ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?
You are finally looking to become a naturalized citizen of the United States of America and want to know if you are eligible. To qualify for naturalization, you must meet the following general requirements:
- You must be at least 18 years old;
- You must have been a lawful permanent resident for a minimum of 3 years if you received your residency based on marriage to a U.S. citizen. If not, you must have been a lawful permanent resident for at least 5 years;
- You must be able to speak, read, and write English. However, you may be eligible for a waiver of this requirement; and
- You must demonstrate good moral character and favorable disposition to the United States.
How can Estrella law help with your citizenship case?
We begin by analyzing your case for basic eligibility and any potential issues. When you apply for naturalization, USCIS reviews your cases to verify that your residency was properly approved. USCIS may deny your application if it finds any mistakes in your residency process—even if USCIS made the mistake. It’s not fair, but it is reality. We will analyze your situation to make sure that you know what you are getting into BEFORE you file.
Other common issues in citizenship cases include:
- Failing to maintain continuous residence in the United States;
- Owing back taxes or failing to file tax returns with the IRS;
- Arrests and criminal convictions;
- Failing to maintain Child support payments; and
- Medical waiver issues.
Once we are confident you are eligible, our team will prepare the increasingly complicated forms, gather any necessary evidence, and file your application with USCIS. We manage your case and guide you every step of the way. We prepare you for your interview with USCIS as well as attend the interview with you to ensure that everything goes well.
We will help you cross the finish line and begin the rest of your life as a citizen of the United States. You’ve worked hard enough. Let us make the home stretch as easy as possible.
I am afraid to apply for citizenship because I was arrested years ago. Am I still eligible to apply?
The case would need to be analyzed on three fronts:
A) What and when were you arrested for and how did the case get resolved. This could make a huge difference in your case and will play a large part in our analysis. A petit
theft crime is not treated the same in immigration law as a drug crime would be. A dismissal of the case will lead to a different result than a “No contest” plea with a
probation sentence.
B) If the arrest resulted in a conviction, was the arrest and commission of the crime within the Good Moral Character period for consideration in naturalization cases? If it was, then we need to analyze what it involved.
C) We always must analyze your case for deportability issues. In other words, we would like to make certain that applying for citizenship will not cause you to ultimately be deported. Thus, we must analyze whether there is a conviction that would make you subject to deportation. There are several criminal grounds of deportability and we would review your case with that in mind.
Ultimately, we believe that you should have your case analyzed in order to know where you stand. We may find you ineligible, but on the other hand, we have handled many cases of individuals who thought they could not apply for citizenship, only to swear in as full-fledged US Citizens months later after we successfully represented them before USCIS.
