As a U.S. lawful permanent resident (a green card holder), you are no doubt painfully familiar with the number and scope of documents needed in connection with most types of immigration applications. Fortunately, when you're ready to apply for U.S. citizenship, the relevant agency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), will ordinarily accept your application for naturalization with a minimal number of documents.
This article describes the application package you'd send by mail to USCIS, including the most likely documents you'll need to include. (For applications filed electronically, document submission procedure is different. Follow the instructions given to you in USCIS’s online filing system.)
Also carefully read the USCIS instructions that come with Form N-400, which describe some of the more obscure document requirements. And be prepared to bring additional documents to your naturalization interview.
Most Important Part of Naturalization Application: Form N-400
First and foremost, your mailed application package should contain a completed and signed USCIS Form N-400. Include every page of the form, even if you wrote or typed nothing on a page.
If some information you were requested to give did not fit in the space provided in the boxes on Form N-400, Part 14, within it, can be used to fill in the rest.
N-400 Filing Fee
You must include the appropriate N-400 filing fee. You might qualify for a 50% reduction in the fee if your household income is between 150% and 400% of the federal Poverty Guidelines.
In fact, if your income is even below 150% of the Poverty Guidelines, or you are receiving a means-tested benefit, or experiencing extreme financial hardship, you might qualify for a complete waiver of the fee. You would need to ask for this by adding a Form I-912 request for fee waiver to your N-400. In addition, you'd need to include financial and related documentation to support your request, as described in the Form I-912 instructions.
There is also a fee exemption available for certain members of the military.
As for how to pay the fee, you have two payments options:
- credit card (using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions), or
- bank transfer (by completing and signing Form G-1650, Authorization for ACH Transactions).
The previously available options of paying by check or money order are no longer available (per a change in USCIS policy).
Other Documents to Mail in With Form N-400
As mentioned, most U.S. citizenship applicants need to prepare only minimal documentation, depending on their circumstances and whether they're claiming any exceptions to the usual filing or testing requirements. But for some, attaching documents will be crucial to their eligibility or request for things like a fee waiver or disability waiver.
Documents Every Naturalization Applicant Must Submit
The most important document that everyone must include with their N-400 is a copy of the front and back of your current permanent resident card (green card). It's okay if the expiration date on it has passed.
Also, if you live outside the United States, provide two identical passport-style color photographs of yourself, taken recently. (U.S.-based applicants will be called to a USCIS application support center or "ASC" to have their photos taken.)
Documents That Married or Previously Married Naturalization Applicants Must Submit
If you have ever been married, send a copy of the document proving your current marital status. That would be your marriage certificate if you are currently married. If you are divorced, had your marriage annulled, or your marriage ended because your spouse died, send a copy of the document proving how your marriage ended (judgment of divorce, annulment decree, or death certificate).
In addition, if you are applying after only three years of permanent residence based on being married to and living with a U.S. citizen, you'll need to add evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for all those three years (such as a birth or naturalization certificate), and documents showing you have also been living together all those three years, such as leases or mortgages, IRS tax transcripts, children's birth certificates, and so on.
Documents That Members of U.S. Armed Forces Must Submit for Naturalization
If you are currently a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, provide a completed and certified Form N-426. If you are separated from the military, the N-426 does not have to be certified. If you are currently serving in an active duty status anywhere in the world, also submit a copy of your official military orders.
If you served in the U.S. Armed Forces in the past at any time, send your DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, for all periods of service.
Documents That Disabled Naturalization Applicants Might Want to Submit
If you are requesting an exception to the English language and/or civics tests based on a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment, submit a completed Form N-648, Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions, signed by you and your doctor.
Documents That Applicants Who've Spent Six Months Outside the U.S. Recently Should Submit
Because of the requirements of physical presence and residence in the United States in the years leading up to your naturalization, you'll need to explain any absences from the country of six months or more. Specifically, you'll want to show that you kept your employment and maintained other ties to this country, such as your place of residence. Do this using tax transcripts, pay stubs, and rent receipts, as appropriate.
Documents That Naturalization Applicants Who Are Expected to Pay Child Support Must Submit
Failure to pay legally ordered child support can destroy a naturalization applicant's finding of good moral character. Submit the court order and proof of payments, such as cancelled checks, evidence of your wages being garnished (automatically withdrawn from), or a letter from the person with custody of the child.
Documents That Applicants Who've Had Arrests or Issues With Law Enforcement Must Provide
First off, get a lawyer if you've got any criminal activity on your record, particularly within the last five years before applying for citizenship. You will be expected to provide documentation of what happened along with your N-400; but you also need to make sure it's worth applying in the first place, and be ready to show why you are a person of good moral character regardless.
Submit English-Language Translations of Any Foreign Documents
If any document you are submitting is not in the English language, submit an English translation and a translator’s certificate. Make sure the certificate complies with USCIS’s requirements for translation certificates.
Finally, if you have hired an immigration lawyer or other legal representative to represent you in the naturalization application process, include the Form G-28 signed by both of you, so that USCIS knows who your lawyer or other representative is and how to communicate with them. Place the G-28 on top of the stack of papers you are submitting.
You have the option of submitting other documentation to prove your eligibility when you send your N-400, but you can wait until your naturalization interview to show it to USCIS. The N-400 instructions contain a list of documents you must bring to your interview.
Should You Hire an Attorney to Help With the N-400 Application?
Helping you organize the needed documentation is part of what an attorney can do for you, as well as fill out the form and even attend your naturalization interview, if you so choose. For more information, see Is It Worth the Cost of Hiring a Lawyer for U.S. Citizenship and Other Immigration Matters?