As immigration policies continue to shift, debates over birthright citizenship remain unresolved, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regularly updates application review regulations, many Vietnamese green card holders are beginning to wonder: should I apply for citizenship now or wait? This is not a new question, but it has rarely felt more urgent. This article explains in fundamental terms, independent of current events, the path to becoming a U.S. citizen.
Once granted, U.S. citizenship can still be revoked if the original application contained deception.
Why Many Choose to Naturalize
Having a green card allows a person to live and work legally in the U.S. for an essentially unlimited time. However, a green card remains a residence permit, not full citizenship rights. Green card holders can still be deported if they commit certain crimes, cannot vote in federal elections, and cannot obtain a U.S. passport.
Upon becoming a citizen, a person gains the right to vote and run for office, is protected from deportation in most circumstances, can sponsor parents, spouses, children, and siblings under broader priority categories, can apply for federal jobs requiring U.S. citizenship, and can obtain a U.S. passport for far more convenient international travel compared to a green card.
| Benefit | Permanent Resident (Green Card) | U.S. Citizen |
|---|---|---|
| Vote in federal elections | No | Yes |
| Risk of deportation | Yes, in certain cases | Highly limited |
| Sponsor relatives | Limited (spouse, unmarried children) | Expanded (parents, siblings) |
| U.S. passport | No | Yes |
| Federal employment | Limited | Expanded |
General Requirements for Application
Naturalization requirements center around several key pillars: the amount of time legally residing in the U.S. as a permanent resident, actual time spent in the U.S., continuous residence in a state or county before filing, good moral character (no certain types of criminal convictions), basic ability to read, write, and speak English, knowledge of U.S. history and government, and commitment to the U.S. Constitution.
Specific figures such as minimum years of residence, days physically present in the U.S., age exemptions from English testing, or filing fee amounts are details frequently adjusted. Rather than citing a number that may be outdated, we recommend readers consult directly the official USCIS website at uscis.gov for current timelines and fees at the time of application.
One important note: those who have served in the U.S. military or are married to U.S. citizens often enjoy more flexible residence requirements. This detail should also be confirmed directly on the USCIS website before filing, as these exceptions come with fairly complex conditions.
How the Application Process Works
The naturalization process is a clearly ordered sequence of steps, and understanding each step in advance helps applicants avoid wasted time due to missing documents.
- Prepare your application: The applicant gathers documents proving permanent resident status, residence history, and personal documents such as passport, birth certificate, and marriage certificate if applicable.
- Submit the naturalization application: The application is sent to USCIS with the filing fee according to current regulations, and this fee should be verified directly on uscis.gov as it typically changes annually.
- Fingerprinting and background check: USCIS schedules the applicant to visit a service center for biometric collection to support criminal background verification.
- Interview: An immigration officer conducts a direct interview, testing English proficiency and civics knowledge through a brief exam on U.S. history and government.
- Receive results and take oath: If approved, the applicant attends a naturalization oath ceremony and officially becomes a U.S. citizen.
The oath ceremony is typically solemn and moving. A notable example took place on July 4, 2019 at the Rotunda of the National Archives, where 44 people from 26 countries, including individuals of Vietnamese descent, took the oath directly beneath the original documents of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. David S. Ferriero, the National Archives director at the time, whose grandparents were Italian immigrants, remarked that the naturalization records of those newly sworn would become a permanent part of the nation's archives, so future generations could rediscover their ancestors' stories(1).
Honesty in Your Application: Why It Matters Too Much to Overlook
U.S. citizenship, once granted, is not absolutely inviolable. If the government can prove that someone lied or concealed important information when applying for naturalization, that citizenship can be revoked years, even decades later. The case of Jakiw Palij is an extreme but illustrative example: he naturalized in 1957 after falsely concealing his past as a guard at a Nazi labor camp, and only in 2018, at age 95, was he deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after his citizenship was stripped(2). The lesson is not about the severity of the case, but about the principle: all information disclosed in a naturalization application must be absolutely accurate, as the file can be reviewed again at any time in the future.
Perspective for the Vietnamese American Community
For many Vietnamese American families, naturalization is not just an administrative procedure but opens the door to family reunion. Once a citizen, a sponsor can file for parents, spouses, children, and even siblings still in Vietnam, whereas a green card holder can only sponsor spouses and unmarried children. For the first generation who left Vietnam after 1975, this is often the decisive reason to complete the naturalization process as soon as possible, rather than delay.
One point worth noting specifically for the community: sponsoring relatives requires the sponsor to demonstrate sufficient financial capacity to support the beneficiary, through an affidavit of support filed with the application. The minimum income requirement varies by household size and by year, so the safest approach is still to check uscis.gov directly before filing a sponsorship petition, rather than relying on figures heard from friends or acquaintances.
Finally, for the first generation of refugees who had to relearn an entirely different country's legal system, language, and administrative procedures, the greatest barrier to filing a naturalization application often is not lack of determination, but limited access to English-language information and unfamiliarity with paperwork processes. This is why Vietnamese American community centers in Little Saigon, Houston, and San Jose regularly host free naturalization workshops, helping older adults feel more confident when walking into the interview room.
Bảo Nguyễn
Bảo Nguyễn founded Saigon Sentinel to give the Vietnamese diaspora truly independent, in-depth community coverage at a time when misinformation moves faster than fact-checks and the language barrier makes verification harder than it should be. He sets the editorial standards and quality controls that govern the reporting, chooses the subjects, writes and edits each article, reads it against its sources before publication, audits published output, and handles corrections.