How long USCIS is taking to decide N-600 applications for a Certificate of Citizenship, for people who became citizens through a US citizen parent. Updated every day.
We're still collecting enough decided N-600 cases to publish our own numbers (we wait for at least 20). Until then, USCIS's published national median is 5.6 months.
USCIS national median, FY2026 for N-600: 5.6 months.
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Most of the work is documentary: the parent's citizenship, the child's birth, and depending on the law at the time, the parent's years of physical presence in the US before the birth, or custody and green card details for children who derived citizenship. Missing records are the usual cause of a Request for Evidence.
USCIS decides some N-600s on the documents alone and schedules an interview for others, which adds a field office wait.
This page is general information, not legal advice. For decisions about your own case, check USCIS's current guidance or talk to an immigration attorney.
Other forms: I-130 · I-129F · I-751 · I-730 · I-601A · I-485 · I-765 · I-131 · I-539 · I-821 · I-129 · I-140 · I-526E · I-829 · I-360 · I-918 · I-914 · I-817 · I-600A · I-600 · I-800A · I-800 · I-90 · I-102 · I-824
All USCIS processing timesUSCIS's published national median for N-600 is 5.6 months. We don't yet have enough decided N-600 cases of our own to publish a figure, so this page shows USCIS's number until we do.
No. If you acquired or derived citizenship, you're a citizen by law. The certificate is proof. A US passport is also proof of citizenship and is often quicker to get.
The N-600 is for people living in the US. The N-600K is for children living abroad whose US citizen parent applies on their behalf, and it ends with an interview and oath in the US.
Ours come from real N-600 cases we tracked from the day USCIS received them to the day they were approved or denied, over the last 12 months. USCIS's median covers its whole fiscal year and, for some forms, only one category. Neither predicts a single case exactly: your service center or field office, your category and any Request for Evidence matter more.
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