The core records
Start with your green card, passport, and any prior passports showing travel. The application asks for a detailed history of addresses, employment, and trips outside the country over a set period, so gather travel records and employment history before filling in dates from memory. Tax transcripts from the IRS often help confirm filings. Long trips abroad deserve their own records, such as employment or lease documents showing your ties here, because they bear on continuous residence. If you are married, bring marriage certificates and proof that prior marriages ended. If you are applying on the shorter timeline available to spouses of citizens, evidence that you are still living in the marriage matters. You will list all of your children, including any who do not live with you, so have their details at hand.
Arrests, records, and unusual history
The application asks about arrests and citations even if charges were dismissed, sealed, or expunged. Certified dispositions from the court for every case are usually needed, and a police certificate alone is rarely enough. Unfiled tax returns or a missed Selective Service registration, where it applied to you, can raise moral character questions. Claims to U.S. citizenship or voting in an election, even by mistake, are serious and need careful review. Do not leave something out because you think it will not show up.
Before filing and before the interview
Translations must be complete and certified. Keep copies of everything you submit, because the officer may ask about any line on the form. Bring originals to the interview. Name changes should be backed by the court order or marriage record that made them. We go through your records against each question the application asks, look for gaps or contradictions, and decide whether anything should be explained in a written statement. We do not promise approval, but we help you file a complete and consistent application.
