Who Are Eligible to Get A United States Naturalization Application?

US citizenship is the highest privilege that could be obtained from the US Government. It gives the right to enjoy a great deal of benefits and concessions, which are restricted, even for the Green card holders. Every immigrant entering the US hopes to become its citizen someday. However this is not as easy as it sounds and immigrants should be prepared to undertake the long journey.

What is the Naturalization application?

This is the form that is to be used to get naturalized as a US citizen. This is one of the available ways of becoming US citizen, the others being birthright citizenship and acquiring citizenship through parents. Form N-400 is the naturalization application form and there are separate forms for the other categories of becoming citizens.

This form carries an instruction manual that comes along with the application form. Reading this and also ‘A guide to Naturalization’ will be highly helpful for applicants to fill up the form. There is a naturalization eligibility worksheet at the end of the guide which will serve to guide you to determine whether you are eligible to file in the naturalization application.

You are eligible if you satisfy the following requirements

You are actually an 18 yr. old or older than that at the time of filing in your N-400 - Minors have to wait! You have been a green card holder for the past 5 years, if you are in a marriage with a US citizen, then its 3 yrs for you (provided that you are still living with that US citizen during the time of filing in your naturalization application). Military Personnel are exempted from this requirement, though. Here comes the most important and difficult test - You must be able to demonstrate at least of 5 years of continuous residence in the US. This should be immediately preceding the date of applicant’s filing of the naturalization application form. If you want to make trips out of the US, ensure that they are less than six months otherwise you will be in fix.

Similar to the above mentioned, you need to demonstrate a physical presence of at least 30 months. It is just 18 months for the spouses of US citizens. ( On a lighter note, this is the benefit of marrying a US citizen- Less Waiting times) You should have stayed at least 3 months at the primary residence in the state where you
are filing in you naturalization form.

These are the basic eligibility criteria that need to be fulfilled by every applicant regarding the status and the presence in the US. The Naturalization process does not end by just submitting the N-400 and getting it approved. After your application has been approved, you
will be asked to appear for the citizenship test and interview which decides your eligibility for becoming US citizens.

You need to ensure that you have these qualities to clear the test.

• You should be able to read, write, read plain and simple English unless you are
inhibited from doing so by physical impairments. Senior citizens who have been permanent residents for quite a long time are exempted from this

• You should know about the history and constitution of US. You will be expected to answer questions based on this.

A final note on the eligibility list is that you should be a person of good moral character who will pledge to abide by the laws of US Constitution at all points of time. Once you have made sure
that you are indeed eligible for naturalization, you can very well go ahead with the completion of the naturalization application.