Who Is Legally Eligible for Expedited Review of a U.S. Citizenship Application?

Applicants for some types of legal status in the U.S. can pay an extra fee to have their application processed within 15 days. This is known as premium processing. While you cannot arrange for premium processing of an application for U.S. citizenship, known as Form N-400, you might be able to arrange for USCIS to expedite its review of the application. One of the most common reasons for expediting review of an application is when the foreign national is receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits through the federal government.

USCIS guarantees an expedited review if the foreign national is receiving SSI benefits, they will lose the benefits within a year if they do not become a citizen, and they applied for citizenship at least four months prior to making the request for expedited review. You should inform USCIS if all of these factors apply to your situation. You can write a letter to the USCIS office in your area or notify USCIS through an InfoPass appointment. To support your request, you must provide a copy of the most recent letter from the Social Security Administration that states the date on which your SSI benefits will end. If you show this letter or give a copy of it to USCIS, and you prove the three grounds above, your application will receive priority before others.

Seeking Expedited Review for Other Reasons

USCIS is not required to expedite review of any citizenship application except in the situation above involving SSI benefits. However, it has the discretion to expedite review of an application if the foreign national can show that certain grounds apply. For example, you might be able to get expedited review if your business or you would suffer major financial losses if you do not become a citizen soon. You also might be able to get expedited review based on urgent humanitarian reasons.

Some more unusual situations include a request by the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, or another government agency that a foreign national become a citizen soon, based on the U.S. national interest. There is also a general rule that USCIS has the authority to expedite review of any particular application if it made a clear error. If USCIS mistakenly denied a previous application for citizenship, for example, it may agree to expedite review of the second application.

Last reviewed October 2023