American citizens are American passport holders?

Before you were naturalized, you were a permanent resident of the United States with a China passport, which is commonly referred to as green card status. The difference between permanent residence and citizens is mainly in political rights, and other benefits are the same.

If you are naturalized, you must apply. There are requirements. If you become an American citizen, you will give up your China citizenship. You are a Chinese-American and need a visa to return to China.

To apply for naturalization, the applicant must meet the following six conditions:

1. Have lived in the United States as a permanent resident for more than 5 years.

Applicants for naturalization must prove that they have obtained permanent resident status for five years before applying. If the applicant's spouse is an American citizen, it only takes 3 years. During this five-year period, the applicant should have actually lived in the United States for more than 30 months. If the applicant has been away from the country for more than 1 year, this period should be recalculated from the date of returning to the United States, excluding the previous residence in the United States.

Within the five-year residence requirement, the applicant can leave the United States for a short period of time, but

(1) The applicant's stay outside the United States cannot exceed 1 year or 1 year, because this will interrupt your residence record, that is, you must re-establish your residence record and recalculate it from the time you return to the United States this time;

(2) During the five-year period, the applicant must stay outside the United States for a cumulative period of not more than 30 months, and for the spouse applicant, the comprehensive requirement is that the overseas residence time should not exceed 18 months;

(3) During the above-mentioned five-year residence period, if the applicant has been away from the United States for more than six months and less than 1 year, he must submit a certificate stating that his residence in the United States has not been interrupted during this period.

If a marriage immigrant applies for naturalization, the spouse of an American citizen can apply for naturalization to the US Immigration Service after being married for more than two years, but the spouse must be a citizen for more than three years.

2. At least 18 years old.

If you are under the age of 16, there are two possibilities for naturalization: ① If one of your parents is an American citizen, I have obtained permanent residency or am already in the United States, when a foreign father or mother applies for naturalization, she will automatically acquire American citizenship; (2) If both parents are foreign nationals, he also acquires citizenship when his parents are naturalized as American citizens. However, children aged between 16 and 18 must apply for naturalization independently.

3. Good conduct

Applicants must behave well during the 15 residence period required for naturalization. Murderers, habitual alcoholics, polygamists, prostitutes, drug addicts, gamblers, and those involved in other crimes can all be regarded as misconduct and prohibited from applying for naturalization.

4. Minimum English level

Applicants should have a certain understanding of English, and must have the preliminary abilities of reading, listening, speaking and writing, and master English short sentences equivalent to everyday language at the primary school level. When immigration officials examine the naturalization qualifications, they use oral examination to examine the actual expression ability of English. This kind of examination questions is publicly printed by the government. If the applicant fails to pass the first oral test, he will have a second chance to take the initial test within one year.

If the applicant is over 50 years old and has obtained legal residence status in the United States for more than 20 years, or over 55 years old and has obtained legal residence status in the United States for more than 15 years, the citizenship test can be passed in his mother tongue and English can be exempted. But they must know American history and government structure, and they can answer questions through an interpreter during the exam.

5. Willing to swear allegiance to the United States and give up all acts of loyalty to the country of origin.

Applicants for naturalization must give up their original nationality, at the same time, they must give up the title of loyalty to other countries and any foreign countries, and guarantee to abide by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

6. Understand general American history, government structure and constitution.

Mainly to understand the important events, figures, government agencies and powers in American history, the principles of the American Constitution and the contents of important amendments.

Any permanent resident who meets the above conditions can apply to become a US citizen, but he must express this wish in person, apply in person, attend an interview and complete the naturalization procedure. There is no limit to the number of naturalization applications, and he will be rejected because of unqualified conditions and will not leave any bad records.