Becoming a U.S. Citizen in 2025
What is required.
Our immigration lawyers have received a lot of calls from Green Card holders who are concerned about travel and are looking to become U.S. citizens. If you are looking to become a citizen, call us at 619-677-5727. The process takes approximately a year and is not expensive.
U.S. Citizenship offers many benefits:
- The right to vote
- Strong protection from deportation,
- Access to jobs and social services not available to non-citizens,
- The ability to sponsor family members for immigration,
- The freedom to travel with a U.S. passport, and
- Overall Peace of Mind.
There are different ways to obtain U.S. Citizenship, such as:
Holding lawful permanent residence (A Green Card) for at least 5 years. Applicant qualifications include:
- Must have established and maintained U.S. residence in the U.S. for 5 years prior to applying.
- Must have been physically present in the U.S. for 30 months out of the last 5 years.
- Have resided in your state for at least 90 days.
- Must have good moral character the preceding 5 years, meaning no arrests, charges, and/or convictions; have not failed to pay child support; have not failed to file/pay federal taxes. However, applicants having ever been convicted of murder or aggravated felony on or after November 29, 1990 are permanently barred.
Have been and continue to be married to your U.S. Citizen petitioning spouse, and have been a lawful permanent residence for at least 3 years. Applicant qualifications include:
- Must have established and maintained U.S. residence in the U.S. for 3 years prior to applying.
- Must have been physically present in the U.S. for 18 months out of the last 3 years.
- Must have resided in your state for at least 90 days.
- Must have good moral character the preceding 3 years.
- Service in the US Military for at least 1 year
There are two ways to obtain citizenship through U.S. Citizen parents:
- At birth
- After birth, but before the age of 18
The law in effect at the time of birth determines whether someone born outside the U.S. to a U.S. citizen parent (or parents) is a U.S. citizen at birth. In general, children acquire U.S. citizenship if at least one parent was a U.S. Citizen, and the U.S. Citizen parent had resided in the United States for a period of time.
Applicants for U.S. Citizenship will have to take civics and English tests to demonstrate knowledge of basic United States history and civics, and can speak, read and write basic English. There are a few exemptions to the civics and English test such as age and length of time of being a permanent resident.
At MyImmigrationAttorney.com, our citizenship attorneys in San Diego have decades of experience in immigration and can help guide you through the process of obtaining U.S. Citizenship through naturalization; our number is (619) 677-5727.
