What to bring to your citizenship interview

Bring every time

• Your interview notice (Form I-797C). Print it. Security checks it at the door.
• Your green card (Permanent Resident Card). Bring it even if it has expired.
• A government photo ID: state driver's license or ID card.
• Every passport you have held since you became a permanent resident, current and expired, from any country, plus any reentry permits or refugee travel documents. The officer uses the stamps to confirm the trips you listed on your N-400. Missing passports are the most common reason for a continued interview.
• Reading glasses if you use them. The reading and writing tests are on a tablet.

Bring if it applies to you

• Applying as the spouse of a U.S. citizen (3-year rule): your marriage certificate; proof your spouse is a citizen (birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or passport); proof you live together and share a life, such as joint tax returns, a joint lease or mortgage, joint bank statements, and children's birth certificates; and proof that any earlier marriages of either of you ended (divorce decrees or death certificates).
• Tax records: IRS tax transcripts for the last 3 years (5 years if you are not applying under the spouse rule). Transcripts are free at irs.gov and are what officers prefer. If you owed taxes and set up a payment plan, bring the IRS agreement and proof of payments.
• Trips outside the U.S. of six months or longer: evidence you kept your life here, such as tax returns for those years, a lease, employment, and bank activity.
• Any arrest, citation, or charge, ever, anywhere, even if dismissed or expunged: the certified court disposition showing how it ended, plus a police record if a court record does not exist. Traffic tickets under $500 with no arrest do not need documents, but you still answer "yes" if asked whether you were ever cited.
• Men who lived in the U.S. between ages 18 and 26: proof of Selective Service registration, or a status information letter if you did not register.
• Children who do not live with you: proof you support them, such as court orders and payment records.
• Name change: the court order, marriage certificate, or divorce decree that changed it.
• Medical exception (Form N-648): the original signed form if you filed for a disability exception to the English or civics test.
• Interpreter: if you qualify for the 50/20 or 55/15 English exemption, you may bring your own interpreter, who must be at least 18, fluent in both languages, and not your attorney. Some offices provide one; check your notice.
• Attorney or accredited representative: a signed Form G-28.
• Anything that changed since you filed: a new address, a new job, a new trip, a marriage, a divorce, a child. Bring the document and tell the officer at the start.

Leave at home

• Weapons of any kind, including pocket knives and pepper spray. You will not get past security.
• Family and friends. Only you, your attorney, and an interpreter or legal guardian if approved may go in. Others wait outside.
• Phones are allowed in most offices but must be off. Do not record.

How to organize it

Put originals in one folder in the order above, with a copy of each behind it. The officer may keep copies but will return originals. Arrive 15 to 30 minutes early, not earlier; most offices will not let you in more than 30 minutes ahead. Eat first. Interviews run late and the civics test is easier on a full stomach.

Finally, re-read your N-400 the night before. The officer reads it back to you and asks you to confirm each answer. Your answers should match what you wrote, and where they don't, you should know why.

Last reviewed September 5, 2026. Procedures vary by field office and change over time; confirm anything that matters for your case at uscis.gov.