Residency Requirements for Naturalization

Before an applicant can qualify for naturalization as a U.S. citizen, he/she needs to satisfy the residence requirements for citizenship.

Residence is defined as the “place of general abode which means one’s principal, actual, dwelling place in fact, without regard to intent.”

An applicant must have been continuously residing in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident for five (5) years immediately prior to the filing of the application for naturalization. During that period, the applicant must not have left the U.S. for more than six months.

An absence of more than six months but less than a year raises a rebuttable presumption of intent to abandon his/her continuous residence. This can be overcome by showing lack of intent to abandon residence such as maintaining a home, continuing employment in the U.S., presence of family in the U.S and not obtaining employment abroad.

Absence of one year or more breaks the continuous residence and may result in denial. Exempted from this rule would be those employed by U.S. government agencies, U.S. companies and international groups of which the U.S. is a member. But in order to preserve their residence for naturalization, they must file Form 470. This form requires proof that they have at least one (1) year of uninterrupted physical presence in the U.S.

Persons married to U.S. citizens benefit from a shortened continuous residency requirement. They must be residents in the U.S. for three (3) years instead of five (5) years. However, if the marriage is terminated, the lawful permanent resident spouse is required to comply with the five-year residency requirement.

The applicant must also have been “physically present” in the U.S. for at least half of the total required period of continuous residency in the U.S. This means that the applicant had to be physically present in the U.S. for thirty (30) months out of the five years, and in case of marriage to a U.S. citizen, eighteen (18) months of the three year residence requirement.

The physical presence may be waived if the spouse of the applicant has been working overseas for at least one year according to an employment contract or order and the applicant is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces; an employee or an individual under contract with the U.S. government; an employee of an American institution of research recognized by the Attorney General; an employee of an American-owned firm engaged in the development of foreign trade in the U.S.; an employee of a public international organization of which the U.S. is a member by law or treaty; or a person who performs ministerial or priestly functions for a religious denomination or an interdenominational organization with a valid presence in the U.S.

Religious workers employed abroad may also be exempted from the residence requirement if they resided in the U.S. for over a year without interruption after obtaining permanent residence.

The applicant must reside within the state or within the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) district where the application will be filed for at least three (3) months preceding the filing of the application. If the applicant resides in more that one state, then the state where he/she files the annual federal income tax return is considered the state of residence.