The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Application Form is a process or legal way by which an individual or family who is not a native of the United State can apply to possess citizenship in order to settle, reside, study or to take-up employment in the country. The United State of America is indeed a wonderful place to live, study or work.
By becoming a U.S. citizen, you gain many rights that permanent residents or others do not have, including the right to vote. But there are criteria you MUST meet to apply for citizenship. This page covers every review with important links officially provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service department.
Legitimately, there are 3 Ways to Immigrate to the USA without issue. And each of these ways has its requirements before you can proceed.
Page Table of Contents
3 Ways That Can Qualify You to Immigrate to the USA
#1. United States job offer (Employment Based Green Card)
You need to possess specific job skills and a US employer must be willing to hire you and sponsor you for a Green Card. But this process is certainly not for everyone since you need to hold a college degree in a speciality occupation and the US employer who is offering you a permanent job must be willing to file applications and paperwork for a labour certification.
The sponsoring employer must also pay the legal fees for you. You can easily get a Green Card if a US employer sponsors you, but you may have to wait for few years to get a permanent resident card.
#2. United States Diversity Visa lottery program (Green Card Lottery)
This is a yearly program which aims at helping people who do not have job offers or relatives in America, to sponsor them for US Green Cards, to immigrate to the United States. The program is considered for any foreign national who belongs to an under-represented country, can take part in this Diversity Visa lottery program.
Every year 50,000 Green Cards are being issued to people who take part and win the Green Card lottery program. In our previous article we expressly explained when to target the USA Visa lottery, so check out here to read the complete information. Also, check out the required information and how to apply for the Diversity Visa lottery program.
Many applicants who do not qualify for a family based or an employment-based Green Card applies for the USA diversity visa lottery program (once they are qualified), as the best alternative to get the Green Cad citizenship.
#3. Green Card through Family
The easiest among it all is – if you are a family member of a US citizen or a permanent resident then you can immigrate to America.
That family member must, however, be willing to sponsor you financially and for lawful status. To sponsor you, your family member must file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. You can easily immigrate to your dream country if you are a US citizen’s immediate relative as there are no annual caps on the number of immigrant visas issued to the spouses, minor children and parents of US citizens.
Married adult children and siblings of US citizens also can immigrate to the USA through family-based immigration but have a standard process in order to get immigrant visas.
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Generally, to be eligible for naturalization you must:
- Be age 18 or older.
- Be a permanent resident for a certain amount of time (usually 5 years or 3 years, depending on how you obtained status).
- Be a person of good moral character.
- Have a basic knowledge of U.S. government (this, too, can be excepted due to permanent physical or mental impairment).
- Have a period of continuous residence and physical presence in the United States.
- Be able to read, write, and speak basic English. There are exceptions to this rule for someone who at the time of filing:
– Is 55 years old and has been a permanent resident for at least 15 years; or
– Is 50 years old and has been a permanent resident for at least 20 years; or
– Has a permanent physical or mental impairment that makes the individual unable to fulfill these requirements.
How to Access the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Application Form
The application process is through the web. You need to create a new account in order to File an application, petition, or request online and as well as get Access to information about your case, receive either a Case Passcode from your attorney or accredited representative or an Account Acceptance Notice from USCIS
How to Apply for USA Citizenship
The process of applying for U.S. citizenship is known as “Naturalization“. In order to be eligible for naturalization, you must first meet certain requirements required by U.S. immigration law. To apply for naturalization, file Form N-400 is the Application for Naturalization.
Step 1. Visit https://myaccount.uscis.dhs.gov/ to create your account or as well Login (if you already done that).
On the, you should enter a valid email address, then repeat the same email address – before you can process to click “Sign Up”. Please note that by submitting the form you agree with the terms and condition.
Step 2. The page loads then opens up the USCIS login page, with an instratctuon banner that you should check your email for futher instrauction you need to follow to complete this stage.
Then you should login your email and clik on the link to confirm your email address for the registration. Theinformation is bref and simple, see image below to for clearification;
Step 3. On clickingg the link, you a new page opens where you create a password. However, there is an instarction to create the password, Your password must be between 8 and 128 characters and must contain uppercase letter, lowercase letter, number and a special characters to make have a strong password (learn importance and how to creating strong password here)
Once your email confirm with the requirememnt, you get a notification that “Your email address has been successfully confirmed.”
Step 4. Now you should selecet how you would prefer to receive one-time passwords. So that Every time you log in, you will be given a one-time password. Once you have done that, the registration process is now complete.
At this poingt you can click on the clik “Apply for Naturalization” to commencewith the filling of the form.
From this USCIS online account you can now;
Visit the Citizenship and Resource Center at www.USCIS.gov/citizenship, to find information on how to find English and citizenship preparation classes in your area, learn about free citizenship information sessions offered by USCIS in your area, and download study materials for the English and Civics portions of the citizenship test.
Key USCIS forms referenced in this guide |
Form # |
Application for Naturalization | N-400 |
A Guide to Naturalization | M-476 |
Naturalization Information for Military Personnel | M-599 |
READ ALSO: U.S. Visa Status Check Portal – Learn How to Check Visa Application Status Online
Other U.S. Government Services–Click or Call
- For General Information
Visit website: www.usa.gov
Phone call: 1-800-333-4636 - For New Immigrants
Vist website: www.welcometoUSA.gov - U.S. Department of State
Website: www.state.gov
Phone call: 1-202-647-6575