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Expeditious Naturalization for Spouses of Americans
Naturalization is the process by which a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR or "Green Card" holder)
foreign citizen becomes an American Citizen.
In order to naturalize, the foreign citizen must first become a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR
or "Green Card" holder). Follow this
link for more information.
For many foreign spouses whose American husbands or wives work for U.S. companies in Japan, or
who serve in the military, the naturalization process can be expedited. "Expeditious
Naturalization" refers to the fact that you will not be required to wait until you have three
years residence and physical presence in the United States and you do not have to wait until
you have been married for three years.
Expeditious therefore refers to the waiver of the three year requirements imposed on other
applicants filing as the spouse of a U.S. citizen. Although the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Service does give priority to and provide special handling for these applications, it can still
take six to nine months for normal processing to be completed and an interview scheduled.
Learning More
For an overview of the process, including details on what documents are needed and links to
further online information, please download this info sheet.
Many people now in Japan seek to naturalize in Hawaii. Please download this info
sheet for details on the process in Honolulu.
You should also consult this guide to the entire naturalization process.
Contacting the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
The naturalization process is performed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and not
by the Embassy or our Consulates. The Embassy and our Consulates do not have any additional
information on this subject
Instead, please contact the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
directly with any questions at
hawaii.naturalization@dhs.gov. Please allow five working days for an initial response.
Please also check the documents above first before emailing, as the Honolulu District Office
has limited resources to manage the mailbox and respond.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service's Honolulu fax number is 808-532-6386.
For more information, including our phone and FAX number, please contact the
office serving your part of Japan.
The U.S. Embassy and our Consulates are closed on both U.S. and Japanese holidays.
This is an official source of U.S. Government information on the Web. Inclusion of Non-U.S. Government links or information does not imply endorsement of contents.
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