United States permits foreign nationals to visit the country, stay permanently in the country and to become citizens of the country. The process that would permit you to become a US citizen, is known as Naturalization. This process is quite lengthy and confusing and if you believe that you are eligible for US citizenship, you must first understand the process prior to applying for US citizenship. This process by itself is quite lengthy and it can cost more time, if you make mistakes on your form. But the mistakes can be avoided, if you complete your petition online. You may go through the following steps and these are the steps involved in the naturalization process and this will help you to understand the process.
Submit your Naturalization Application
You can submit your completed naturalization application, Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, at any time and you may complete the application on your computer. Completing the application may not be a difficult task as you can follow the customized instructions and complete the petition. Print the completed form and mail it along with copies of all the relevant documents and immigration papers. Remember that, you must also submit a copy of your Green Card. Passport-sized photographs and the form filing fee must be included with your naturalization application package. After checking your petition, mail the package to the right USCIS service center.
Biometrics Appointment
After filing your petition, you will receive a confirmation notice from the agency and followed by that you will be notified about your biometrics appointment. You need to go to the fingerprinting location, specified in the biometrics appointment notice and get your fingerprints taken. If you are required to submit additional supporting documents, send them to the USCIS as soon as possible.
USCIS Naturalization Interview & Tests
You may not be called for an interview as soon as you submit biometrics information and you will have to wait for at least 6 months and you may use that time to prepare for your interview and for the US citizenship test. After you receive an interview appointment letter, you need to make it to the interview location on the scheduled date and you must not miss this as the naturalization interview is an important step in the naturalization process.
Don’t forget to take with you, to the interview, all the relevant supporting documents as the interviewing officers may verify your original documents during your interview. Most of the interview questions will be about your naturalization application and about your background. Hence, your language skills will be determined by the way you answer to the questions asked by the interviewing officer. In order to establish that you are good in English, you will have to write and read out one sentence in English correctly. After you finish your English test, the civics test will be administered and you will have to answer six civics questions correctly.
Swear the Oath to Become a U.S. Citizen
If your interview is successful, you will receive a naturalization ceremony letter and you need to go to the specified location at the scheduled time. You should give up your permanent resident status and hand over your Green Card to the USCIS officer. After that, the naturalization oath will be administered and a naturalization certificate will be given to you. You can then start your life in America as a US citizen.