Citizenship & naturalization

Citizenship Lawyer — a Former Immigration Judge for Naturalization Cases

Becoming a U.S. citizen is the last step of a long road, and for most permanent residents it is routine. For some it is not. A Form N-400 opens your whole history to review, and an old arrest, a conviction, a false statement or a green card the government could question can turn a citizenship application into a denial or a case in immigration court. Carlos Maury, a former U.S. Immigration Judge who heard cases at the Van Nuys Immigration Court, and before that served as government immigration counsel, reviews and prepares naturalization cases in English and Spanish, with particular attention to applicants who have a record or a past immigration problem.

Call (213) 769-0050

Carlos Maury is no longer on the bench and cannot influence any sitting judge or pending case.

Why a former immigration judge

An immigration judge cannot grant citizenship. But an immigration judge sees what happens when a naturalization application goes wrong: the permanent resident whose N-400 brought out a conviction, the applicant whose green card was questioned at the interview, the person placed in removal proceedings after asking to become a citizen. The question in court is then no longer citizenship but whether the person can keep their green card at all.

Carlos Maury served as a U.S. Immigration Judge at the Van Nuys Immigration Court, appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder, hearing cases from June 2015. As a judge, he decided roughly six hundred asylum cases on their merits in recent years (TRAC judge report (opens in new tab)). From 2002 to 2015 he worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Los Angeles, rising to deputy chief counsel, the side of the courtroom that argues the government's case against permanent residents charged as deportable.

That experience shapes how we prepare a citizenship case: we read the record the way the government will read it, before you file, and we tell you plainly whether applying now is safe, whether it should wait, or whether it should not be filed at all. None of this can promise a particular outcome; every case turns on its own facts and the law.

What we handle

We handle citizenship cases from the first review of your history to the oath, and the problems that can follow an application. Our guide to naturalization explains the law in detail.

Pre-filing risk review. A review of every arrest, trip abroad, prior application and statement to the government before the N-400 is filed.
N-400 applications. Preparing the application and the evidence, including certified court records and proof of rehabilitation where a record exists.
Interview preparation. Going through the N-400 line by line, as the officer will, and preparing you for the English and civics tests.
Good moral character questions. Convictions, unpaid taxes or child support, a failure to register for Selective Service, a past false claim to citizenship or an unlawful vote. See good moral character.
Denials and N-336 appeals. A request for a new hearing before USCIS, and preparation for review in federal district court if that hearing also ends in a denial.
Delayed applications. Options when USCIS has not decided an application within 120 days after the interview.
Notices to Appear after an N-400. The defense in immigration court when a citizenship application led to removal proceedings. See our deportation defense lawyer page.
Children's citizenship. Whether a child became a citizen automatically through a parent, and how to document it.

Before you file: what to check

Most naturalization problems can be seen before the application is filed. Our printable citizenship document checklist lists what the official N-400 instructions ask for. Gather these and review them with a lawyer first:

Every arrest, citation or charge. Get certified court dispositions for each one, anywhere in the world, even if it was dismissed, expunged or sealed. The N-400 asks about all of them.
How you got your green card. The marriage, job, asylum claim or family petition it was based on, and every form and statement filed along the way.
Every trip abroad. Dates out and in for the whole statutory period. A long trip can break continuous residence.
Any claim to be a U.S. citizen, or any vote. On an employment form, a voter registration, a loan application or a driver's license form.
Taxes, child support and Selective Service. Proof that tax returns were filed and support was paid, and, for men who lived here between 18 and 26, registration.
Your current status. Whether any probation, parole or suspended sentence is complete, and whether any case is still open.

Call (213) 769-0050

Citizenship requirements in 2026

Under INA § 316, 8 U.S.C. § 1427 (opens in new tab), the general rule is that an applicant must:

be at least 18 years old when filing;
have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence, which a green card obtained by mistake or fraud does not satisfy (8 U.S.C. § 1429 (opens in new tab));
have 5 years of continuous residence as a permanent resident, physical presence for at least 30 months of that time, and 3 months living in the state or USCIS district where the application is filed;
show good moral character throughout the statutory period and up to the oath;
pass the English and civics tests unless an exemption applies; and
take the Oath of Allegiance.

A permanent resident married to and living with the same U.S. citizen spouse for 3 years, while the spouse was a citizen the whole time, may apply after 3 years with 18 months of physical presence (8 U.S.C. § 1430(a) (opens in new tab)). The application may be filed up to 90 days before the residence requirement is met (8 C.F.R. § 334.2(b) (opens in new tab)); an application filed even one day too early is denied.

An absence of more than 6 months but less than a year is presumed to break continuous residence unless you show you kept your home here, and an absence of a year or more breaks it (8 C.F.R. § 316.5 (opens in new tab); USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 12, Part D, ch. 3 (opens in new tab)).

Applying for citizenship with a criminal record

A record does not always bar citizenship, but every arrest must be disclosed, and some records bar it for good. Good moral character is defined mostly by what it is not (INA § 101(f), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(f) (opens in new tab); 8 C.F.R. § 316.10 (opens in new tab)):

Permanent bars. A conviction for murder at any time, or for an aggravated felony on or after November 29, 1990. In immigration law an aggravated felony can include offenses a state calls misdemeanors, such as some theft offenses with a one-year sentence, even if suspended.
Bars during the statutory period. Among others, a crime involving moral turpitude (with a petty-offense exception), most controlled-substance offenses other than a single possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana, confinement of 180 days or more because of a conviction, and false testimony under oath to obtain an immigration benefit.
The catch-all. Even without a listed bar, USCIS may find a lack of good moral character for other unlawful acts during the period, and probation or parole must be finished before approval.

Since August 15, 2025, USCIS also tells its officers to weigh the whole picture, including positive factors such as family ties, stable work, tax compliance and evidence of rehabilitation (USCIS memo PM-602-0188 (opens in new tab)). The bigger risk is often not the denial but deportability: an offense that bars citizenship may also make a permanent resident deportable. Our criminal immigration lawyer page explains how convictions are read in immigration law.

Applying after a past immigration problem

A naturalization officer looks back to how you became a permanent resident. If you were not lawfully admitted, for example because the green card rested on a marriage the government could question, an earlier false statement, a removal order you did not mention or an entry that made you inadmissible, you are not eligible to naturalize, however long ago it happened. Other problems that need a careful look:

an earlier deportation, a removal order or voluntary departure, even under another name;
a claim to be a U.S. citizen, or a vote in an election, which can also be a ground of deportation (8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(3)(D), (a)(6) (opens in new tab));
a waiver granted with the green card, and whether the facts behind it were fully disclosed;
years spent living mostly outside the United States.

Under a USCIS memo of February 28, 2025 (opens in new tab), USCIS will issue a Notice to Appear when a naturalization applicant turns out to be deportable or was not lawfully admitted, unless it chooses to exercise discretion. Once removal proceedings start, USCIS may not consider the N-400, and the immigration judge cannot grant citizenship. The case becomes a defense of the green card, often through cancellation of removal for permanent residents or a waiver. That is why the review comes first, and why in some cases the right advice is to wait.

The N-400 process and the civics test

The application is filed on Form N-400 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). After fingerprints and background checks, an officer interviews you under oath, goes through the application line by line and gives the English and civics tests (USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 12, Part B, ch. 3 (opens in new tab)). Your answers must match the application and the records.

The 2025 civics test. If you filed on or after October 20, 2025, the officer asks up to 20 questions from a list of 128, and you pass with 12 correct. Applications filed earlier use the 2008 test of 10 questions with 6 correct to pass.
Exemptions. Applicants over 50 with 20 years as permanent residents, or over 55 with 15 years, are exempt from English and may take civics in their own language. A qualifying disability can excuse both tests on Form N-648.
A second chance. An applicant who fails either test is retested once, 60 to 90 days later (8 C.F.R. § 312.5 (opens in new tab)).
The decision and the oath. USCIS must decide at the interview or within 120 days afterward. You become a citizen only when you take the oath, and you will be asked about anything that happened since the interview.

Our article on the requirements for naturalization walks through each step in plain terms.

If your application is denied

A denial can be challenged by filing Form N-336 within 30 days after you receive the decision (33 days if it was mailed), asking for a new hearing before a different USCIS officer (8 C.F.R. § 336.2 (opens in new tab)). If that hearing also ends in a denial, a federal district court may review the case afresh (8 U.S.C. § 1421(c) (opens in new tab)). Sometimes a new application later is the better path, for example after a break in residence that time will cure. But where the denial rested on a conviction, filing again repeats the risk of a Notice to Appear. And citizenship obtained by hiding a material fact can be taken away by a federal court years later, which is one more reason to disclose everything; see our denaturalization page.

Call (213) 769-0050

Serving Los Angeles & Southern California

Our office is in Van Nuys, in the San Fernando Valley, close to the Van Nuys immigration court where Carlos Maury once heard cases. Naturalization interviews take place at USCIS field offices, not in immigration court; but when a citizenship application leads to a Notice to Appear, the case is heard in the immigration court that covers the applicant's home. We regularly handle cases in the Southern California immigration courts:

See all Los Angeles-area immigration courts. The USCIS field offices that serve the region are listed in USCIS's field office directory (opens in new tab).

Our page on the Southern California immigration courts covers all eight court locations, including the border courts in San Diego, Otay Mesa and Imperial.

Immigration law is federal, so we represent citizenship applicants across the country. We appear in immigration courts in all 50 states, in person or by video where the court allows. Find your court among all 77 immigration courts. Meetings at the Van Nuys office are by appointment only.

Carlos Maury is licensed in Florida. Practice limited to federal immigration law; we represent clients in all 50 states.

Mistakes that can hurt a citizenship case

Leaving out an arrest. A dismissed or expunged case still must be disclosed. The FBI check will show it, and an omission can look like a lie.
Filing too early. One day short of the residence requirement means a denial.
Filing without reading your own file. The government will read how you got your green card; you should know first what it says.
Traveling for months while the case is pending. Residence must continue until the oath.
Assuming an old problem is forgotten. There is no time limit on a finding that you were never lawfully admitted.
Letting a notario handle it. A "notario" is not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice about your eligibility.

About Carlos Maury

Carlos Maury served as a U.S. Immigration Judge at the Van Nuys Immigration Court, appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder, hearing cases from June 2015 (EOIR announcement (opens in new tab)). From 2002 to 2015 he worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles, rising to deputy chief counsel. Before that he was district counsel for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service in Miami from 2000 to 2002, and an assistant public defender in Florida's Eleventh Judicial Circuit from 1993 to 2000.

He earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 and his B.A. from City College of the City University of New York in 1989. He is a member of The Florida Bar (No. 964239) and works with clients in English and Spanish. Read more about Carlos Maury.

Frequently asked questions

What are the requirements for U.S. citizenship in 2026?

Most applicants must be 18 or older, have been lawfully admitted as permanent residents, have 5 years of continuous residence with at least 30 months of physical presence, or 3 years and 18 months if married to and living with the same U.S. citizen, show good moral character, pass the English and civics tests and take the oath.

Can I become a citizen with a criminal record?

Sometimes. A murder conviction, or an aggravated felony conviction on or after November 29, 1990, bars citizenship permanently, and many other offenses bar it during the 5 or 3 years before filing. Some records are no bar at all, but every arrest must be disclosed and should be reviewed before filing.

Can applying for citizenship get me deported?

It can. Since February 28, 2025, USCIS policy is to issue a Notice to Appear when a naturalization applicant turns out to be deportable or was not lawfully admitted as a permanent resident, unless it exercises discretion. That is why a record or a past immigration problem should be reviewed before the N-400 is filed.

Do I have to disclose an arrest that was dismissed or expunged?

Yes. The N-400 asks about every arrest, citation and charge, anywhere in the world, even if it was dismissed, expunged or sealed. Bring certified court records to the interview. Leaving one out can be treated as false testimony, which is itself a bar to good moral character.

What if there was a problem with how I got my green card?

To naturalize, you must have been lawfully admitted as a permanent resident. If the green card was obtained by mistake or by fraud, you are not eligible, and the application can lead to removal proceedings. Have the file reviewed before you apply.

What is on the civics test now?

If you filed your N-400 on or after October 20, 2025, the officer asks up to 20 questions from a list of 128, and you pass with 12 correct. If you filed earlier, you take the 2008 test of 10 questions with 6 correct to pass. Some older long-time residents have easier rules.

What can I do if my N-400 is denied?

You can file Form N-336 within 30 days after you receive the denial, or 33 days if it was mailed, to ask for a new hearing before a different officer. If that also ends in a denial, a federal district court may review the case afresh. Sometimes a new application later is the better path.

Do you handle citizenship cases in Los Angeles?

Yes. Our office is in Van Nuys, and we prepare clients for naturalization interviews at USCIS offices in the Los Angeles area. If an application leads to a Notice to Appear, we defend the case in the Los Angeles, West LA, Van Nuys and other Southern California immigration courts.

Can Carlos Maury influence USCIS or a judge?

No. Carlos Maury is no longer on the bench and cannot influence any sitting judge or pending case, or any USCIS officer. What he offers is preparation and experience, not access.

What should I have ready when I call?

Have your green card, the dates of your trips abroad, any arrest or court records, and any notice from USCIS or the immigration court. Carlos Maury speaks English and Spanish.

Talk with a former immigration judge before you apply

If you have an arrest, a conviction or a past immigration problem, the time to look at it is before the N-400 is filed, not after. Call to discuss your case. Hablamos español.

Call (213) 769-0050

Last reviewed: October 2, 2026.