How many years after the green card can I apply for citizenship?

Under USCIS rules, after 5 years as a permanent resident, or 3 years for spouses of US citizens; the N-400 can be filed 90 days before that date. A 2-year conditional green card counts toward the period.

Can I keep Russian citizenship?

The US does not require renouncing a previous citizenship at naturalization. What the other country requires of its citizens with a second passport is a matter of its own law, not US law.

Do I have to notify Russia about US citizenship?

Under Article 11 of the Russian law On Citizenship of the Russian Federation (No. 138-FZ), a Russian citizen must notify of every foreign citizenship and residence permit, and a green card counts as such a document. From abroad the notice can be filed at a consulate within 60 days of getting it, otherwise with the Interior Ministry within 60 days of entering Russia.

Which passport do I use to enter the US after naturalization?

A US passport: under 22 CFR 53.1 a US citizen enters and leaves the country only with a valid US passport, even with a second citizenship.

What is checked at the interview?

The N-400 answers (trips, taxes, marriages, offences), the English test (reading, writing, speaking) and the civics test from the official USCIS question list. The community reports that the officer may open the whole immigration file, including old DS-160 forms.

How many criteria do you need to meet for EB-1A?

At least three of the ten USCIS criteria. But meeting criteria is not enough: the officer additionally evaluates the case as a whole (final merits) and must see sustained acclaim and that you are among the best in your field. In the community's experience, a denial is possible even with 5 or more criteria counted if this second part is not proven.

If I met 5 criteria, is the visa guaranteed?

No. Meeting criteria is only the first stage. Next the officer looks at the case as a whole (final merits): you need to show sustained acclaim and a position at the top of the profession. It happens that the criteria are formally met, yet the officer writes that the applicant is not extraordinary enough. The outcome depends largely on the strength of the evidence and on the officer.

Citizenship

US citizenship: naturalization after the green card, N-400

Updated: October 1, 2026Author: Alina Kanametova

Key answer

In short

US citizenship comes through naturalization: after 5 years with the green card (3 if married to a US citizen) you file Form N-400, then biometrics, an interview with the English and civics test, and the oath. Continuous residence and physical presence in the US for at least half the period are required. The US does not require giving up a previous citizenship.

5 yearsas a permanent resident before N-400 (3 if married to a citizen)

90 daysearly filing window for the N-400

8naturalization stories on this page

How to get US citizenship: five steps

Step	What	How	More
1	Eligibility	5 years with the green card (3 if married to a US citizen), continuous residence and physical presence for at least half the period, taxes in order	how to get the green card
2	Form N-400	filed online in the USCIS account 90 days before the eligibility date; trips, addresses and jobs for 5 years, questions on offences	USCIS forms
3	Biometrics	fingerprints and photo; USCIS may reuse the green-card data	USCIS timelines
4	The interview and the test	English (reading, writing, speaking) and civics from the official list; the officer goes through the N-400 and the whole immigration file	interview questions
5	The oath	the ceremony, the naturalization certificate, then the US passport; a denial can be appealed with an N-336	life in the US after the move

The N-400 fee and current processing times are on the USCIS links at the bottom: the figures change, so they are not repeated here.

Dual citizenship: the US and Russia

The naturalization oath (text on the USCIS page) renounces allegiance to foreign states, but USCIS requires no separate procedure to give up a previous citizenship: whether it survives is up to the law of the other country. After the oath you enter and leave the US on a US passport - 22 CFR 53.1 requires it, even if you also hold a Russian passport.

Russian law asks for a notice in this case, not for giving up citizenship. Under Article 11 of the law On Citizenship of the Russian Federation (No. 138-FZ), a Russian citizen must notify of every foreign citizenship and of a residence permit - a green card is also a permanent-residence document. As the consular section of the Russian embassy in Poland explains, from abroad the notice may (but need not) be filed at a consulate within 60 days of getting it; if that is missed - with the Interior Ministry within 60 days of entering Russia.

The chats have 91 messages on dual citizenship, 48 of them in 2026, and most are not about naturalization but about the immigrant-visa pause for 75 countries: whether a passport of a country outside the list helps and where to declare it on the form. The pause status is on the court cases page. Residence for the N-400 and the green card itself on long trips are protected separately - with a re-entry permit.

Community experience: interviews, combo cases, the oath

From community discussions

«There is a well-known blogger who got divorced when they had been married for less than 2 years. She then received a permanent green card due to the divorce. Naturalization is possible not after 3 years, but based on general grounds after 5. At the citizenship interview, that blogger couldn't remember her ex-husband's birthday, but they still granted her citizenship)))»
Dina · from public community chats
«By the 3-year mark from the date of marriage, my permanent green card had not yet been approved, so I applied for citizenship, and USCIS combines two cases into one in this situation. It's faster to obtain citizenship this way than to wait for the removal of conditions and then file N-400. This is advice for your future that I wasn't asked for, but I'll give it anyway.»
Helena C. · from public community chats
«You can say no, and most likely it will work, and they will grant a tourist visa, but if you plan on legal immigration and then naturalization, they will review all your DS forms and may find it, and they generally don't like deception.»
Amster · from public community chats
«No need to. It could be that 'the guy was on the road to success, but it didn't work out, he wasn't lucky.' But during the naturalization interview, this question may be asked. You just need to think through your answer.»
Dmitriy · from public community chats
«I get tense every time, but then I read that the person 'forgot' to mention that he has a crime listed in his case when applying for naturalization. Well, that's how it looks for now.»
Dina · from public community chats
«Oh, and I had a combo case - removal of conditions + citizenship. But even if the green card is already permanent, they still need the husband's documents for N-400 for fast track.»
Helena C. · from public community chats
«A couple of years ago, the chances were higher. Yes, there may be issues during naturalization (there are already precedents). If this question is not taken out of the gray area.»
Dmitriy · from public community chats
«I had everything as in the birth certificate. In the passport, they can leave even one letter for the patronymic (that's what I did) or completely refuse the patronymic. But in my naturalization document, they wrote it themselves from the birth certificate. At the citizenship interview, the officer pulled out my entire case compiled over 6 years for both O-1 and EB-1 and found the birth certificate to verify with what was written in the naturalization document.»
Egor A. · from public community chats

Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.

What the chats ask about US citizenship

1×For the O-1A visa, can the agent be a US citizen?

Rules and tips from the chats

tipSometimes a long review for an immigrant visa is seen as a less risky path than trying to speed things up at the cost of an incomplete review, since unresolved issues may come up later at entry, status extension, or naturalization.
ruleTo preserve a green card and later naturalize, it is important to account for the length of absences from the United States. Formally short returns may not violate specific thresholds, but frequent or long absences create risks for continuous residence and ties to the United States.

Questions and answers on the site

Distilled from the public community chats, anonymised; corpus as of June 2026. These are participants' observations, not legal advice and not USCIS statistics.

Frequently asked questions

How many years after the green card can I apply for citizenship?: Under USCIS rules, after 5 years as a permanent resident, or 3 years for spouses of US citizens; the N-400 can be filed 90 days before that date. A 2-year conditional green card counts toward the period.
Can I keep Russian citizenship?: The US does not require renouncing a previous citizenship at naturalization. What the other country requires of its citizens with a second passport is a matter of its own law, not US law.
Do I have to notify Russia about US citizenship?: Under Article 11 of the Russian law On Citizenship of the Russian Federation (No. 138-FZ), a Russian citizen must notify of every foreign citizenship and residence permit, and a green card counts as such a document. From abroad the notice can be filed at a consulate within 60 days of getting it, otherwise with the Interior Ministry within 60 days of entering Russia.
Which passport do I use to enter the US after naturalization?: A US passport: under 22 CFR 53.1 a US citizen enters and leaves the country only with a valid US passport, even with a second citizenship.
What is checked at the interview?: The N-400 answers (trips, taxes, marriages, offences), the English test (reading, writing, speaking) and the civics test from the official USCIS question list. The community reports that the officer may open the whole immigration file, including old DS-160 forms.
How many criteria do you need to meet for EB-1A?: At least three of the ten USCIS criteria. But meeting criteria is not enough: the officer additionally evaluates the case as a whole (final merits) and must see sustained acclaim and that you are among the best in your field. In the community's experience, a denial is possible even with 5 or more criteria counted if this second part is not proven.
If I met 5 criteria, is the visa guaranteed?: No. Meeting criteria is only the first stage. Next the officer looks at the case as a whole (final merits): you need to show sustained acclaim and a position at the top of the profession. It happens that the criteria are formally met, yet the officer writes that the applicant is not extraordinary enough. The outcome depends largely on the strength of the evidence and on the officer.

Where next

Community questions on this topic

Sources

This page is reference, not legal advice; rules, fees and timelines change - verify on uscis.gov.