A naturalization attorney in San Antonio starts with the N-400 arithmetic: five years of continuous residence as a permanent resident, physical presence for at least half of that time, and three months in the state or USCIS district, with a three-year path for spouses of U.S. citizens. An absence of a year or more breaks continuity outright. Applicants who filed on or after October 20, 2025 take the new civics test. Here are the numbers that decide an application.
This guide works through the five numbers, the trips that break continuity, the spousal shortcut, and the civics test that replaced the old one in late 2025.
Five Numbers a Naturalization Attorney in San Antonio Starts With
Section 1427(a) lists them. Five years of continuous residence after lawful admission for permanent residence, immediately preceding the filing date. Physical presence in the United States for periods totaling at least half that time — 30 months, as 8 C.F.R. Section 316.2(a) states it. Residence within the state or the USCIS district for at least three months. Continuous residence maintained from the date of application until admission to citizenship. And good moral character across the statutory period.
The burden sits with the applicant, by a preponderance of the evidence. Nobody at the agency reconstructs a travel history on the applicant’s behalf.
The Three-Month District Rule
The three-month requirement is the one people overlook, and it has a local dimension. Residence must be in the state, or in the USCIS district, for at least three months before filing. USCIS assigns South and Central Texas to its San Antonio field office, which covers Bexar County along with Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties.
A recent move across state lines resets that clock. A move within the district generally does not. For a resident who relocated from another state two months ago, the fix is simply to wait, and waiting is far cheaper than filing early.
What a San Antonio Naturalization Attorney Checks About Continuous Residence
Section 1427(b) draws two lines around time abroad. An absence of more than six months but less than a year breaks continuity, unless the applicant establishes that residence was not in fact abandoned. That presumption is rebuttable. An absence of a continuous year or more breaks continuity outright, subject to narrow employment-based exceptions.
Regulation fills in what rebuttal looks like. Under 8 C.F.R. Section 316.5(c)(1), relevant evidence includes that the applicant did not terminate U.S. employment, that immediate family remained in the United States, that the applicant retained full access to a U.S. abode, and that no employment was obtained abroad. Residence itself is defined in Section 316.5(a) as the principal actual dwelling place, without regard to intent — a detail that defeats the common argument that someone always meant to come back.
The Ninety-Day Early Filing Rule
An application may be filed up to 90 days before the residence period is complete. That allowance comes from 8 C.F.R. Section 334.2(b), and it applies to both the five-year and the three-year spousal routes.
It is an exception to the filing date, not to the requirement. The physical presence and continuous residence math still has to work out on the day the period actually closes. Filing 91 days early is a denial, not a delay.
The Three-Year Spousal Path
Section 1430(a) shortens the period to three years for the spouse of a U.S. citizen. Three conditions ride along. The applicant must have lived in marital union with the citizen spouse during the three years immediately preceding filing. That spouse must have held citizenship throughout the entire period. Physical presence must still cover half the time.
Marital union means more than a valid marriage certificate. A separation during those three years can defeat the shortcut even where no divorce followed. Victims of battery or extreme cruelty by the citizen spouse have a separate route that does not require marital union.
The 2025 Civics Test Replaced the 2008 Test
This is the change most likely to catch an applicant working from older material. USCIS implemented the 2025 Naturalization Civics Test effective September 18, 2025, and administers it to anyone who filed on or after October 20, 2025.
The numbers moved substantially. The study pool is 128 questions. The officer asks 20, and 12 correct answers pass. The officer stops once the applicant has either passed or failed — at 12 correct or 9 incorrect. Anyone who filed before October 20, 2025 still takes the 2008 test, where 10 questions are asked and 6 correct answers pass. A separate reduced bank applies to applicants qualifying for special consideration, with 10 questions drawn from a 20-question set and 6 needed to pass.
A note on a common confusion: the 2020 version of the test was rescinded in 2021 and is not an option. The live choice is between 2008 and 2025, and it is determined entirely by the filing date.
English Exemptions: 50/20, 55/15, and 65/20
Three accommodations exist, and two of them do different things than people assume. Under 8 U.S.C. Section 1423(b)(2), an applicant over 50 with 20 years as a permanent resident, or over 55 with 15 years, is exempt from the English requirement. The civics requirement remains, though it may be tested in the applicant’s own language.
Section 1423(b)(3) covers applicants over 65 with 20 years of residence. That provision grants special consideration on the civics portion — a reduced question bank — rather than an exemption from anything. A separate provision waives English entirely for a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment, on a medical certification.
Good Moral Character Is Broader Than the List of Bars
The regulation at 8 C.F.R. Section 316.10 has three layers. Subsection (b)(1) sets permanent bars: murder at any time, and an aggravated felony conviction on or after November 29, 1990. Subsection (b)(2) lists conditional bars applying during the statutory period, among them crimes involving moral turpitude, aggregate sentences of five years, controlled substance offenses other than a single offense involving 30 grams or less of marijuana, confinement of 180 days or more, false testimony given to obtain an immigration benefit, smuggling, and habitual drunkenness.
Subsection (b)(3) is the layer that surprises people. Absent extenuating circumstances, failure to support dependents, adultery that destroyed a marriage, and unlawful acts adversely reflecting on moral character all count. That last phrase is a catch-all, and it reaches conduct that never produced a conviction.
Where a Naturalization Attorney in San Antonio Sends You for the Oath
Two kinds of ceremony exist. In an administrative ceremony, USCIS administers the oath. In a judicial ceremony, a court does. The Western District of Texas holds judicial ceremonies at the United States Courthouse at 262 West Nueva Street in San Antonio.
Ceremony scheduling has varied over the past year. The notice an applicant receives not a friend’s experience from a prior year, is the reliable source for date and venue. The filing fee itself is $760 on paper or $710 online, with a reduced fee of $380 for households at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Fees and form editions change, so confirm both before filing. Arizona applicants face the same federal arithmetic, as our guide to the N-400 residency math sets out.
The Bottom Line
The residency rules reward patience in a way almost nothing else in immigration law does. A trip of seven months, an early filing by a week, a move from another state two months ago — each is fully curable by waiting, and each becomes a denial by filing. The parts that cannot be fixed by waiting are the character questions, and those turn on a regulation broad enough to reach conduct that never reached a courtroom. Anyone with a criminal history, a tax issue, or a support obligation in arrears has a question to resolve before the application, not after.
Frequently asked questions
At least half of the five-year period — 30 months, as 8 C.F.R. Section 316.2(a) states it — along with five years of continuous residence and three months in the state or USCIS district.
An absence of more than six months but less than a year creates a rebuttable presumption of abandonment. An absence of a continuous year or more breaks continuity outright, subject to narrow employment exceptions.
The 2025 test applies to anyone who filed on or after October 20, 2025. It draws 20 questions from a 128-question pool and requires 12 correct answers. Earlier filers take the 2008 test.
Special consideration on the civics portion through a reduced question bank, not an exemption. The 50/20 and 55/15 rules exempt the English requirement, but the civics requirement still applies.
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Get MatchedKeep reading: Naturalization Requirements N-400: The Residency Math Explained · Family Based Green Card Immediate Relative: Who Actually Qualifies
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Naturalization requirements, fees, form editions, and testing rules change, and ceremony scheduling varies. Anyone applying for citizenship should consult a licensed immigration attorney or an accredited representative.
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