Applying for Citizenship While a Removal Case Is Pending

If your removal case is still open, you may wonder whether you can still become a citizen. The removal case shapes what happens next.

If you are trying to understand what happens next in your immigration case, online answers can be hard to sort out. Checking whether a notice concerns filing, approval, or your green card can help you see where your case stands.

Short answer: filing an N-400 and getting approved are different questions

Filing and approval answer two different questions. Filing asks whether you can submit the application. Approval asks whether you meet every requirement when USCIS decides.

Under 8 C.F.R. § 316.2, an applicant must be at least 18 and lawfully admitted as a permanent resident. The applicant must also have lived continuously in the United States for at least five years after that admission. Physical presence of at least 30 months in the five years preceding the date of filing the application is required too.

A removal case raises questions about each of these requirements. That is why “can I file” and “will I be approved” can have different answers. Many online pages discuss only filing, or only the I-751. Check which question an answer addresses.

Why a pending removal case blocks naturalization approval

A pending removal case can hold up approval, and its outcome decides what happens to the N-400.

Removal cases run through immigration court. The federal rules for removal proceedings appear in 8 U.S.C. § 1229a. If you miss a hearing after proper written notice, the government can seek an order of removal in absentia. It must prove notice and removability by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence.

That order can carry long consequences. If you received oral notice of what missing the hearing would mean, and no exceptional circumstances apply, you may be barred from certain relief for 10 years.

Approval turns on whether you meet every requirement. So the removal case becomes part of that review. It can end in termination, relief, or a removal order, and each result changes the citizenship file differently. Which result applies to you depends on the facts of your case.

What happens to an N-400 filed during removal proceedings

After filing, USCIS must decide within a set window, and an application is granted only if you meet every requirement.

Under 8 C.F.R. § 335.3, USCIS must grant the application if you comply with all requirements. It decides at the initial examination or within 120 days after it. It may continue the exam once so you can fix deficiencies. If you cannot, the application is denied.

Under 8 U.S.C. § 1445, an applicant subject to a continuous residence requirement under section 1427(a) or 1430(a) may file up to three months early. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1430(a), a person whose spouse is a United States citizen, or a person who became a lawful permanent resident as the spouse or child of a United States citizen who battered them or subjected them to extreme cruelty, may be naturalized upon compliance with the requirements of the naturalization subchapter, except paragraph (1) of § 1427(a), if the person, immediately preceding the date of filing the application, has resided continuously within the United States for at least three years after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, has been living in marital union with the citizen spouse during those three years (except where the person has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by a United States citizen spouse or parent), who has been a United States citizen throughout that period, has been physically present in the United States for periods totaling at least half of that time, and has resided within the State or district where the application was filed for at least three months. See 8 U.S.C. § 1430(a). You must be at least 18 to file a valid application. 8 U.S.C. § 1445 reads: “No person shall file a valid application for naturalization unless he shall have attained the age of eighteen years.”

You also cannot simply take the application back. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1446, withdrawal needs the Attorney General’s consent. Without it, the application is decided on its merits. Think carefully before you file.

Consultations with our office are paid. Government filing fees are a separate cost you may owe.

Conditional green card holders: filing the N-400 while the I-751 is pending

A conditional resident may apply for naturalization if otherwise eligible, and the I-751 runs on its own track.

Under 8 C.F.R. § 216.1, a conditional resident has the right to apply for naturalization if otherwise eligible. 8 C.F.R. § 216.1 reads: “All references within this chapter to lawful permanent residents apply equally to conditional permanent residents, unless otherwise specified.” 8 C.F.R. § 216.1 reads: “Unless otherwise specified, the rights, privileges, responsibilities and duties which apply to all other lawful permanent residents apply equally to conditional permanent residents, including but not limited to the right to apply for naturalization (if otherwise eligible), the right to file petitions on behalf of qualifying relatives, the privilege of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant in accordance with the immigration laws, such status not having changed; the duty to register with the Selective Service System, when required; and the responsibility for complying with all laws and regulations of the United States.”

Under 8 C.F.R. § 216.4, it must be filed within the 90 days before the second anniversary of permanent residence. A missed window causes automatic termination of permanent residence and starts removal proceedings. Late filing needs good cause shown in writing.

So a conditional resident can have an I-751, an N-400, and a removal case open at once. Each filing gets its own review. Track the dates for each one.

Does filing an N-400 extend a green card?

The extension rule for conditional status applies to a properly filed I-751.

Under 8 C.F.R. § 216.4, once a properly filed I-751 is received, conditional status is extended automatically, if necessary, until the director decides it. The extension is tied to the Form I-751 itself: under 8 C.F.R. § 216.4, a properly filed Form I-751 extends conditional status automatically, if necessary, until the director has adjudicated the petition.

A card renewal is a separate filing. Plan for it if your card expires before your case ends.

Keep a copy of every receipt notice. Write down your card’s expiration date and the key dates in your removal case. Compare them side by side.

How the removal case and the citizenship application affect each other

The immigration judge controls the removal case, USCIS controls the N-400, and the two files must be coordinated.

Some facts can affect both files. Under 8 C.F.R. § 316.10, you bear the burden of showing good moral character for the statutory period, including until the oath. Probation or parole does not automatically bar good moral character, but approval waits until it ends. Giving false testimony under oath, with intent to obtain an immigration benefit, bars that finding, even if the false information would not have changed the outcome.

Travel matters too. Ask counsel how each trip and each notice affects both cases.

Procedural tools exist. Under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.29, an immigration judge may grant a continuance for good cause shown, but not one that causes the adjudication of an asylum application to exceed 180 days in the absence of exceptional circumstances. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a, a person may generally file one motion to reopen proceedings, subject to a statutory exception for one motion of a type described in subparagraph (C)(iv), and the motion must state the new facts that will be proven at a hearing if it is granted and be supported by affidavits or other evidentiary material. See AILA on motions to reopen.

Frequently asked questions

Talk with our office about your removal case and citizenship timing

If your removal case is open and your green card is conditional or close to expiring, plan the N-400 timing carefully. Adriana Gomez is the responsible lawyer for this page.

You can reach our office through the contact form, by phone, or on WhatsApp to book a consultation. For background on the removal process, see our removal defense services. For court details by state, see Florida removal defense information, Texas removal defense information, or New York removal defense information.