U.S. Citizenship is obtained either by birth or naturalization. A foreign national may become a U.S. citizen either through his or her parents, or by applying for naturalization on his or her own. There are a number of reasons and benefits to becoming a U.S. citizen, such as the ability to petition for your family members, obtaining government benefits, federal grants and scholarships, higher estate tax exemptions, federal job benefits, greater freedom of travel and the right to vote.
Generally, to be eligible for naturalization, an applicant must:
Spouses of U.S. Citizens Employed Abroad
In most cases, the spouse of a U.S. citizen who is employed abroad by the U.S. government, including the military, and who is stationed abroad in such employment for at least 1 year, may be eligible for naturalization.
However, the spouse of a U.S. citizen employed abroad must be in the United States at the time of naturalization interview and naturalization ceremony. He or she must and meet of all of the requirements listed above except that there is no specific continuous residence or physical presence is required.
Derivative Citizenship
A foreign national may already be a U.S. citizen and not need to apply for naturalization if his or her biological or adoptive parent(s) became a U.S. citizen before he or she reached the age of 18. A child residing in the U.S. automatically becomes a U.S. citizen when all of the following conditions have been met:
If residing overseas, a child becomes a U.S. citizen when all of the following conditions have been met:
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