Understand U.S.
citizenship as it stands today.
A free, source-first guide to citizenship law and naturalization—built to explain the rule, the date, the agency, the evidence, and the official source you should use next.
Current law first
The site distinguishes constitutional and statutory law, binding judicial decisions, regulations, agency policy, guidance and proposals.
Verified volatile facts
Fees, filing rules, civics-test versions and other changing facts carry a review date and link back to the controlling source.
Official exit ramps
Consequential guidance ends with the USCIS, State, DOJ/EOIR, court, statute, regulation, or rulemaking source that actually controls the next step.
Accessible by design
Keyboard access, reduced motion, high zoom, screen readers, printing, and translation-friendly language are part of the primary experience—not a separate version.
Major citizenship frameworks
These are routing categories, not a claim that five cards can capture every historical or special nationality provision. Each page explains when dates or specialized statutes require a deeper analysis.
Citizenship at Birth
Birth in the United States and acquisition at birth through U.S.-citizen parents.
Open frameworkStandard Naturalization
The ordinary five-year framework for qualifying lawful permanent residents.
Open frameworkMarriage Route
The three-year naturalization framework for qualifying spouses of U.S. citizens.
Open frameworkMilitary Naturalization
Distinct rules for qualifying honorable service under INA 328 and INA 329.
Open frameworkCitizenship Through a Parent
Automatic INA 320 citizenship and the INA 322 process for qualifying children abroad.
Open frameworkPractical guides
Use these to understand the issue. Use the official-resource guide when you are ready to file, verify a current government instruction, find legal help, or work from outside the United States.
Evidence
What is baseline, what is conditional, and where the current instructions control.
Fees
Current amounts, filing methods, reduced fees, waivers, exemptions and proposals.
Civics test
The filing-date split between the 2008 and 2025 tests with official study sources.
Processing
How to use live USCIS data without mistaking an estimate for a promise.
Plain-language glossary
Definitions for terms whose legal meaning can disappear in ordinary language or translation.
Language & accessibility
Official multilingual resources, disability access, reduced motion, print, keyboard and translation guidance.
Go to the government source that owns the question.
USCIS, the Department of State, DOJ/EOIR, Congress, regulators, and courts do different jobs. The official-help hub explains which one to use for filing, proof of citizenship, a case inquiry, language support, disability accommodations, legal representation, or primary-law research.
Open official helpGlobal audience, U.S. legal subject.
Readers abroad, multilingual families, educators, researchers, people using assistive technology, and applicants with limited bandwidth should be able to reach the same core information without a separate “special” version.
Language and accessibility approachVerify us.
CitizenApproved is designed so a reader can inspect the source beneath a consequential claim. The methodology explains how statutes, court decisions, regulations, agency policy and proposed rules are treated differently.
Educational information, not legal advice. CitizenApproved is not affiliated with USCIS or the U.S. government.