When you apply for U.S. citizenship, you are going to be asked about your history of paying child support and spousal support. Specifically, on the N-400 Application for Naturalization, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will ask “Have you ever failed to support your dependents or to pay alimony?.”
USCIS asks the question about child and spousal support as part of its test of your moral character. You must prove to USCIS that you have been a person of good moral character during the five years before you file your N-400, or three years if you will be filing under the rule that allows spouses of U.S. citizens to apply after three years of permanent residency.
Anyone who has willfully failed or refused to support dependents anywhere in the world during the relevant period may be found to lack good moral character. This is true whether there was a court order requiring payment or not. Failure to pay any support will obviously be a problem, but making a partial payment could be a problem as well if the amount paid is obviously insufficient. Deserting a minor child will be considered a failure to support the child.
If you need to answer “yes” to the question about failing to support a dependent on the N-400, you should also attach a sheet explaining why you answered “yes.” If you have made partial payments on your support obligation and you still owe money, you should answer “yes” and identify the length of time of nonpayment and the circumstances for the nonpayment.
A “yes” answer probably isn’t going to be a problem if your missed payment happened more than five (or three) years before you filed the N-400, because it happened outside the period for which you must show good moral character. Also, if you didn’t realize you had to make a support payment or otherwise didn’t fail to make a payment on purpose, USCIS may find that your failure to pay was not “willful,” and you’ll be okay. For example, you may have had an honest but mistaken belief that the support duty had ended and no more payments were due, or you might have miscalculated the amount of money the court ordered you to pay.
On the other hand, if you knew or should have known that you had to support a dependent and you didn’t even make partial payments, and your failure to pay happened within the five- (or three-) year period before the date you are going to file your N-400, you should consider waiting until five (or three) years have gone by since your last missed payment.
The exception would be if you can prove to USCIS that your failure to make a support payment or payments was due to “extenuating circumstances.” That means something out of the ordinary that prevented you from making the payment(s). If USCIS agrees that there were extenuating circumstances, it won’t find that you lack good moral character.
Your unemployment and financial inability to pay the support might be seen as an extenuating circumstance. USCIS will consider the cause of your unemployment (so if you quit your job, that’s not going to help!) and financial inability to support dependents. USCIS will also look for evidence that you tried in good faith to support your child but couldn’t.
If you have ever been married or had children, and especially if you have been divorced or had children out of wedlock, at your citizenship interview USCIS might ask to see copies of any child or spousal support orders that required you to make payments to your children, spouse, or an ex-spouse.
You should bring birth certificates for all children you claim, a court order naming you as the parent, or a final adoption certificate or decree for all children you have legally adopted. If you have dependent children who are not living with you, you will need to bring evidence that you support each such child and that you have complied with your child support obligations. Good evidence includes canceled checks or money order receipts, court or agency documents showing child support payments, evidence of wage garnishments, or a notarized letter from the parent or guardian who cares for your children.
If a court or government agency has ordered you to provide financial support for a spouse or ex-spouse, bring a copy of the order and evidence that you have complied with the order.
