To make it clear that the burden of proof for a naturalization applicant to prove they have been admitted lawfully for permanent residence only applies to their initial admission as a lawful permanent resident (LPR) or adjustment to LPR status, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has published policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual.
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A lawful permanent resident who satisfies the standards set forth by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is awarded U.S. citizenship through the process of naturalization.
An applicant must meet the eligibility conditions specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in order to be eligible for citizenship. Generally speaking, the prerequisites include having been a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for a minimum of five years.
A candidate for naturalization must demonstrate that, under all applicable immigration rules at the time of admission or adjustment, they were legally admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
The regulations further state that this criteria must be met “at the time of the applicant’s initial entry or any subsequent reentry” in order to determine eligibility for naturalization.
This new rule applies to requests that are pending or submitted on or after November 14, 2024.
A returning LPR treated as an applicant for admission and paroled into the United States for removal proceedings, which were later terminated, nevertheless, continued to meet the lawfully admitted for permanent residence requirement for naturalization, according to a recent ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The court reasoned that by requiring a naturalization applicant to prove lawful admission at “any subsequent reentry,” USCIS’ interpretation of the regulations creates an extra condition for naturalization not present in the Act.
In accordance with this decision, USCIS is revising its policy to only take into account an applicant’s first admission or adjustment—not their subsequent reentries—when evaluating lawful admission for permanent residence in the context of naturalization.
According to the new regulations, USCIS takes into account whether a naturalization applicant was lawfully admitted for permanent residence or lawfully adjusted to permanent resident status at the time of their initial admission or adjustment, regardless of whether they were lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of any subsequent reentries to the United States, to determine whether the applicant satisfies the requirement of being lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.
