The ultimate goal of many people coming to or already living in the United States is the attainment of United States citizenship. Certain individuals acquire U.S. citizenship at birth. Others may acquire citizenship after meeting certain eligibility requirements and filing an application. The latter process is commonly known as naturalization.

Following is a list of some of the more common ways of obtaining U.S. citizenship:

1. Birth in the U.S.: Section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides that any person (with limited exceptions) born in the United States is automatically a U.S. citizen at birth. There are no requirements that the individual live in the United States for any particular period of time after having been born in the United States in order to retain his or her U.S. citizenship.

2. Birth Outside of the U.S. to 2 U.S. Citizen Parents: INA Section 301(c) provides that any person born outside of the United States to two (2) U.S. citizen parents, one (1) of whom has had a residence in the United States before the birth of such person, is a United States citizen at birth.

3. Birth Outside of the U.S. to 1 U.S. Citizen Parent: The law provides that a legitimate child born outside of the United States on or after November 14, 1986 to one (1) U.S. citizen parent and one (1) non-U.S. citizen parent is a citizen if, prior to the birth of such person, the U.S. citizen parent was: (a) physically present in the United States for at least five (5) years , and (b) two (2) of those years came after the U.S. citizen parent was at least 14 years of age.

NOTE: This is an extremely complex area of citizenship law. The laws for acquiring citizenship by birth abroad to one (1) U.S. citizen parent have changed several times over the years and depend on whether the child is a legitimate child and the date of the child’s birth. To determine if a particular person is a citizen at birth under this scenario, you must first determine whether the child was a legitimate child and what the legal requirements were at the time of the birth. The law at the time of the person’s birth is the controlling law. As a result, the law for a person born prior to November 14, 1986 has different requirements than for a person born on or after November 14, 1986. Also, the laws are different if the child is an illegitimate child at birth.

4. Child Citizenship Act: The Child Citizenship Act became law in the year 2000. Under this law, a child born outside of the United States can become a United States citizen when each of the following conditions are met on or after February 27, 2001: (a) at least one parent is a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization; (b) the child is under 18 years of age; (c) the child is a lawful permanent resident (LPR); and (d) the child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent. The Child Citizenship Act covers natural-born and adopted children who meet the above criteria, but it does not cover step-children. Prior to the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, for a child born in wedlock, both parents had to become U.S. citizens before the child turned 18 and the child must have been a lawful permanent resident before turning 18.

5. Naturalization: The process of becoming a United States citizen through naturalization is governed by Section 316(a) of the INA. The naturalization process requires the individual seeking U.S. citizenship to file an Application for Naturalization and to meet certain statutory criteria.

Following is a summary of the eligibility requirements for naturalization:

(a) Lawful permanent resident: The individual must be a lawful permanent resident of the United States for at least five (5) years (NOTE: This requirement is shortened to three (3) years where the individual is married to and living with a U.S citizen).

(b) Continuous residence: The individual must reside continuously for the statutory time period listed above (5 years or 3 years) before filing the Application for Naturalization. Certain absences from the United States during this time period may break the continuous residence. After filing the Application for Naturalization and prior to being naturalized, the individual must maintain continuous residence in the United States.

(c) Physical presence: The individual must be physically present in the United States for at least half of the time required for continuous residence (e.g., if the continuous residence requirement is five (5) years, then the individual must have been physically present in the United States for at least thirty (30) months). To determine physical presence, the number of days spent in the United States must be counted.

(d) Residence within the filing district: The individual must reside within the filing district for at least three (3) months prior to filing the Application for Naturalization within that district.

(e) Good moral character: The individual must be a person of “good moral character” during the required time period. The term “good moral character” is not a clearly defined term. Such things as having a criminal record, being on probation or parole, failing to support children, failing to register for the Selective Service (also known as the military draft), etc. may be determined by the immigration officer as failing to meet the “good moral character” requirement.

(f) No deportable offenses: In addition to having to satisfy the “good moral character” requirement, an individual with a criminal record must carefully determine that his criminal record does not subject him to deportation or removal from the United States. Certain criminal offenses cannot only cause an individual to not meet the “good moral character” standard, but also can cause a person to be put into removal proceedings. Therefore, it is extremely important for an individual with a criminal record to be sure to have his criminal record reviewed by an immigration attorney prior to filing for naturalization.

(g) Filing requirements: Since naturalization is not automatic, an individual seeking citizenship through naturalization must file an application for naturalization with the USCIS Service Center having jurisdiction over his or her place of residence.

(h) Testing requirements: An individual seeking naturalization must pass an English language test and a U.S. history/ civics exam as part of the interview process. There are certain exceptions to these requirements depending on the age of the individual and the length of time he or she has been a U.S. lawful permanent resident. For a list of sample questions and answers to the U.S. history/ civics exam, click here.

(i) Oath Ceremony: After completing all of the eligibility and testing requirements, the final step to becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen is taking the oath of allegiance.

For additional information on U.S. Citizenship, please see the US Citizenship & Immigration Services' webpage on this topic, or the Department of State's webpage on this topic.