Some statutory requirements have to be met so as to become a citizen of the United States. Any foreign national can apply for citizenship to the United States, but some procedures have to be necessarily gone through. We shall look at some of the steps here:

 NATURALIZATION: This process involves several steps, and filing applications alone may not do. The first step involves filing an application for naturalization. Followed by that, the applicants must submit biometrics information, attend the naturalization interview, pass the tests and finally take the oath. An individual who successfully goes through the entire process alone will be granted US citizenship. The Form N-400, is the USCIS form that must be filed by an immigrant who aims at obtaining US citizenship. This form, like the other USCIS forms is not imple and is quite complicated.

DETERMINE WHETHER YOU ARE ELIGIBLE:

Remember that, to file an application for naturalization, you need to be a Green Card holder. If you are a Green Card holder, you should then qualify for naturalization with the following requirements:

18 or Older: You must not be a minor and at the time of filing Form N-400, you must be above age 18.

Good Moral Character: This is one of the most important requirements as you will never be permitted to become a US citizen if you are a criminal. You must not have falsely claimed US citizenship and you must not have been criminally convicted. You must be a law abiding person and must not be a member of any criminal organization.

Continuous Residence: You must have maintained residence in America for a certain period of time. If you are the spouse of a US citizen, at the time of applying for US citizenship, you will have to establish that you have been living in America for the past three years. If you are not the spouse of a US citizen, you will have to prove that you have been living in America for the past five years. If you had remained in a foreign country for more than 6 months within the past three or five years, you cannot apply for US citizenship. That is because, a trip outside the country for longer than 6 months will break continuous residency.

Physical Presence : If you are the spouse of a US citizen and if you are applying for citizenship after three years of permanent residency, to qualify, you must have spent at least 18 months in America. Similarly, if you are applying for US citizenship, five years after becoming a permanent resident, you must establish that you have spent 30 consecutive months in America. If you hold a Green Card and if you are in the US Armed Forces, you can apply for citizenship, after 1 year of service and you need not meet the physical presence requirement.

Residence : You must have resided in the American state in which you are applying for US citizenship, for a minimum of three months. However, this requirement does not apply to the members of the US Armed Forces.