8 U.S.C. § 1427 : US Code - Section 1427: Requirements of naturalization

Search 8 U.S.C. § 1427 : US Code - Section 1427: Requirements of naturalization

(a) Residence
No person, except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, shall
be naturalized unless such applicant, (1) immediately preceding the
date of filing his application for naturalization has resided
continuously, after being lawfully admitted for permanent
residence, within the United States for at least five years and
during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing his
application has been physically present therein for periods
totaling at least half of that time, and who has resided within the
State or within the district of the Service in the United States in
which the applicant filed the application for at least three
months, (2) has resided continuously within the United States from
the date of the application up to the time of admission to
citizenship, and (3) during all the periods referred to in this
subsection has been and still is a person of good moral character,
attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United
States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the
United States.
(b) Absences
Absence from the United States of more than six months but less
than one year during the period for which continuous residence is
required for admission to citizenship, immediately preceding the
date of filing the application for naturalization, or during the
period between the date of filing the application and the date of
any hearing under section 1447(a) of this title, shall break the
continuity of such residence, unless the applicant shall establish
to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that he did not in fact
abandon his residence in the United States during such period.
Absence from the United States for a continuous period of one
year or more during the period for which continuous residence is
required for admission to citizenship (whether preceding or
subsequent to the filing of the application for naturalization)
shall break the continuity of such residence, except that in the
case of a person who has been physically present and residing in
the United States, after being lawfully admitted for permanent
residence, for an uninterrupted period of at least one year, and
who thereafter is employed by or under contract with the Government
of the United States or an American institution of research
recognized as such by the Attorney General, or is employed by an
American firm or corporation engaged in whole or in part in the
development of foreign trade and commerce of the United States, or
a subsidiary thereof more than 50 per centum of whose stock is
owned by an American firm or corporation, or is employed by a
public international organization of which the United States is a
member by treaty or statute and by which the alien was not employed
until after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, no
period of absence from the United States shall break the continuity
of residence if - 
(1) prior to the beginning of such period of employment
(whether such period begins before or after his departure from
the United States), but prior to the expiration of one year of
continuous absence from the United States, the person has
established to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that his
absence from the United States for such period is to be on behalf
of such Government, or for the purpose of carrying on scientific
research on behalf of such institution, or to be engaged in the
development of such foreign trade and commerce or whose residence
abroad is necessary to the protection of the property rights in
such countries in such firm or corporation, or to be employed by
a public international organization of which the United States is
a member by treaty or statute and by which the alien was not
employed until after being lawfully admitted for permanent
residence; and
(2) such person proves to the satisfaction of the Attorney
General that his absence from the United States for such period
has been for such purpose.
The spouse and dependent unmarried sons and daughters who are
members of the household of a person who qualifies for the benefits
of this subsection shall also be entitled to such benefits during
the period for which they were residing abroad as dependent members
of the household of the person.
(c) Physical presence
The granting of the benefits of subsection (b) of this section
shall not relieve the applicant from the requirement of physical
presence within the United States for the period specified in
subsection (a) of this section, except in the case of those persons
who are employed by, or under contract with, the Government of the
United States. In the case of a person employed by or under
contract with Central Intelligence Agency, the requirement in
subsection (b) of this section of an uninterrupted period of at
least one year of physical presence in the United States may be
complied with by such person at any time prior to filing an
application for naturalization.
(d) Moral character
No finding by the Attorney General that the applicant is not
deportable shall be accepted as conclusive evidence of good moral
character.
(e) Determination
In determining whether the applicant has sustained the burden of
establishing good moral character and the other qualifications for
citizenship specified in subsection (a) of this section, the
Attorney General shall not be limited to the applicant's conduct
during the five years preceding the filing of the application, but
may take into consideration as a basis for such determination the
applicant's conduct and acts at any time prior to that period.
(f) Persons making extraordinary contributions to national security
(1) Whenever the Director of Central Intelligence, the Attorney
General and the Commissioner of Immigration determine that an
applicant otherwise eligible for naturalization has made an
extraordinary contribution to the national security of the United
States or to the conduct of United States intelligence activities,
the applicant may be naturalized without regard to the residence
and physical presence requirements of this section, or to the
prohibitions of section 1424 of this title, and no residence within
a particular State or district of the Service in the United States
shall be required: Provided, That the applicant has continuously
resided in the United States for at least one year prior to
naturalization: Provided further, That the provisions of this
subsection shall not apply to any alien described in clauses (i)
through (v) of section 1158(b)(2)(A) of this title.
(2) An applicant for naturalization under this subsection may be
administered the oath of allegiance under section 1448(a) of this
title by any district court of the United States, without regard to
the residence of the applicant. Proceedings under this subsection
shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the protection of
intelligence sources, methods and activities.
(3) The number of aliens naturalized pursuant to this subsection
in any fiscal year shall not exceed five. The Director of Central
Intelligence shall inform the Select Committee on Intelligence and
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on the Judiciary
of the House of Representatives within a reasonable time prior to
the filing of each application under the provisions of this
subsection.