How to File Form N-400 Before Receiving a New Permanent Resident Alien Card
- 1). Open the N-400 Application for Naturalization and complete parts 1 through 3 by entering personal identifying information with your name exactly as it appears on your green card, as well as marital and disability status.
- 2). Fill in part 4 of the application with contact and residence information. Part 5 will request data such as race, weight, height, hair and eye color for a criminal record search.
- 3). Provide complete address and dates of residence for all residences held in the past five years before the date of the application under part 6a. Part 6b requests the names and addresses of each employer over the past five years and occupations held prior to the application date.
- 4). List all trips lasting longer than a day outside of the United States in the five years before the date of the application under part 7. A separate sheet of paper may be used if there is not enough room on the form.
- 5). Elaborate on marital history in part 8. Questions will ask how many times you have been married, spouse name and address, spouse citizenship and immigration status, prior spouses' names, dates of marriage and reasons for annulments.
- 6). Give the names, addresses and immigration statuses of all children in part 9.
- 7). Answer "yes" or "no" to additional questions in part 10 designed to ascertain if you've broken any federal laws, if you are mentally competent, if you have any association memberships or government allegiances, and about your overall moral character.
- 8). Sign your name under part 11. Print the application. Pages five and six of the N-400 Application Instructions will tell you where to submit your application, which will depend on your state of residence and military status. You will need to mail your application along with the filing fee, two identical passport style color photographs of yourself and a copy of your permanent resident alien card. Approved applicants will be scheduled for an oath ceremony. Filing fees are accepted in the form of money orders, personal checks and cashier's check only. Checks are to be made payable to Department of Homeland Security or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.