreme and exceptionally unusual hardship to a USC or LPR immediate relative.
Basically under 8 U.S.C. Section 1256(a), the USCIS CANNOT take away or rescind someone's green card after five years. This statute is very important for green card holders who are in removal, and creative lawyering as well as reliance on that statute could very well save people from losing their green cards.
Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) of the U.S. must present a Permanent Resident Card ("Green Card", Form I-551), a Reentry Permit (if gone for more than 1 year), or a Returning Resident Visa (if gone for 2 years or more) to reenter the United States.
Many clients ask: What if my green card expires while I'm waiting for citizenship? If your green card expires, or is about to expire, while you're waiting for citizenship, you don't need to worry. The USCIS has created Form I-90 specifically for the purpose of replacing an expired green card.
Applications for work permits saw an increase of processing times from 3.2 months in FY 2020 to 4.3 months in FY 2022.
A typical citizenship interview lasts about 20 minutes, but the exact timeframe varies by applicant.
The vast majority of green card holders are mostly unaffected by a divorce. If you are already a lawful permanent resident with a 10-year green card, renewing a green card after divorce is uneventful. You file Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, to renew or replace the green card.
US citizens can travel without a visa to more than 170 countries worldwide. Because of this, many places have extended the same privilege to holders of the US permanent residence permit (Green Card).
Benefits of obtaining a Green Card
You can apply for financial aid for education, work anywhere you want in the US, start your own business or corporation, and you can actually receive Social Security if you have worked in the US for at least 10 years.