US Citizenship and Residency Requirements

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services can grant citizenship to the applicants who have a Green Card and have completed residency requirements. Although residency requirement is not the only condition to Citizenship, its one of the most important ones.

The minimum age to apply individually for citizenship is 18 years old. In each residency requirement, the applicant must have not been outside of the US for over 6 months. For a spouse of US citizen, the residency time is 3 years. For others is 5 years.

The earliest one can file is 4 years and 9 months from the date written on the Green Card. For a Green Card holder who has served in the US military, this time is only 1 year of service. For an honorable discharge, filing must happen within the 6 months of discharge.

Those who served while outside of the US, didn't break their residencies. Any time served outside of the US while in the service is considered to be spent on the US soil.

One who has served the Military during the wars of World War I and II, Vietnam, Korean, Persian Golf, or served anytime after September 11,2020 does not need to be a green card holder at the time of filing for the Citizenship or interview.

One who is married to a US Military Person and while he dies during the service is eligible to apply for citizenship.

A US National (for example Puerto Rican) who lives in any US state and gains residency is eligible to apply.

There are many applications that are denied each year, because the applicant did not follow the required residency guidelines. Once an application is denied once, the future petitions would be looked at with more scrutiny.

Residency requirement is one of the many conditions for citizenship. Make sure you contact an experienced immigration attorney before taking any steps.

It is advisable to seek legal guidance from our office today as we strive to help guide you with your specific case. 

Attorney Ramona Kennedy cares about your case and will fight for you.

You can contact attorney Ramona Kennedy Law Offices (Kennedy Law LC) for an initial consultation and case evaluation. The first consultation is free of charge. 

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