What Documents Do I Need to Apply for US Citizenship?

To apply for U.S. citizenship, every applicant files Form N-400 with three universal items: a photocopy of both sides of your Permanent Resident Card, payment for the filing fee, and, if your current legal name differs from the name on your Green Card, the document that made the change. Beyond those, the documents needed to apply for US citizenship depend on how you qualify — five years as a permanent resident, three years married to a U.S. citizen, or military service — and on your tax, criminal, and travel history. The list below walks through what to gather and when each item applies.¹

The Three Items Every Applicant Sends

Include a legible photocopy of the front and back of your Permanent Resident Card. If the card was lost or stolen, send a photocopy of the receipt for your Form I-90 replacement application instead. Include payment for the filing fee. And if you live outside the United States, include two identical passport-style color photos with your name and Alien Registration Number written lightly in pencil on the back.¹

Applicants living inside the United States no longer submit photos with the application. USCIS takes a new one at your biometrics appointment.² Older instructions still reference the photo requirement, which trips people up.

If the name on your Green Card is not your current legal name, add the document that created the change: a marriage certificate, a divorce decree, or a court order.¹ USCIS will compare the name on your card against your N-400, and any mismatch without a supporting document generates a request for evidence.

Extra Documents If You Are Filing Based on Marriage

Applicants qualifying through three years of marriage to a U.S. citizen submit four additional categories of evidence.

Proof of your spouse’s U.S. citizenship comes first. Acceptable proof includes a birth certificate showing U.S. birth, a Certificate of Naturalization, a Certificate of Citizenship, or the biographical and signature pages from your spouse’s current U.S. passport.¹

Second, submit your current marriage certificate. Third, provide proof that every prior marriage — yours and your spouse’s — ended legally, through divorce decrees, annulment orders, or death certificates for former spouses.¹

Fourth, gather documents that show you and your spouse actually share a life. Joint tax returns, shared bank statements, a lease or mortgage in both names, and birth certificates of any children you have together all count.¹ This is where applicants most often come up short, so pull as many overlapping records as you can.

Extra Documents If You Are Filing Based on Military Service

Current service members submit a signed and certified Form N-426 (Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service) with the N-400. The branch certifies the form to verify the nature and length of service.³

Veterans who have already separated do not file N-426. Instead, they include a copy of DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) or the equivalent discharge document for every period of service.³

Tax and Child Support Records

USCIS uses your tax history to evaluate good moral character, one of the core naturalization requirements.⁴ Order IRS tax transcripts covering the last five years, or the last three if you are filing as the spouse of a U.S. citizen. The transcripts show you filed returns and complied with federal tax law during the required period.

If you owe back taxes, bring proof of an active IRS payment plan. Unfiled returns or unresolved tax debt is not an automatic bar to citizenship, but it gives the officer a reason to question your moral character.

Applicants with court-ordered child support or alimony obligations should bring proof of compliance. USCIS specifically identifies falling behind on child support as a factor in evaluating good moral character.⁵ Payment receipts, court ledgers, or a statement from the state child support enforcement agency all work.

Arrest and Court Records

If you have ever been arrested or detained for any reason, even without charges, you need documentation. When no charges resulted, submit an official statement from the arresting agency or court confirming that. When charges were filed, submit an original or court-certified copy of the complete arrest record and final disposition for each incident, whether it ended in dismissal, conviction, or acquittal.¹

The requirement covers everything, including traffic citations that involved alcohol or controlled substances. Certified court dispositions generally cost between $10 and $40 per record, and some courts take weeks to produce them, so start early. Missing even a minor incident can derail your interview when the FBI background check surfaces it.

Travel History and Proof of Continuous Residence

Your N-400 asks for every trip outside the United States since you became a permanent resident. Gather your current and expired passports along with any records that help you reconstruct exact departure and return dates. USCIS compares your travel history against the continuous residence and physical presence requirements.

Trips under six months generally raise no issue. Trips of six months to a year create a presumption that you broke continuous residence, and you’ll need evidence to overcome it: pay stubs, mortgage statements, and lease agreements from that period showing you kept your U.S. job, home, and family here.⁶

An absence of one year or more automatically breaks continuous residence unless you had an approved Form N-470 (Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes) before you left.⁶ Without that approval, you generally have to wait at least four years and one day after returning before you can apply.

Selective Service Proof for Male Applicants

Male applicants between 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service System.⁷ If you are in that age range, verify your registration and download a letter of acknowledgment from the Selective Service website, and include the letter with your application.⁸

Men between 26 and 30 who failed to register may need to request a Status Information Letter from Selective Service explaining why and provide evidence that the failure was not knowing and willful. Men 31 and older who did not register are no longer required to provide a Status Information Letter to USCIS, though the officer may still ask about it at the interview.⁹

Translations for Foreign-Language Documents

Every document in a foreign language must come with a full English translation. The translator has to certify in writing that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate from the foreign language into English. The certification should include the translator’s name, signature, address, and date.

You don’t have to use a professional service. A bilingual friend or relative can translate, as long as they sign the certification. Professional certified translations typically run from $20 to over $100 per page, so if you have several foreign-language records — birth certificates, marriage certificates, court documents — factor that into your budget.

Filing Fee and Fee Waiver Forms

The filing fee for Form N-400 is $710 online or $760 on paper.¹⁰ Pay by check, money order, or credit card using Form G-1450. Write your Alien Registration Number on the back of any check or money order.

If you cannot afford the fee, you have two options. A full fee waiver is available through Form I-912 if your household income is at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, such as $23,940 for a single-person household or $49,500 for a family of four as of 2026.¹¹ You can also qualify by showing you receive a means-tested benefit like Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, or SSI, or by demonstrating financial hardship such as a medical emergency or homelessness.¹²

A partial fee reduction is available through Form I-942 if your household income is above 150 percent but at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.¹³ Applicants who qualify for the reduced filing fee still pay the full biometric services fee.

Originals to Bring to Your Interview

Send photocopies with your application, but keep the originals. When you appear for your naturalization interview, bring your interview appointment notice, your Permanent Resident Card, a state-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license, and every passport — current and expired — that documents your absences from the United States since becoming a permanent resident.¹⁴

Also bring originals of anything you submitted as a copy: marriage certificates, divorce decrees, tax transcripts, and court dispositions. The officer may ask to inspect originals to verify authenticity. If anything changed after you filed — a new address, a new arrest, additional trips abroad — bring documentation of those updates as well.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Document Checklist
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 2 – Biometrics Collection
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-426, Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1427 – Requirements of Naturalization
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Restoring a Rigorous, Holistic, and Comprehensive Good Moral Character Evaluation Standard for Aliens Applying for Naturalization
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 3 – Continuous Residence
7
Selective Service System. Who Needs to Register
8
USAGov. Find Your Selective Service Number
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Selective Service System. Request a Status Information Letter
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USCIS. Fact Sheet – Form N-400 Filing Fees
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Poverty Guidelines
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-912 Instructions for Request for Fee Waiver
13
USCIS. Form I-942 Instructions for Request for Reduced Fee
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Citizenship – What to Expect