When the day comes for your citizenship interview, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officer will test your English and civics knowledge, review the information you provided on your N-400 application form, and confirm your eligibility for naturalized U.S. citizenship by looking at various pieces of documentation you bring with you.
This article will discuss that last component: the documents you need to show at your in-person interview. While some are standard, others depend on your personal situation.
Bringing Proof of Identity and Marital Status to Naturalization Interview
First, the USCIS officer needs to confirm that the person being interviewed is the person who applied for U.S. citizenship. Bring a valid state-issued identification card, such as a driver’s license. Also bring your passport, any expired passports you still have, and any travel documents previously issued to you by USCIS.
If you have changed your name at any time, bring the documents that legally brought this about, such as a marriage certificate, divorce decree, name change petition, or other official or court record.
You need to bring the originals of the documents you copied and sent in with your N-400 citizenship application as well, so that USCIS can verify that your copies weren’t faked. Bring your permanent resident card (green card) and the original of any marriage certificates, divorce or annulment decrees, death certificates, and other official records that confirm your marital history and your current legal marital status.
If you’re married, also bring evidence that your spouse’s previous marriages were terminated, like divorce certificates or death certificates. (If neither of these are available, bring any other evidence that might prove your spouse’s previous marriages were terminated.)
If You Applied Under the Three-Year Rule for Spouses of U.S. Citizens: Bring Proof of Qualifying for Exception to Naturalization Interview
When you applied for U.S. citizenship under the three-year rule applicable to spouses of U.S. citizens, USCIS would have asked for some proof that you qualify to take advantage of that rule. However, you’ll still need to prove you continue to qualify at the interview. Your life circumstances could have changed; so, for example, you are no longer married, you would no longer qualify to apply after only three years.
Bring original evidence that your spouse is a U.S. citizen, such as a birth certificate, certificate of naturalization, certificate of citizenship, or Form FS-240 Report of Birth Abroad. Your spouse’s U.S. passport might be accepted as a substitute if you don’t have any other document.
You also need to bring evidence that you and your spouse have been living together as a married couple since at least three years before you filed your Form N-400 application for citizenship. Don’t assume that USCIS will believe that you and your spouse were living together just because you were married, so bring leases, mortgages, or documents showing that each of you received mail at your address(es) during the relevant time period.
To prove you’ve been married the whole time, bring documents like joint bank and credit card statements, birth certificates of any children you have together, insurance policies, and IRS tax return transcripts showing that you filed joint tax returns. These documents should reflect activity throughout the entire relevant period, so don’t bring just one monthly statement, for example. Bring them all.
If You Applied as Spouse of U.S. Citizen Stationed Abroad: Bring Proof of Qualifying for Exception
If you applied for U.S. citizenship without meeting the usual U.S. residency requirements because you are with your spouse who is working overseas, you must bring evidence that your spouse’s employment qualifies you to take advantage of the rule.
Most likely, you will need the employer to help you with this documentation. USCIS wants to see documents showing the employer’s name and nature of its business, the nature of the work your spouse is performing for that employer, who owns or controls the employer (if the employer is not a U.S. government entity), and (if it’s a private, nonreligious employer) how the employer is engaged in the development of foreign trade and U.S. commerce.
In addition, USCIS will need to see your spouse’s travel orders showing your name on those orders as a spouse, and documentation showing that your spouse’s employment will continue for at least one year from the date you filed your Form N-400 application for citizenship.
Finally, you must bring a written statement of your intent to keep living with your spouse for the entire period of employment abroad, and then to immediately move back to the United States.
If You Have a Child Support or Spousal Support Order: Bring Proof of Compliance
If you have children who don’t live with you but you have child support obligations to them, or if you have spousal support obligations, it’s important that you bring evidence showing that you have been complying with your support obligations.
First, bring copies of the support order(s). For children whom you claim as your own, or for whom a court has named you the parent, bring their birth certificates or final adoption certificates or decrees.
As evidence that you have complied with the support orders, bring things like canceled checks or money order receipts, court or agency documents showing your support payments, and evidence of wage garnishments. For child support payments, it will help to bring a notarized letter from the parent or guardian who cares for your children.
Bring Tax Returns and Evidence of Payments
USCIS doesn’t always ask to see tax returns during a naturalization interview, but you should be prepared with them, especially if you are taking advantage of the three-year rule for spouses of U.S. citizens or have traveled outside the United States for a period that lasted six months or more.
You can bring a copy of your federal income tax returns or, better yet, a copy of your tax transcripts. Both are available to order from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at a local office or from the IRS's online "Get Transcript" page. Get your last five years' worth, or last three years' worth if you’re applying early as the spouse of a U.S. citizen.
If you have any federal, state, or local taxes that are overdue and you’re on a repayment program, bring documentation from the IRS or your state or local tax office showing the current status of your repayment program. Also bring the signed agreement showing that you agreed to the repayment program. If you've already paid, the IRS's "Get Transcript" service also offers a "Record of Account Transcript" that will show this sort of information.
If You Spent More Than Six Months Outside the United States Recently: Bring Proof of Continuous U.S. Residence
If you spent more than six months (but less than a year) outside the United States during the period for which you need to show continuous residence (five or three years), you’ve got some work to do to convince USCIS that you didn’t break your continuous residence. The officer will assume you did unless you prove otherwise. The three main things you want to show are
- you didn’t work overseas, and maybe even that you kept your job or business in the United States
- your immediate family remained in the United States, and
- you kept a place that you could come back to live in the United States.
The types of documents that will help are tax returns or tax transcripts, rent or mortgage payments and pay statements, bank, credit card, and loan statements showing regular transactions, car registration and insurance, entry and exit stamps from your passport, and any other document that shows you maintained ties to the United States and were definitely planning to come back.
Men Between Age 18 and 31: Bring Proof of Selective Service Registration
Men applying for citizenship who are between 18 and 31 years old should bring their registration acknowledgement card from the Selective Service System, proving they registered for a military draft as required. For this purpose, "men" legally means anyone born with a male gender assignment, regardless of later transitions or changes in identity.
If you never registered and you’re still under 26, you were probably supposed to register before sending your N-400 application for citizenship. (There are limited exceptions, however.) If you didn’t register, but sent your N-400 anyway, register before you go to your interview and get your acknowledgment card.
If you are between 26 and 31 and did not register, you were supposed to provide with your N-400 a statement explaining why you didn’t register and a status information letter from the Selective Service. If you didn’t send those with your N-400, bring them to the interview. For more information, see Applying for U.S. Citizenship If You Never Registered for the U.S. Military Draft.
If You've Been Arrested or Gone to Court: Bring the Relevant Records
USCIS wants to see documents concerning any criminal history you might have. You do not have to submit documentation for traffic fines or incidents that did not involve an arrest, serious injury to another person, or drugs or alcohol, if the only penalty was a fine of less than $500 or points on your driving record. Also, you don’t have to provide documentation about arrests by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP, or the Border Patrol) or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for noncriminal immigration violations.
Not all arrests lead to criminal charges. If you were arrested or detained (anywhere in the world, by any law enforcement officer, for any reason) and no charges were filed against you, USCIS wants to see the arrest report (certified copy) and a certified statement from the police department or court confirming that no charges were filed. If the arrest happened a long time ago, the police department might not have a record of your arrest. In that case, get a certified statement from the police department stating that no records of your arrest exist.
If charges were filed against you, bring certified copies of all arrest reports, charging documents, court dispositions, and any other documents relating to your case. These will allow the USCIS officer to review the circumstances of your alleged crime. If you have other documents that would help explain what happened, bring those too.
If the charges against you weren’t dismissed and the court made some kind of decision in your case, whether as a result of a guilty plea or a jury verdict, bring a certified copy of the court’s disposition of your case, including the sentencing record. If you completed your sentence or probation, bring documentation proving that you’re done, such as a probation record, parole record, or evidence that you completed an alternative sentencing program or rehabilitative program.
If you have ever had any arrest or conviction vacated, set aside, sealed, expunged, or otherwise removed from your record, it does not mean you can keep the information secret from USCIS. You should have disclosed the arrest or conviction on your N-400 application, but it’s not too late to bring documentation of the arrest or conviction to the interview. Bring the order removing the arrest or conviction from your record. It needs to be a copy certified by the court. If no court order exists, you’ll need to get the court to certify a statement that no record of your arrest or conviction exists.
Bring Proof of Other Relevant Changes to the Information on Your Form N-400
If something changed in your life that wasn't covered above, but that represents a change to the information shown on the N-400 you submitted, you'll want to alert the USCIS officer to that early on, and show documentation, if possible. (USCIS officers often ask, at the beginning of the interview, "Are there any changes to your application?)
Even if you caught a typo on your application while looking it over in preparation for the interview, that would be something to address soon after the USCIS officer begins interviewing you. You could also bring along a replacement N-400, if numerous changes will be needed.
Do I Need to Hire a Lawyer?
In any situation involving issues like arrests or failure to register for Selective Service on time, you would be wise to consult an immigration attorney, and perhaps a military-law attorney as well, before attending your interview for naturalized U.S. citizenship.