Citizenship and Immigration

Typically, applicants must reside within the United States as a lawful permanent resident for five continuous years, or three years if they’re married to a U.S. citizen, before they can apply for citizenship. But eligible foreign-born service members require no more than one day of honorable service before they can file their Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.

Civilian applicants must live in the state or service district where they file their Form N-400 for a minimum of three months. Eligible foreign-born service members do not need to meet this requirement.

Between the naturalization application and fingerprinting fees, civilian applicants pay about $800 to become a U.S. citizen. Foreign-born service members are not required to pay the application fee, though their spouses are.

Use the online Naturalization Eligibility Tool to start the process. After you have completed your portion of the form, have your chain of command complete and certify Form N-426, Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service. Your chain of command, who must be an O-6 or above, may certify this form after you honorably complete at least one day of active duty during periods of hostility – which have been continuous since Sept. 11, 2001 – or one full year during peacetime. This time includes basic training.

This includes completing Form N-426 and receiving certification from the previous step. Form N-400 instructions tell you how to complete the form and indicate what documents you will need to provide to USCIS to complete the naturalization process. Gather those materials before completing and filing your application. You may file a paper application by sending it to the Lockbox indicated in the instructions, or you may file online after creating a myUSCIS account. USCIS will conduct security checks as part of the application process.
If you are overseas, you must provide two passport photos and two FD-258 fingerprint cards at the time you file Form N-400 (see step 3).

If you live stateside, you will receive a notice to go to an Application Support Center to provide fingerprints as part of the required security checks. Service members and veterans do not need an appointment to provide fingerprints at an Application Support Center, but you will need to bring your current military identification card. USCIS will use fingerprints from a previous immigration application if they are available. If you are overseas, you may submit two FD-258 fingerprint cards and two passport photos taken by the military police or officials with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. embassy, or U.S. consulate at the time you file Form N-400. Your enlistment fingerprints, if available, may be used if you are unable to report for fingerprinting.

The USCIS officer will review your application with you and test your knowledge of spoken and written English and U.S. civics and history. Depending on how your interview goes, the officer will recommend that your naturalization application be approved, denied, put on hold or continued for further review. If your Form N-400 application is denied, you will receive a written notice outlining the reasons for the denial and how you can appeal that decision by filing a Form N-336, Request for a Hearing in Naturalization Proceedings. If you are stationed OCONUS you may be interviewed and naturalized overseas at certain installations.

This could occur on the same day as your interview or be scheduled for a future date.

Dependents of service members and veterans may also be able to apply for U.S. citizenship.

• Eligible spouses of service members may naturalize abroad without traveling to the United States, as explained in Section 319(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. To be eligible for naturalization abroad, the permanent-resident spouse of a member of the U.S. armed forces must:

• • Be authorized to accompany the service member abroad pursuant to their official orders

• • Be married to the service member and be residing with them abroad

• • Meet the requirements of either Section 316(a) or 319(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act at the time of filing the naturalization application, except for the residence and physical-presence requirements

• Spouses of service members who do not meet the requirements of Section 319(a) may be able to naturalize under Section 319(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, even if they are living overseas. However, those applicants must be interviewed and take the Oath of Allegiance in the United States.
• Children of service members who are living overseas and on official orders – including those adopted by American parents – may become naturalized U.S. citizens by filing Form N-600K. These children do not have to travel to the United States.

If you are the spouse, child or parent of a U.S. citizen service member who died on active duty, you may be able to apply for citizenship under Section 319(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

• You must be a lawful permanent resident and meet the other general naturalization requirements.
• You must have been living with your spouse at the time of their death, except for circumstances beyond your control, such as your spouse’s military service.
• You remain eligible for naturalization, even if you have remarried since your service member’s death.

Parole in place allows certain family members who came to the U.S. illegally (without being inspected by an immigration officer at the border), to apply to stay in the country for one year.

This immigration regulation allows you to stay in the U.S. while applying for an immigrant visa. Ordinarily, you would have to leave the U.S. to interview for and receive an immigrant visa at the U.S. consulate in your home country.

To request parole in place, you must submit the following to the United States Citizenship and Immigration office:

• Completed Form I-131, Application for Travel Document; handwrite “Military PIP” in Part 2 instead of checking a box
• Evidence of the family relationship, such as:
  • Marriage certificate
  • Documentation of termination of a previous marriage
  • Son or daughter’s birth certificate
  • Military member’s birth certificate with parent’s name
  • Proof of enrollment in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System
• Evidence that your family member is a current or former member of the U.S. Armed Forces, such as a photocopy of the front and back of the service member’s military identification card or DD Form 214
• Two identical, color, passport-style photographs
• Evidence of any additional favorable discretionary factors that you would like considered

Parole in place is not available to people who overstayed a U.S. visa. It is granted on a case-by-case basis and expires after one year. You may reapply for one-year stays as long as you remain eligible.

Ordinarily, you must live in the U.S. for a certain number of years before being eligible to apply for citizenship. However, if your spouse is a service member stationed outside the country, you may count the period you accompany your spouse overseas as time living in the U.S. You can apply for citizenship while overseas as well.

To qualify, you must:

• Be a lawful permanent resident of the U.S.
• Be authorized to accompany your spouse outside the U.S. by your spouse’s official orders
• Live with your spouse as a married couple
• Meet the requirements of either section 316(a) or 319(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act at the time you file your naturalization application

Overseas naturalization also applies to the children of service members stationed overseas.