Dear all ,
Thank you for your time.
I have been researching and wanted to touch base with you on the importance of having and applying for naturalization .Can you please explain a bit about naturalization to the new immigrants who are already in the United States.
Thank you again for your time.
Nati
If you moved on a DV (Green card) visa to the USA on the 1st of January 2009 then as long as you have not committed any crimes of moral turpitude, or committed any kind of fraud, such as fiddling your taxes you could be eligible to apply for Naturalisation on or after the 1st of October 2014. (4 years and 9 months later).
You of course have to be physically present in the USA for all of the proceeding five years, aside from short holidays and trips.
For those intending to naturalise one day, I would suggest keeping a record off all your trips in and out of the USA as soon as you take up residency there as it will greatly help you fill in the N400 forms fife years down the road.
There are a few things to consider here. Naturalisation as a USC will give you the right to vote, and the right to come and go from the USA as you please. If you naturalise then you could potentially go home to your home country and come back to the USA any time in the future.
Naturalisation as a USC will mean that you may possibly be liable for US taxes even if you are not resident in the USA, apparently, so I am told, anything you earn over USD 86,000 ish in a country that has a tax treaty with the USA would be classed as taxable income in the US.
