Green Card to U.S. Passport: The N-400 Naturalization Roadmap

  1. Identify which naturalization route fits you
    45 min

    The route you pick sets every date and test that follows, so settle it before money moves. Three routes cover nearly everyone:

    • Standard 5-year route — you will have been a lawful permanent resident for 5 years at filing. The default.
    • 3-year marriage route — permanent resident for 3 years and, during those 3 years, married to and living together with a U.S.-citizen spouse who stays a citizen through your oath.
    • Military and special statutory routes — separate requirement sets for service members, veterans and rare statutory categories.

    Compare your green card date and marital history against each on USCIS’s naturalization pages, then commit to exactly one route.

    A route name is only useful with its requirements spelled out. Whichever route you land on, copy onto one sheet its complete list: minimum age, years as a permanent resident, continuous residence, physical-presence months, the 3-month state-or-district residence, English and civics testing, good moral character, and attachment to the Constitution. That sheet becomes the yardstick the rest of this guide checks against.