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N-400 eligibility: the 5-year rule, the 3-year rule and the 30-month rule

8 CFR 316.2 requires five years of continuous residence as a permanent resident and 30 months of physical presence in the five years before filing. 8 CFR 319.1 shortens that to three years and 18 months for a spouse living in marital union with a US citizen for those three years. Applications may be filed up to 90 days early (8 CFR 334.2(b)).

Naturalization eligibility is a set of tests that all have to be met together: age, lawful permanent residence, time as a resident, time physically in the country, a period living in one state or district, good moral character, English and civics. The "five years" most people quote is only the first of those.

This page walks through the regulation text, in the order the rules appear, and works a few date examples so the arithmetic is visible. It describes what 8 CFR Part 316 (general requirements), Part 319 (spouses of US citizens), Part 312 (English and civics) and 8 CFR 334.2 (filing) say, as it appears in the eCFR at 10 October 2026. It does not say whether any particular person is eligible. Eligibility depends on dates and documents that only the applicant and a lawyer or accredited representative can read side by side: the green card date, every trip abroad, every arrest or citation, tax filings.

One rule comes before all of them. 8 CFR 316.2(b) puts the proof on the applicant: "The applicant shall bear the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she meets all of the requirements for naturalization, including that the applicant was lawfully admitted as a permanent resident to the United States, in accordance with the immigration laws in effect at the time of the applicant's initial entry or any subsequent reentry."

The eight requirements in 8 CFR 316.2(a)

The general eligibility paragraph says that, "to be eligible for naturalization, an alien must establish that he or she": 1. "Is at least 18 years of age"; 2. "Has been lawfully admitted as a permanent resident of the United States"; 3. "Has resided continuously within the United States, as defined under § 316.5, for a period of at least five years after having been lawfully admitted for permanent residence"; 4. "Has been physically present in the United States for at least 30 months of the five years preceding the date of filing the application"; 5. has resided for at least three months, immediately before filing, in a State or USCIS district with jurisdiction over the actual place of residence; 6. "Has resided continuously within the United States from the date of application for naturalization up to the time of admission to citizenship"; 7. for all relevant periods, has been and continues to be a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution, and favorably disposed toward the good order and happiness of the United States; and 8. is not a person described in section 314 of the Act relating to deserters of the Armed Forces or those who left the United States to evade military service.

Separate rules cover English and civics (Part 312), which are tested at the interview. The oath comes at the end. Item 6 means eligibility does not stop at filing: it runs until the oath ceremony.

Notice the two different clocks. "Resided continuously" (item 3) is about a period of residence and what interrupts it. "Physically present" (item 4) is a day-count of actual presence. A person can meet one and not the other, which is why long trips need both checked.

The 3-year rule for spouses of US citizens: 8 CFR 319.1

A different set applies under section 319(a) of the Act to the spouse of a US citizen. 8 CFR 319.1(a) requires the applicant to establish that he or she: - has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence; - "Has resided continuously within the United States, as defined under § 316.5 of this chapter, for a period of at least three years after having been lawfully admitted for permanent residence"; - "Has been living in marital union with the citizen spouse for the three years preceding the date of examination on the application, and the spouse has been a United States citizen for the duration of that three year period"; - "Has been physically present in the United States for periods totaling at least 18 months"; - has lived three months in the State or district; has resided continuously until admission to citizenship; and has good moral character and attachment to the Constitution; and - has otherwise complied with Part 316 except for the five-year residence, 30-month presence and three-month provisions in 316.2(a)(3) to (5).

Notice what is tied to the exam date. The marital-union period is counted back from "the date of examination on the application", not from filing. And the spouse must have been a citizen for that whole three-year period.

The regulation defines marital union plainly: "An applicant lives in marital union with a citizen spouse if the applicant actually resides with his or her current spouse." What breaks it is spelled out too: - death, divorce or expatriation of the citizen spouse ends eligibility under this section "if, before or after the filing of the application, the marital union ceases to exist due to death or divorce, or the citizen spouse has expatriated"; - "Any legal separation will break the continuity of the marital union"; - "Any informal separation that suggests the possibility of marital disunity will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis"; - involuntary separation, such as military service or "essential business or occupational demands", "even if prolonged, will not preclude naturalization under this part."

The five-year requirements in Part 316 and the spouse requirements in Part 319 are separate sets of rules. On loss of the marriage, the regulation says, in 319.1(b)(2)(i): "Eligibility is not restored to an applicant whose relationship to the citizen spouse terminates before the applicant's admission to citizenship, even though the applicant subsequently marries another United States citizen."

Continuous residence and trips abroad: 8 CFR 316.5(c)

Continuous residence is the requirement that trips abroad most often threaten. The regulation sorts absences by length.

Under six months. 8 CFR 316.5(c) lists only absences of six months or more as disruptions. Shorter trips do not appear in the rule, though they still count against the physical-presence day-count.

Six months to one year. "Absences from the United States for continuous periods of between six (6) months and one (1) year during the periods for which continuous residence is required under § 316.2 (a)(3) and (a)(6) shall disrupt the continuity of such residence for purposes of this part unless the applicant can establish otherwise to the satisfaction of the Service." The regulation lists examples of evidence that may help: the applicant did not terminate employment in the United States; the immediate family remained; the applicant kept full access to a US home; the applicant did not obtain employment abroad.

One year or more. "Absences from the United States for a continuous period of one (1) year or more ... shall disrupt the continuity of the applicant's residence." The rule then gives a way to restart the count: a person who needs five years of residence "may file an application for naturalization four years and one day following the date of the applicant's return to the United States to resume permanent residence." A person who needs three years may file "two years and one day following the date of the applicant's return."

Worked arithmetic, as an illustration only: if the return to resume permanent residence after a 14-month absence is 1 June 2024, four years and one day later is 2 June 2028.

Preserving residence for work abroad. Sections 316(b) and 317 of the Act can preserve residence for certain absences of a year or more. The application is Form N-470, and 8 CFR 316.5(d) says it must be filed "before the applicant has been absent from the United States for a continuous period of one year" in the case of 316(b).

Other triggers. The rules say that claiming nonresident alien status for income tax purposes "raises a rebuttable presumption that the applicant has relinquished the privileges of permanent resident status", and that any departure while under an order of removal ends permanent resident status.

Physical presence, the three-month residence rule and early filing

Physical presence. The 30-month rule (or 18 months on the spouse path) counts actual days spent in the United States. Five years is 60 months, so 30 months is half of the window. By arithmetic alone, a person who spent more than about 30 months outside the country in the five years before filing cannot meet it, whatever their ties. The window is "the five years preceding the date of filing", so moving the filing date moves the window.

Three months in one place. 8 CFR 316.2(a)(5) requires residence for at least three months "immediately preceding the filing of an application" in the State or USCIS district with jurisdiction over the applicant's actual place of residence. 316.5 explains how residence is determined, including that residence "is the same as that alien's domicile, or principal actual dwelling place, without regard to the alien's intent". Students away at school and military personnel have their own subparagraphs.

Early filing. 8 CFR 334.2(b) says: "An application for naturalization may be filed up to 90 days prior to the completion of the required period of residence, which may include the three-month period of residence required to establish jurisdiction under section 316(a) or 319(a) of the Act."

Arithmetic only: a permanent resident date of 1 March 2021 completes five years on 1 March 2026. Ninety days before that is 1 December 2025. A spouse-path applicant whose permanent resident date is 1 March 2023 completes three years on 1 March 2026, with the same 90-day arithmetic, although the marital-union and citizen-spouse periods must also be met by the exam date.

Early filing does not remove the other tests. The time-in-place and physical-presence rules still look back from the filing date. And the fee must be right: 8 CFR 103.2(a)(7)(ii) says a benefit request that is rejected "will not retain a filing date" and that a request is rejected if it is not "Submitted with the correct fee(s)". See the related page on the N-400 fee, and the page on the proposed fee change, for the figures.

English and civics: 8 CFR Part 312

Under 8 CFR 312.1(a), "no person shall be naturalized as a citizen of the United States upon his or her own application unless that person can demonstrate an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write, and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language." Speaking is judged from the answers at the interview; reading and writing are "tested in a manner prescribed by USCIS."

Two age-and-residence exceptions are written into 312.1(b): - over 50 years of age at filing and living in the United States for periods totalling at least 20 years after lawful admission for permanent residence; and - over 55 years of age at filing and at least 15 years of such residence.

A third exception covers a person unable to demonstrate English "because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment or combination of impairments which has lasted or is expected to last at least 12 months." The medical certification for that exception is Form N-648, which 8 CFR 106.2 lists with no fee. The text also excludes losses of cognitive ability "based on the direct effects of the illegal use of drugs".

Civics is separate. 8 CFR 312.2(a) requires "a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government, of the United States", and says a person exempt from the English requirement under the age exceptions "must still satisfy this requirement." There is a medical exception to civics too, in 312.2(b).

The current content of the civics test, and which edition applies to a given filing, is set by USCIS in its study materials, not in the regulation. The regulation says USCIS "will provide a description of test study materials and testing procedures on the USCIS Internet Web site", so the USCIS citizenship pages are the place to look rather than a third-party summary.

Good moral character: 8 CFR 316.10

Good moral character has its own regulation, and it reaches further back than the statutory period. 8 CFR 316.10(a)(1) says the applicant "bears the burden of demonstrating that, during the statutorily prescribed period, he or she has been and continues to be a person of good moral character". That period includes "the period between the examination and the administration of the oath of allegiance."

The rule allows a look further back: "The Service is not limited to reviewing the applicant's conduct during the five years immediately preceding the filing of the application, but may take into consideration, as a basis for its determination, the applicant's conduct and acts at any time prior to that period, if the conduct of the applicant during the statutory period does not reflect that there has been reform of character from an earlier period or if the earlier conduct and acts appear relevant to a determination of the applicant's present moral character."

The regulation lists conduct that results in a finding of no good moral character. Some are permanent bars: an applicant "shall be found to lack good moral character" if convicted of murder at any time, or of an aggravated felony as defined in the statute on or after 29 November 1990. Others apply when they occur during the statutory period, including: - a crime involving moral turpitude, with a conviction, subject to a statutory exception; - two or more convictions with an aggregate sentence actually imposed of five years or more; - violations of controlled-substance laws other than a single offense of simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana; - confinement in a penal institution for an aggregate of 180 days; - giving false testimony to obtain an immigration benefit, where "this prohibition applies regardless of whether the information provided in the false testimony was material"; - involvement in prostitution or smuggling, polygamy, two or more gambling convictions, or being a habitual drunkard.

A further list applies "unless the applicant establishes extenuating circumstances", including willful failure to support dependents. Probation or parole during the period "is not thereby" a bar, but an application "will not be approved until after the probation, parole, or suspended sentence has been completed."

Many people who worry about this section have arrests, citations or tax issues that are not on the list. The regulation is not the whole analysis: the statute, case law and USCIS policy also matter. This is the stage where a licensed attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative is doing real work, because an answer on the form that is wrong can itself become the problem.

What the rules do not tell you

Three limits of a regulation-based page are worth stating plainly: - The form and its edition. The N-400 and its instructions set what evidence goes with the filing. USCIS publishes both on its form page, and the fee schedule (Form G-1055) lists the fee. - Fees can change. A proposed rule from 23 June 2026 would raise the N-400 fee and remove the reduced fee and fee waivers; it is PROPOSED and not in force. See the page on the proposed N-400 fee rise. - Facts decide. The regulations are about categories. Whether a trip was 5 months 29 days or 6 months 1 day, whether a marriage was intact on a given date, whether an offense falls within the list, are questions of documents and dates.

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Questions people ask

How many years do I need to be a permanent resident before I can apply for citizenship?

8 CFR 316.2(a)(3) requires continuous residence in the United States "for a period of at least five years after having been lawfully admitted for permanent residence". The spouse-of-citizen provision in 8 CFR 319.1(a)(2) requires three years, with additional marital-union and citizenship requirements.

How many months do I have to be physically in the US to qualify for naturalization?

30 months of the five years preceding the date of filing under 8 CFR 316.2(a)(4), or "periods totaling at least 18 months" on the three-year spouse path under 8 CFR 319.1(a)(4).

Can I file the N-400 before I complete five years?

8 CFR 334.2(b) allows filing "up to 90 days prior to the completion of the required period of residence". The other requirements, including the physical-presence count, still apply.

Does a trip abroad of six months or more break continuous residence?

Under 8 CFR 316.5(c)(1)(i), absences of between six months and one year disrupt continuity of residence "unless the applicant can establish otherwise to the satisfaction of the Service". Absences of one year or more disrupt it under 316.5(c)(1)(ii) and restart the count unless an N-470 benefit applies.

Do I have to take the English test if I am over 50?

8 CFR 312.1(b) exempts a person over 50 with at least 20 years as a permanent resident, and a person over 55 with at least 15 years. Those applicants must still satisfy the civics requirement in 8 CFR 312.2.

Is the N-400 fee going up?

A proposed rule (91 FR 37500, published 23 June 2026) would set the N-400 at $1,330 paper or $1,280 online and end the reduced fee and fee waivers. It is PROPOSED, and the fee in 8 CFR 106.2(b)(3) remains $760 until a final rule changes it. Check the USCIS fee schedule before paying.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-10.

Related guides

  • N-400 fee in 2026: $760, the $380 reduced fee and fee waivers — The regulation sets the N-400 fee at $760, or $380 if documented household income is at or below 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (8 CFR 106.2(b)(3)). The fee can also be waived on the three grounds in 8 CFR 106.3(a)(1). Military applicants under INA 328 or 329 pay nothing.
  • Proposed N-400 fee rise and end of fee waivers: what the rule says — A DHS proposed rule (91 FR 37500, 23 June 2026) would raise the N-400 to $1,330 on paper or $1,280 online and end the reduced fee and fee waivers for the N-400 and N-336. It is PROPOSED and not in force. Its comment period closed on 24 August 2026; the fees in 8 CFR 106.2 ($760, or $380 at or below 400% of the poverty guidelines) apply until a final rule changes them.
  • N-400 denied: the N-336 hearing, court review and filing again, as the regulations set them out — 8 CFR 336.2(a) lets an applicant ask for a hearing on a naturalization denial "within thirty days after the applicant receives the notice of denial." The request is Form N-336 ($830 today; a higher fee is proposed but not in force). If the denial stands, 8 U.S.C. 1421(c) allows review in a federal district court.
  • Do I need a lawyer to apply for US citizenship? — No rule requires one. The N-400 fee is $760 on paper, $380 at or below 400% of the poverty guidelines, and it can be waived. The core test in 8 CFR 316.2 is five years as a permanent resident with 30 months' physical presence, or three years and 18 months for a spouse living with a US citizen (8 CFR 319.1).
  • Form N-600: applying for a Certificate of Citizenship — Form N-600 costs $1,385 under 8 CFR 106.2(b)(7), with no fee for current or former US armed forces members applying for themselves or for a child with a qualifying final adoption. The applicant bears the burden of proving citizenship by a preponderance of the evidence (8 CFR 341.2(c)). A denied N-600 cannot simply be refiled once appeal time has run.
  • USCIS fee waiver (Form I-912): which forms qualify and how it works — Only the fees listed in 8 CFR 106.3(a)(3) can be waived, and the green card petition for a relative (I-130) and advance parole are not on the main list. Inability to pay is shown by a means-tested benefit, household income at or below 150% of the poverty guidelines, or extreme financial hardship. A denial cannot be appealed.
  • Who can legally give US immigration advice? — Attorneys in good standing and DOJ-accredited representatives of recognized non-profits can advise and represent you; a few narrow categories can appear unpaid. Notaries, notarios and immigration consultants cannot give immigration legal advice. Form preparers may only fill in blanks for a nominal fee.
  • Form I-485 fee 2026: adults, children and add-on forms — As at 9 October 2026 the paper fee for Form I-485 is $1,440 for an applicant 14 or older and $950 for a child under 14 filing with a parent (8 CFR 106.2(a)(21)). A fee waiver is available only to people exempt from the public charge ground, and related forms carry their own fees.