Naturalization
A foreigner, who is naturalized, is a person who is granted citizenship in the United States after fulfilling certain requirements. There are other nations also who follow similar process of naturalization to people who wish to become a citizen of their nation. There are different laws applicable in different countries which are typically available through their departments of immigration. Further the citizenship in US falls in either of the two categories – a) A natural citizen is someone born in the United States or born to American parents on foreign soil. b) A naturalized citizen is someone who was born in a foreign country, but took a series of steps with the end goal of being granted citizenship.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) establishes certain rules and criterions which must be fulfilled by any foreign national who wishes to become a citizen of United States. The general criterions for naturalization include:
- A period of continuous residence and physical presence in the United States You must be living in US since a long time and your records must show that you had a continuous span of stay in US.
- Residence in a particular USCIS District prior to filing You must be a resident of a place where USCIS is active and present.
- An ability to read, write and speak English – You must be able to read and understand English as well as be able to write it and speak it.
- A knowledge and understanding of US history and government – An applicant for naturalization must be known to nation’s history and must have an understanding about all the government rules and regulations.
- Good moral character – The applicant will also be judged on his moral values and his ethical perception towards everything.
- Attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution – The applicant must be a follower of the rules contained in the US Constitution.
Active military members and their spouses and children are also open for the process of naturalization. All the USCIS offices present overseas are authorized for processing applications of such active military members. The following forms are available for the process of naturalization of military members –
- Form N-400, Application for Naturalization
- Form G-325B, Biographic Information
- Form N-426, Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service
- Authorization Form for USCIS Usage of Military Fingerprints
- Overseas Military Naturalization Request Form
Eligibility criterion for the process of naturalization of spouses and children of active duty military members currently stationed abroad –
- This law is applicable to lawful permanent resident spouses and children of members of the Armed Forces, provided the spouses and children reside abroad on official U.S. Military orders.
- The following requirements must be met by you to become eligible:
At least for a period of five years you have been a lawful permanent resident of the United States.
You have been a lawful permanent resident for three years (under INA section 319(a)) as the spouse of a U.S. citizen and you are still married to that U.S. citizen spouse.
All the above stated rules and criterions are necessary to be fulfilled in order to successfully complete the process of naturalization by any applicant.
