When Can I Apply for Naturalization?
- If you were granted asylum in the United States, a maximum of one year of your time in asylee status counts as permanent residence
- Please note, if you waited longer than a year to apply for your green card, that extra time will not count towards your naturalization
- You can also turn in your USCIS Form N-400 (Citizenship Application) 90 days before your required years of permanent residence have passed. This 90-day period compensates for the fact that USCIS might not act on your application (or call you in for an interview) for at least that amount of time. Refugees and asylees may apply for naturalization 5 years after the date of their admission to lawful permanent residence. More details can be found on https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship.
Usually, a person becomes eligible for naturalization after starting the 5 years period of being a permanent resident. But, in case of asylees, they become eligible for naturalization 4 years after the approval of their permanent resident (Green Card) application as their permanent residence starting day is dated 1 year back from the approval of the Green Card application.
Your Immigration File
- It gives the U.S. Immigration Citizenship Services (USCIS) another chance to review your immigration file and your life events after you received the asylum
- If you recently obtained U.S. asylum, be mindful of this possibility and ensure that you do not do anything that could hurt your future citizenship
- And If you are ready to apply for naturalization now, you should carefully consider and address any of these issues that might apply to you
Scenario 1
USCIS will Recheck Whether or not Your Asylum Claim was Bona Fide?
- When USCIS reviews a former asylee’s application for naturalization, it wants to make sure that the person’s underlying asylum claim was bonafide
- USCIS might look closely at the person’s naturalization application and history in the United States to make sure that it is consistent with the reasons he or she requested asylum
- For example, if a man requested asylum because he feared persecution in his home country based on his sexual preference of liking a same-sex partner
- But he married a woman instead of a man
- USCIS might wonder if he lied about his sexual orientation on his asylum application
- If a Christian pastor fled his home country because the government was persecuting Christians, but now is a practicing Muslim
- USCIS could believe that he lied about his religion to receive asylum
- In both of these cases, the underlying asylum claim might truly be bona fide, and the person’s life might simply have changed significantly since the application for asylum
- Nevertheless, USCIS will look closely at the application and could deny it if the applicant cannot offer a strong explanation for the discrepancies
- You should be able to explain such changes is by providing corroborating documentation
Include a letter explaining the change in life circumstances along with your application.
Scenario 2
USCIS Will Examine Your Travel History
- If a person travels back to his or her home country after receiving asylum, USCIS could suspect that that person did not actually fear persecution when applying for asylum
- Frequent travel to the home country might make USCIS very suspicious
- If you have traveled back to your home country at all since receiving asylum, you will need to explain to USCIS why you did so (perhaps for an urgent matter that outweighed the risks) and show that the underlying risk of persecution on your asylum application was real
Finally, think about why you traveled to your home country, and prepare to show the USCIS why that travel should not undercut your initial asylum eligibility
Provide copies of any documentation that proves your explanation.
Scenario 3
USCIS May Look for Your Name on the INTERPOL List of Criminals and Terrorists
- Occasionally, a person receives asylum in the United States and later appears on the Interpol “wanted person” list
- The person might appear on the list due to having committed a crime in the home country, or due to mistaken identity, or because of involvement in a terrorist organization, even without having known it was a terrorist organization at the time
- USCIS takes the Interpol “wanted person” list seriously
- If your name is on it, even if the reason was a mistake, it could seriously impact your naturalization case
If you believe that you could be on the Interpol “wanted person” list, contact an immigration attorney immediately to discuss your options.
Scenario 4
USCIS Will Want to See That You Registered for the Selective Service
- Every male U.S. citizen or immigrant between the ages of 18 and 25 is required to register for the Selective Service
- That means filling out a form that provides your name and address in case the United States ever needs to rapidly expand the armed forces in an emergency
This failure can affect a person’s application for naturalization.
Scenario 5
USCIS Will Look for Inconsistencies Between Your Application for Naturalization and for Asylum
A common problem for former asylees who are now applying for naturalization is that they make statements on their N-400 Application for Naturalization that are different from either the information they gave on their I-589 Application for Asylum or in their testimony when applying for asylum.
Some of the most common types of inconsistencies are:
- Failure to list all of the organizations and groups the person claimed to be a member of on the asylum application
- Claiming relatives on Form N-400 that the applicant did not claim on the asylum application, and
- Checking “No” on any of the questions involving criminal activity or arrests when the persecution in the asylum application involved arrests or criminal charges in the individual’s home country
Your first step is to accurately fill out your Form N-400
If, however, any such inconsistencies reflect actual facts in your case, you should explain to the USCIS officer about those discrepancies
Certain inconsistencies could result in a bar to naturalization or cast doubt on the statements you made in your underlying asylum application. Attorney Raju Mahajan & Associates has been trying to assist individuals in Asylum related cases. Our immigration law office provides numerous legal services, including online consultations, which you can have access from any part of the world.
