Process and timing

Naturalization

Also called naturalisation.

Naturalization is the process by which a lawful permanent resident becomes a US citizen, requiring under 8 U.S.C. 1427(a) five years of continuous residence after lawful admission for permanent residence, physical presence for at least half of that time, three months in the state where the application is filed, and good moral character.

What it decides

For an EB-5 investor the two conditional years are not lost time. 8 CFR 216.1 makes a conditional permanent resident someone lawfully admitted for permanent residence within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20), with the right to apply for naturalization if otherwise eligible, so the five year clock runs from admission or adjustment as a conditional resident. The conditions block the finish rather than the start. USCIS states that conditional residents are generally not eligible for naturalization until the conditions have been removed, so Form I-829 must be approved before an N-400 can be granted, and the narrow exception letting an officer adjudicate conditions during a naturalization proceeding is written for the marriage based Form I-751. 8 CFR 334.2(b) allows the N-400 to be filed up to 90 days before the required residence is complete, counted back from the day before the five years are first met, but filing early makes nobody eligible earlier. A spouse of a US citizen uses a three year period instead.

Governed by 8 U.S.C. 1427(a); 8 CFR 216.1; 8 CFR 334.2(b) and INA 334 for the 90 day early filing provision; USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 12, Part D, Chapter 2, section B.2, Conditional Permanent Residents, and Volume 12, Part D, Chapter 6, section D, 90-Day Early Filing Provision, both showing current as of 5 August 2026. The Policy Manual passage allowing conditions to be adjudicated during a naturalization proceeding addresses Form I-751 only and says nothing about Form I-829.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into naturalization rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

Continuous residence and physical presenceContinuous residence and physical presence are the two separate naturalization tests in 8 U.S.C. 1427(a): an unbroken five year residence in the United States after admission as a permanent resident, and at least 30 months, or 913 days, actually spent inside the country during those five years.
Lawful permanent residentA lawful permanent resident is a person lawfully accorded the privilege of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20), and it is the status an EB-5 case delivers: conditional for the first two years, then unconditional once Form I-829 is approved.
Conditional permanent residenceConditional permanent residence is the status an EB-5 investor and their spouse and children hold for the first two years: full lawful permanent residence, evidenced by a Green Card valid for two years, whose conditional basis must be removed on Form I-829 or the status ends.
Form I-829Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, is the petition an EB-5 conditional permanent resident files in the 90 days before the second anniversary of that status, asking USCIS to confirm the capital was invested and the ten jobs created and to make the green card unconditional.
Form N-400Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, is the application for United States citizenship, open to a permanent resident after five years of continuous residence, or three when married to and living in marital union with a US citizen, and USCIS accepts it up to 90 days early.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary