U.S. Citizenship

In order to decrease location-based disparities in the processing times for Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, and Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, USCIS will start transferring cases to field offices outside their normal jurisdiction for more efficient adjudication.
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Please be advised that Policy Guidance for the validity period of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, is being revised by USCIS.  USCIS officers use Form I-693 to determine whether an applicant for an immigration benefit in the United States is inadmissible under the health-related grounds of inadmissibility.  As of November 1, 2018, the updated policy will go into effect.

As such, applicants filing an underlying application (i.e. Form I-485 for adjustment of status) will be required to submit Forms I-693 signed by a civil surgeon no more than 60 days before submission of filing.  This will allow for a two-year period of validity following the civil surgeon’s signature date. Although USCIS will continue to retain the current two-year maximum validity period, a more effective way of calculating the validity period will be implemented in order to enhance operational efficiencies and reduce the number of requests to applicants for an updated Form I-693, including the reduction of delays in adjudicating underlying applications based on fewer requests for updated forms.

Non citizens who have been charged with a crime, have two sets of problems to worry about: the criminal charges, and how those charges might affect their immigration status.

InfoPass is a free service that lets you request information or inquire about your immigration case by scheduling an appointment with your local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office. This service is available to anyone, and you do not technically need to be represented by an attorney. However, if you do have an attorney you should be sure to consult with him or her before engaging in any communication with USCIS.

Lawful permanent residents (LPRs) also known as “green card holders” who have criminal convictions may encounter problems when attempting to re-enter the United States after traveling abroad and should consult an immigration attorney before planning any trips outside of the country.

Dual citizenship, or dual nationality, means that a person is a citizen of two countries simultaneously. It is also possible to simultaneously be a citizen of three or more countries. Dual citizenship occurs when an individual becomes a citizen of another country, in addition to his or her birth country. Generally, countries define citizenship based upon one’s place of birth, descent, marriage or naturalization process.

The United States naturalization test, also called a citizenship exam, comes in two parts.  The first part of the test covers an applicant’s knowledge of the United States system of government. During the interview to determine if an applicant is eligible for naturalization, a USCIS officer will select 10 questions from a list of 100 and administer an oral examination to test the applicant’s knowledge of civics. Some examples of questions on the list of 100 include:

• How many amendments are there to the US constitution? (27)
• Who makes the federal laws? (Congress)
• What group of people were taken to America and sold as slaves? (Africans)
• What is the capital of the United States? (Washington D.C.).

A complete list of the one hundred potential questions is available on the USCIS website.

The second half of the citizenship test examines the applicant’s ability to read, write, speak, and understand the English language. Each applicant must be able to read one out of three sentences correctly, and write one out of three sentences correctly in order to demonstrate the ability to read and write in English. A USCIS officer will determine an applicant’s ability to speak and understand English during the eligibility interview on the Application for Naturalization. The best way to study is to practice speaking, reading, and writing every day. The more a person uses the language, the more comfortable he or she becomes with it. Vocabulary flashcards can be a useful study tool as well.

There are exceptions to the English portion of the exam. Applicants who are over the age of 50 do not have to take the English portion of the exam if they have been in the United States on a green card for more than 20 years. Similarly, applicants over the age of 55 do not have to take the English portion of the exam if they have been in the United States with a green card for more than 15 years. A person who qualifies for these exemptions must still pass the civics section of the citizenship test in his or her native language, and is responsible for bringing an interpreter who is fluent in both English and his or her native tongue.

If a person fails one or both sections of the test, a second interview will be administered to the applicant seeking naturalization. The second interview will be between 60 and 90 days after the initial interview and will only cover the portion of the test that the applicant previously failed.

When a child is adopted from a foreign country, that child must go through the immigration process through the United States Customs and Immigration Service like any other person. The child must be eligible for adoption under the Immigration and Naturalization Act. If a child is adopted from another country and is deemed ineligible, that child will not be permitted to immigrate to the United States. A child under the age of 16 who has resided with his or her adoptive parents for two years may apply for entry under an I-130 petition. This is rarely utilized because of the requirement that the adoptive parent live abroad for two years. Most adoptions are done through one of two processes depending on the country of origin of the child being adopted.

If the child being adopted is from a country that is a party to the Hague Convention, the prospective parents must seek adoption through an approved service provider. They will have to fill out form I-800A to determine whether they are eligible to adopt a child from a foreign country. They will be fingerprinted and undergo a background check and a home study.  The child’s country of origin will then examine your credentials and match you with a child. This process can take months or years. At this point, the prospective parents will meet with the child and decide whether or not to continue the adoption process. The prospective parents must then fill out form I-800 to confirm that the child is eligible to immigrate to the United States, and form DS-260 to request that the child be permitted to immigrate. If everything is in order, the US Consulate will provide a letter confirming the child will be permitted to immigrate to the US. At that time, the adoption process must be completed in the child’s country of origin and prospective parents will receive a copy of the child’s birth certificate, the Hague Adoption Certificate, and an IH-3 visa. If the adoption process will be completed in the United States, the child will be issued an IH-4 visa until the time the adoption process is completed and the parents must also complete form N-600.

In countries which were not parties to the Hague Convention, the process is simpler. The child must be an orphan, or the surviving parent(s) must be unable to care for the child and acknowledge their abandonment of their parental rights in writing. The prospective parents must file form I-600 and apply for an IR-3 or IR-4 visa.