How do American green cards (permanent residents) become American citizens through naturalization?

You must meet the requirements for naturalization, take an oral test (depending on personal conditions or simplified), and submit relevant documents.

If everything goes smoothly, you can take the oath of naturalization.

I. Naturalization qualifications

According to the provisions of American immigration law, the general qualification for naturalization is that each applicant must meet the following conditions:

Become a permanent resident of the United States (green card holder): except for some foreign American veterans who served in the US military, having permanent residency in the United States is a "basic" requirement for applicants. All foreigners who apply for naturalization must first obtain permanent residency in the United States.

Applicant's age: at least 18 years old. /kloc-people under the age of 0/8 cannot apply for naturalization by themselves unless their parents apply for naturalization according to their parents' naturalization status, or they are children of American citizens.

Abide by the law and discipline: the applicant has been dignified in the past five years (the spouse of an American citizen only needs to be dignified in three years). All murderers, habitual alcoholics, polygamists, prostitutes, drug addicts, gamblers and people involved in other crimes can be regarded as misconduct and prohibited from applying for naturalization.

Pledge allegiance to the United States: the applicant agrees with the founding spirit of the United States and can integrate into American society and life. Applicants for citizenship must give up their original nationality. At the same time, we should give up the title of loyalty to other countries and any foreign countries and ensure that we abide by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Therefore, people who want to retain their original nationality cannot apply for naturalization.

Basic English ability: able to write, write and read simple English, understand basic American history and government agencies (the elderly and the disabled are preferred).

Residence time:

After obtaining permanent residence (green card), he has lived in the United States for five consecutive years; As long as the one-time departure time does not exceed one year, the residence period will not be affected. If it is more than one year, you must wait for another four years and one day to be naturalized after returning to the United States.

The spouse of an American citizen is three years, but within these three years, he must marry the same American citizen (that is, the current spouse) and live in the United States for at least one year. Before the application form is sent to the immigration office, they must have lived in the United States and never left the country.

Have actually lived in the United States for at least two and a half years before applying for naturalization; The spouse of an American citizen is 1.5 years.

If the applicant has not lived in the United States for more than 30 months, he must continue to live in the United States for a period of time until he has lived in the United States for 30 months in the first five years when he applied to the court for naturalization. In order not to interrupt the residence time, anyone who is sent abroad by the American government, American companies, sects or other institutions must apply for retaining the right of naturalization with the N-470 form when leaving the country.

Have lived in the jurisdiction applying for immigration for at least 3 months.

Second, the naturalization oral test

The immigration examiner will ask some questions about the American government and historical knowledge in simple English.

If you fail once, you will make up the exam twice a year.

The scope of the test questions is roughly outside the "federal citizenship examination outline"

For the examination of American history knowledge and English proficiency, the exemption categories include:

Over 50 years old, living for more than 20 years.

Those who are over 55 years old and have lived for more than 15 years.

In the above situation, you can answer questions about the American government and history in your own language without taking the English test, but at least sign in English.

The new naturalization regulations also allow people who have taken naturalization English courses and naturalization American knowledge courses not to take the naturalization oral test.

Applicants must express their ability to use English in the interview. The English and American knowledge naturalization class is valid for 1 year, and applicants who apply for naturalization within 1 year can be exempted from the oral test.

Third, go through the naturalization procedures.

The application for naturalization can be submitted to the local immigration office 60 days before the expiration of the five-year residence period.

Before submitting the application, you can get a 400 form, an autobiographical data form and two fingerprint cards from the Immigration Bureau, and fill them out one by one according to their specific requirements.

Don't hide the facts, otherwise, once found, even if you have been approved to enter the school, you can be disqualified.

Fill in the information and return it to the immigration office together with three two-inch color photos, waiting for the notice of oral examination.

If you and your relatives apply at the same time and want to interview at the same time, you need to make a request in a separate written statement. The statement and the form must be submitted together, and the name and green card number of the relative should be indicated in the statement.

After receiving the notice of review, the applicant shall invite the relatives and friends of two American citizens as witnesses.

After the oral examination, if the applicant meets the naturalization requirements, he can formally apply for naturalization and pay a certain application fee.

Four. Oath:

The final procedure is to take an oath in court, and you can get a naturalization certificate and become an American citizen on the day of the oath. The oath is as follows:

"I completely give up my sovereignty and loyalty to any crown prince, crown, country or citizen belonging to any foreign country. I will support and protect the Constitution and laws of the United States of America and resist all enemies at home and abroad. I will sincerely serve America. When required by law, I am willing to take up arms to defend the United States. When required by law, I will do military service for non-combatants in the United States. When required by law, I will do important work for the country under the command of government officials. I swear in this freedom, without any mental obstacles, excuses or reservations, please God bless me. "

Then, an A4-sized framed file will be issued.

The latest situation is that card-type identity cards are issued after swearing, which have the same effect as driver's licenses, social security cards and passports and can be used as official identification.