Naturalization is federal paperwork, the same in Provo as anywhere else: you file Form N-400 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), pay the fee, give biometrics, sit an interview with an English and civics test, and take the Oath of Allegiance. What's local is the help, and Utah County has more of it than most people know, starting with a free 10-week civics class at BYU.
Everything below is from USCIS's pages on eligibility, fees, the test, exceptions and continuous residence, from the BYU Citizenship Clinic's page, and from the Utah Citizenship Hub run by the governor's economic development office, all read Nov. 14, 2026. We aren't lawyers. If you have any arrest record, long trips abroad, or questions about how you got your green card, talk to an immigration attorney before you file.
Who can apply
This is for lawful permanent residents: green card holders. If you aren't one, naturalization isn't your next step, and BYU's Citizenship Clinic says plainly that neither it nor the BYU Community Legal Clinic can help with naturalization if you're not an LPR.
The two common paths, from USCIS:
| Five-year rule | Married to a U.S. citizen | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 18 or older when you file | 18 or older when you file |
| Time as an LPR | At least 5 years | At least 3 years |
| Marriage | n/a | Living in marital union with your citizen spouse for the 3 years before filing and while USCIS decides |
| Physical presence | At least 30 months of the last 5 years | At least 18 months of the last 3 years |
| Local residence | At least 3 months in your state or USCIS district before filing | Same |
| Good moral character | For the 5 years before filing | For the 3 years before filing |
| English and civics | Yes, unless exempt | Yes, unless exempt |
Both paths also require attachment to the principles of the Constitution and the Oath of Allegiance. Military members and children of citizens have their own rules on USCIS's citizenship pages.
A note for BYU and UVU students: USCIS says a student who is financially dependent on their parents may apply where they go to school or where their family lives.
Two special cases
Spouses of citizens working abroad. If your U.S. citizen spouse works for the U.S. government (including the military) or another qualifying employer and is scheduled to be stationed abroad for at least a year when you file, USCIS says you may be eligible under INA section 319(b). Qualifying employers can include certain American research institutions, American firms developing foreign trade, certain public international organizations, and certain religious denominations or mission organizations, which matters in a county that sends a lot of families abroad. Under 319(b), no specific period as a permanent resident is required, though you must have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence and be in the U.S. as one at your interview and ceremony.
Working abroad yourself. INA section 316 allows exceptions to continuous residence for people working abroad for the U.S. government or its contractors, a recognized American research institution, a public international organization, or a religious denomination or mission with a bona fide U.S. organization, including as a missionary. To keep your continuous residence while abroad for one of those, USCIS says you must file Form N-470, Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes.
When you can file
USCIS lets you file up to 90 calendar days before you complete the five-year (or three-year) continuous-residence requirement. Don't file earlier than that.
Trips abroad
This is where families who visit relatives overseas get caught. USCIS's continuous-residence page says:
- An absence of more than six months but less than one year may disrupt continuous residence unless you can prove otherwise.
- An absence of one year or more may disrupt it as well.
- Separately, you need the 30 months (or 18) of physical presence inside the country.
The two rules measure different things. Continuous residence asks whether any single trip was long enough to break your residence. Physical presence adds up all your days in the country: 30 months out of 60 is half the five-year window, which is how BYU's Citizenship Clinic phrases it for its applicants, as having physically lived in the U.S. for at least half the time you've had permanent resident status. A person who never took a trip longer than a month could still come up short on physical presence after many short trips, and a person with plenty of days could still have one six-month absence that USCIS questions.
Before you start the form, list every trip outside the U.S. with departure and return dates. The N-400 asks for it, and a problem is cheaper to find before you pay.
What it costs
USCIS's fee schedule for the N-400, last updated Oct. 28, 2026:
| Situation | Paper | Online |
|---|---|---|
| General filing | $760 | $710 |
| Documented household income at or below 400% of the federal poverty guidelines | $380 | Not available |
| Military service under INA sections 328 or 329 | $0 | $0 |
Some applicants qualify for a full fee waiver with Form I-912. If you're requesting a waiver or the reduced fee, you must file on paper; you can't file those online.
The steps
USCIS describes the process in 10 steps. The ones you'll live through:
- Check whether you're already a citizen. Some people acquired citizenship through a parent. Utah's Citizenship Hub lists this as step one and offers a free virtual consultation with Holy Cross Ministries' immigration legal team for anyone unsure.
- Check eligibility. USCIS has an online eligibility tool, and the Utah Citizenship Initiative offers a free eligibility screening.
- Prepare Form N-400, online with a free USCIS account or on paper.
- File it and pay the fee.
- Go to your biometrics appointment, if you're scheduled for one: fingerprints and photo.
- The interview. An officer goes over your application and background and gives the English and civics tests.
- The decision on your N-400.
- The oath notice and ceremony. You become a citizen when you take the Oath of Allegiance.
USCIS mails the time and place of each appointment. If you need a disability accommodation, USCIS asks you to request it as soon as you get the notice, at uscis.gov/accommodations or through the USCIS Contact Center, which helps in English and Spanish.
What the USCIS checklist asks for
The N-400 page carries an informational checklist (you don't send it in). The items worth starting early:
- Green card: a copy of both sides.
- Marital status: your current marriage certificate, plus any divorce decree, annulment decree or death certificate ending prior marriages.
- Any arrest, even with no charges: an arrest report and an official statement from the agency or court that no charges were filed. Where there were charges or convictions, USCIS asks for arrest reports, charging documents, dispositions and sentencing records, and proof you completed jail, probation, diversion or any alternative sentence.
- Records vacated, sealed, expunged or pardoned: the court order or pardon, or a court statement that no record exists.
- Traffic incidents, but only if they involved alcohol or drugs, led to an arrest, or seriously injured someone.
- Fines, restitution or wage garnishment: the order and proof you've paid or are paying.
- Owed taxes: a signed agreement with the IRS or the state tax office.
Foreign-language documents need a full English translation with the translator's certification. If anything in this list applies to you, that's the moment to talk to an attorney.
The test
English
- Speaking: judged by the officer during the interview.
- Reading: read one of three sentences aloud correctly.
- Writing: write one of three sentences correctly.
USCIS publishes reading and writing vocabulary lists built around civics and history.
Civics: which test you get
| If you filed the N-400... | Test | Questions | To pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before Oct. 20, 2025 | 2008 test | Up to 10, from a list of 100 | 6 correct |
| On or after Oct. 20, 2025 | 2025 test | 20, from a list of 128 | 12 correct |
On the 2025 test you fail once you miss 9 of the 20. Both are oral. If you're applying now, study the 128-question 2025 list, not the old 100-question list that still circulates.
USCIS notes the 2025 test is based on the 2020 test, with some changes to how it's administered, which is one more reason to study from USCIS's own current materials rather than an old app or flashcard deck. Its Study for the Test page carries the civics question list and the English reading and writing vocabulary lists, free.
If you don't pass
You get two attempts. Fail a part at the first interview and USCIS retests you on that part only between 60 and 90 days later.
Age and disability exceptions
From USCIS's exceptions page:
- 50/20: age 50 or older at filing with 20 years as a permanent resident.
- 55/15: age 55 or older at filing with 15 years as a permanent resident.
Either one exempts you from the English test, but you still take civics, and you may take it in your native language if you bring your own interpreter, fluent in both languages. Applicants 65 or older with 20 years as a permanent resident get special consideration on civics.
If a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment keeps you from meeting the English or civics requirement, you can request an exception with Form N-648, completed by a licensed medical or osteopathic doctor or licensed clinical psychologist.
Free help in Utah County
BYU Citizenship Clinic, Provo
The BYU Citizenship Clinic, hosted at the BYU English Language Center with BYU's Office of Belonging and Linguistics Department, runs a free 10-week course in U.S. civics (history, government, geography) and the English that goes with it.
- Who: permanent residents who are eligible to apply and whose English is intermediate-low or higher. You must apply and be accepted.
- When and where: its most recent session met Thursdays, 7 to 9 p.m., at the University Parkway Center, 35 E. University Parkway, Provo, at University Avenue and University Parkway.
- Getting there: UTA Route 831 (Provo Grandview) and UVX Route 830X stop nearby.
- What it isn't: the clinic teaches only. It doesn't give legal advice or decide eligibility.
If your English isn't at intermediate-low yet, start with an adult ESL class first.
Help with the form
- BYU Community Legal Clinic: the Citizenship Clinic's page points eligible applicants to this BYU Law School clinic for help preparing the N-400.
- Timpanogos Legal Center: immigration attorneys at its in-person Provo clinic on the first and third Tuesdays of the month; see our free legal help guide.
- Utah Citizenship Initiative: the state's Citizenship Hub at business.utah.gov connects permanent residents with online and hybrid prep classes, legal services and a free eligibility screening.
Beware "notarios." In the U.S., a notary public isn't a lawyer and can't give immigration legal advice. Use an attorney or a recognized nonprofit.
How many people this could apply to
Utah's Citizenship Hub says more than 80,000 foreign-born Utah residents are eligible or may become eligible to naturalize, citing USCIS data, and that immigrants make up 11.8% of Utah's workforce. Once you're sworn in, our guides to voting in Utah County and getting a passport cover the next two errands.
Why the state is pushing this
Utah runs its own Utah Citizenship Initiative through the Center for Global Talent in the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity. Its Citizenship Hub says it aims to raise naturalization rates by connecting communities with prep classes and legal services, and it lays out its case with figures from the studies it cites: about 8.9% of people living in Utah were born in another country; naturalization raises immigrants' earning potential by 9% to 13% for women and 7% to 9% for men; and those higher earnings could generate $100 million to $600 million in added state and local tax revenue over ten years. Those are the hub's numbers, not ours; it links the underlying studies.
The short version
- 5 years as an LPR (or 3 married to a citizen), 30 months in the country (or 18), 3 months in Utah.
- File as early as 90 days before the anniversary.
- $760 paper, $710 online, $380 reduced (paper only); full waiver possible with I-912.
- 2025 civics test: 20 questions from 128; 12 to pass.
- 50/20 and 55/15: no English test; civics in your language with your own interpreter.
- Free class at BYU and free attorneys at Provo's Tuesday clinics.
Related guides
- Free and low-cost legal help in Utah County
- Getting a passport in Utah County
- Voting in Utah County
- Cómo hacerse ciudadano estadounidense (en español)
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to apply for U.S. citizenship?
How long do I need a green card before applying?
What is the 2025 civics test?
Can I take the citizenship test in Spanish or another language?
What happens if I fail the naturalization test?
Do long trips abroad affect my application?
Is there a free citizenship class in Provo?
Where can I get free help filling out Form N-400?
Sources
The facts in this guide were checked against these sources. Hours, fees and rules change, so confirm anything time-sensitive with the source before you go. How we make Provo.com.
- N-400, Application for Naturalization (when to file, checklist), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checked November 14, 2026.
- Fee Schedule: N-400, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checked November 14, 2026.
- I am a Lawful Permanent Resident of 5 Years, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checked November 14, 2026.
- I am Married to a U.S. Citizen, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checked November 14, 2026.
- The Naturalization Interview and Test, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checked November 14, 2026.
- Exceptions and Accommodations, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checked November 14, 2026.
- Continuous Residence and Physical Presence Requirements for Naturalization, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checked November 14, 2026.
- 10 Steps to Naturalization, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checked November 14, 2026.
- Citizenship Hub (Utah Citizenship Initiative), Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity, Utah. Checked November 14, 2026.
- Citizenship Clinic, BYU English Language Center. Checked November 14, 2026.
