Practicing Exclusively Immigration Law
on the Treasure and Gold Coasts of Florida
U.S. Citizenship (Naturalization) FAQ – 2026 Guide
Applying for U.S. citizenship through Form N-400 is often straightforward. However, many applications are delayed or denied because of travel history, prior arrests, unpaid taxes, selective service issues, or mistakes on the application.
Understanding these risks before filing can prevent months - or even years - of delay.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Speak With an Attorney Before Filing N-400 If You Have:
• Any arrest, citation, or criminal charge
• Trips outside the U.S. of 6 months or more
• Unpaid taxes or IRS payment plans
• Failure to register for Selective Service
• A pending Form I-751
• Divorce during the 3-year marriage rule
• Prior immigration violations or denials
A short legal review can often prevent denial and avoid costly refiling.
See Also - Marriage Green Card FAQ
See Also - Marriage Green Card Timeline 2026
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
1. Citizenship Eligibility Basics
1. Who can apply for U.S. citizenship?
Most lawful permanent residents apply using Form N-400 after meeting residence, physical presence, and good moral character requirements.
2. How long must I hold a green card first?
Usually 5 years, or 3 years if married to and living with a U.S. citizen spouse.
3. Can I apply early?
Yes. USCIS generally allows filing up to 90 days before reaching the required 3- or 5-year period.
4. Can I apply with a pending I-751?
Sometimes. You may still file N-400 if otherwise eligible, but the case becomes legally more complex.
5. What is “good moral character”?
USCIS reviews criminal history, taxes, child support, honesty on applications, and overall conduct during the statutory period.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
2. Residence and Travel Rules
6. What is continuous residence?
Maintaining your primary home in the United States without trips that break residence.
7. Do long trips outside the U.S. matter?
Yes. Trips of 6+ months can cause problems. Trips of 1+ year are often serious without planning.
8. What is physical presence?
The total number of days physically inside the U.S. during the 3- or 5-year period.
9. What if I travel frequently for work?
Frequent travel can still qualify, but requires careful documentation to prove U.S. residence.
10. Does moving affect my case?
Yes. Address history and USCIS field office jurisdiction can impact timing and interview location.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
3. The N-400 Application Process
11. What is Form N-400?
The official naturalization application covering residence, travel, employment, taxes, and legal history.
12. How long does citizenship take in 2026?
Most cases take several months to over a year, depending on background checks and interview scheduling.
13. What documents are required?
Common evidence includes:
• Green card
• Passports and travel history
• Tax transcripts
• Marriage/divorce records (if relevant)
• Certified court dispositions for any arrest
14. Do I need an attorney to file N-400?
Not required — but strongly recommended for arrests, travel issues, taxes, prior immigration problems, or complex marital history.
15. What happens after filing?
Receipt notice → biometrics (if needed) → interview/testing → decision → oath ceremony.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
4. Interview, English, and Civics Tests
16. What happens at the citizenship interview?
USCIS reviews your N-400, confirms eligibility, and administers the English and civics tests unless exempt.
17. What is the civics test?
Up to 10 questions, typically requiring 6 correct answers to pass.
18. What is the English test?
Speaking during the interview, plus basic reading and writing.
19. Are exemptions available?
Yes. Some applicants qualify based on age and years as a resident, or medical disability using Form N-648.
20. What if I fail the test?
USCIS usually provides one additional opportunity to retake the failed portion.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
5. Common Problems That Cause Denial or Delay
21. Does an arrest automatically disqualify me?
No — but USCIS requires certified court records and evaluates good moral character.
22. Do taxes affect citizenship?
Yes. Unfiled taxes, incorrect filing status, or large unpaid debt can delay or block approval.
23. Does child support matter?
Yes. Nonpayment can affect good moral character.
24. What about Selective Service?
Failure to register (when required) can create issues, though many cases are fixable.
25. Can mistakes on N-400 cause denial?
Yes. Inaccurate answers about arrests, travel, or immigration history are a major reason for denial.
If any of these apply to you, legal review before filing is often the safest path.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
6. After Approval
26. What is the oath ceremony?
The final step where you take the Oath of Allegiance and become a U.S. citizen.
27. When can I apply for a U.S. passport?
Immediately after the oath using your naturalization certificate.
28. Can I keep dual citizenship?
The U.S. generally allows it, but your other country’s laws control whether you keep that citizenship.
29. Can I sponsor family faster as a citizen?
Often yes. Citizenship expands family immigration options and can reduce wait times.
30. Can citizenship ever be taken away?
Rarely — usually only for fraud or misrepresentation during the immigration process.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Before You File Form N-400
Many citizenship denials are preventable when reviewed in advance. If you have travel history, arrests, tax issues, selective service concerns, or prior immigration problems, a brief consultation can identify risk and determine the safest filing strategy.
Schedule a free consultation with the Law Office of Andrew R. Sones to receive guidance tailored to your situation.