Plain-language legal glossary · reviewed August 29, 2026
Words that change the answer.
Citizenship law uses ordinary-looking words—residence, presence, citizen, national, policy, rule—in technical ways. This glossary explains the distinction before a mistranslation or assumption turns into a legal error.
- Acquisition of citizenship
- Citizenship obtained at birth under the law in effect at the time of birth. For a person born abroad, the answer can depend on a parent’s citizenship and physical presence before the birth.
- Derivative citizenship
- Citizenship that arises after birth because a qualifying parent became or was a U.S. citizen and the child satisfied the statute then in force. Modern cases often involve INA 320, but older cases can be governed by older law.
- Naturalization
- The legal process by which a person who was not already a U.S. citizen becomes one after satisfying a naturalization statute and taking the required oath.
- U.S. citizen
- A person who holds U.S. citizenship by birth, acquisition, derivation, or naturalization. Citizenship carries rights and obligations and is one form of U.S. nationality.
- U.S. national
- A person who owes permanent allegiance to the United States. All U.S. citizens are U.S. nationals, but a small category of U.S. nationals are not U.S. citizens.
- Lawful permanent resident (LPR)
- A person who has been granted permanent resident status, commonly documented by a Green Card. LPR status is not the same as U.S. citizenship.
- Continuous residence
- A naturalization requirement concerned with maintaining residence in the United States over a statutory period. Certain trips abroad can disrupt continuous residence even when permanent resident status itself is not lost.
- Physical presence
- The actual number of days or months a person was physically inside the United States during a statutory period. It is different from continuous residence.
- Residence
- A legal concept based on a person’s principal actual dwelling place. In nationality law, the exact statutory definition and the law in force at the relevant time matter.
- Good moral character (GMC)
- A statutory naturalization requirement evaluated over the applicable period and, in some circumstances, with consideration of conduct outside that period. Statutory bars and current USCIS policy both matter.
- INA
- The Immigration and Nationality Act. Most current provisions are codified in Title 8 of the U.S. Code, so an INA section number and a U.S.C. section number may refer to the same underlying rule.
- U.S. Code (U.S.C.)
- The official subject-matter codification of federal statutes. For citizenship law, many controlling statutes appear in Title 8.
- Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.)
- The codified federal regulations issued by agencies under statutory authority. Regulations can govern procedure and implementation but cannot override a statute or the Constitution.
- Federal Register
- The official daily publication for proposed rules, final rules, notices, and other federal agency documents. A proposed rule is not the same thing as an effective final rule.
- USCIS Policy Manual
- USCIS’s centralized policy guidance for its officers and the public. It is important agency policy, but it is not the same authority as the Constitution, a statute, a binding court decision, or a regulation.
- Precedent decision
- A decision designated to control later cases within the relevant administrative or judicial system. Not every agency decision or court order has precedential effect.
- De novo review
- A fresh judicial determination rather than ordinary deferential review. Congress expressly provides de novo federal district-court review for certain naturalization denials after the statutory administrative process.
- Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)
- A Department of State document showing that a person born abroad acquired U.S. citizenship at birth. It documents citizenship; it does not create citizenship by itself.
- Certificate of Citizenship
- A USCIS document evidencing citizenship acquired or derived through a parent. Form N-600 is generally used to request it.
- Certificate of Naturalization
- A document issued after a person successfully completes naturalization. It is evidence of the citizenship created through the naturalization process.
- Biometrics
- Identifying information such as fingerprints, photograph, or signature that USCIS may collect when required. The current N-400 fee does not include a separate biometrics services fee.
- Request for Evidence (RFE)
- A USCIS notice asking for additional evidence before the agency completes adjudication. An RFE is not the same thing as a denial.
- Proposed rule
- A rule an agency proposes for public comment. It does not become an effective legal requirement merely because it was proposed or because a comment period ended.
Translation rule of thumb
When a translated word could mean more than one legal concept, return to the English statutory term and its definition. “Residence” and “physical presence,” for example, are not interchangeable even if a translation makes them sound similar.
Read the law behind the word
The official U.S. Code and eCFR are the best starting points for the operative statutory and regulatory text.