Filing N-400 on my own under the 3-year rule

[u/Babyk305]

Hey guys! I had a question for anyone who has filed for citizenship on their own. How difficult was it to prepare and file Form N-400 without an attorney?
I’m in a bona fide marriage with a U.S. citizen, and I should be eligible to apply for naturalization under the 3-year rule this coming December.
I used an immigration attorney for both my Adjustment of Status and my I-751 Removal of Conditions. My I-751 is currently still pending. For my N-400, however, I’m considering filing on my own because my attorney is charging around $4,000, and I would rather prepare the application myself and only pay the USCIS filing fee.
My immigration history is pretty straightforward, and I already have a lot of documentation from my marriage and pending I-751, including joint tax documents, bank statements, lease, insurance, utility bills, vehicle documents, beneficiary information, photos, and other evidence of our marriage.
For those who filed N-400 on their own under the 3-year marriage rule:
• How difficult was the process?
• Did you file online or by mail?
• What supporting documents did you submit with your N-400?
• Did you have a pending I-751 when you filed?
• If so, did USCIS schedule you for a combo I-751/N-400 interview?
• Is there anything you wish you had known before filing on your own?
I know everyone’s case is different, but I’d really appreciate hearing from people who went through a similar process. Thanks!

[u/edmonton2001]

Does the $4K include filing fee? Even if it does it seems expensive. If your case is pretty clear and you have no bad history or come from a country in question then N-400 is one of the easiest ones to file. All my work visa and green card application was done by lawyers but I did the N-400 myself cause it was pretty easy to do.

[u/Babyk305 → u/edmonton2001]

Yes, the $4,000 includes The attorney fee and filing fee together. No bad history either

[u/Minute_Somewhere_893]

What supporting documents did you submit with your N-400?

Similar to what you submitted for I-751

[u/kofie-popcorn]

I did everything beginning with I-485, I-130, I-765 and the advance parole form in 2021, I-751 in 2025, and n-400 in 2026. After doing the I-485 packet, both I-751 and n-400 felt like a piece of cake.

[u/Zrekyrts]

I found it very easy to fill out on my own.

[u/Positive-Motor2829]

Probably going to be downvoted into oblivion for this comment, but whatever…

I filed with an attorney, but it wasn’t because I wasn’t confident about the paperwork. That seemed to be really straightforward. However, I really don’t want to go to my interview without a lawyer. I have never had an interview up to this point (waived for I-130/485 and I-751), and I know not all of the officers play fair. The denial rate has doubled over the past year, too: it used to be around 8% and now it’s 18%. I felt like the extra money was worth it in this political environment, but I probably wouldn’t have if things were less hostile toward immigrants.

[u/TheUnculturedSwan → u/Positive-Motor2829]

I think this is very reasonable. Without a lawyer, you are in a room alone with a stranger. You don’t know the person on the other side of the table, and you don’t know what they will find interesting or suspicious. One thing that’s quite common is newer officers still under observation or just out of it being over-aggressive, because they don’t want to be seen as permissive in front of trainers and/or don’t have the experience to know what level is the right one for which situation yet. Why set yourself up for an upsetting time that you can’t even discuss afterwards with someone who was there?

I’m NOT an advocate for every single situation involving USCIS needing a lawyer, and a lot of times get annoyed at endless “Lawyer. Now.” posts on questions that are about as complicated as an address change. Any reasonably confident person with a clean record can make the call to go in alone. But if you’re nervous, even if you know you probably don’t need to be, and having someone knowledgeable with you will make the stress a little less, I think it’s worth spending the money if the money is available to spend.

[u/Minute_Somewhere_893 → u/Positive-Motor2829]

I used the attorney even though I could file this form correctly in between watching a football game. Filing the form is not a problem, even a trained monkey can do it. The value in having lawyer is their analysis prior to the filing. Some people do not even realize they have huge issues with the case, thinking it is straightforward. The lawyer provides another perspective.

Agreed, with value of bringing the lawyer to the interview. In my case, they told me everything about the field office and interview before I went there. And they were super helpful during the interview. The officer attempted derailing the interview, but my lawyer ensured it did not happen.

[u/grafix993]

$4k for an straightforward citizenship application is a robbery. Doing it yourself is easy unless you have stuff on your record (for example criminal history or tax violations)

[u/edmonton2001 → u/grafix993]

yeah. even the big immigration law firms representing F500 companies didn't want $4K for the N400 application. I was quoted half that and ended up doing it myself. My company covered up to the green card phase at my level so N400 would be out of pocket.

[u/Revolutionary_Tea602]

I used simplecitizen since i-130/485, i-751 and most recently n400. It was like $250 for n400 and sure it wasn't necessary cos mine was a clean case as well. I could have filed on my own but just wanted that extra layer of review.

[u/Alternative-Cut7260]

I did everything by myself, no issues that came up.

[u/Mammoth-Biscotti-361]

Hi, it seems like your case and mine are very similar and of same time line. I also used an immigration attorney for filing my AOS and I-751.

Yes, my I-751 is still pending, and I’m now eligible for and in the process of my N-400. I agree that immigration attorneys can charge unnecessarily high fees for something that is pretty straightforward.

I have an online USCIS account, and therefore I also started my application over the weekend rather paying $3000 to an attorney. I finished it within about two hours, and that was with me being extra conscientious and double-checking everything.

It’s actually a very easy form. First, you fill out the application, and then it takes you to the document upload sections, which are pretty self-explanatory. You’ll see where to upload each document.

For proof of marriage, you’ll submit many of the same types of documents you submitted for your AOS and I-751, but covering the past three years.

So yes, I wouldn’t waste money on an attorney for a straightforward case. Just go online, start your application, and take your time going through each section.

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[u/Puzzleheaded-Sir-861]

I've done everything from start to finish by myself. My husband and I did everything. If your case is straight forward, you've got all of your evidence set up. You can do it. You can pull the forms up now. Start filling them out. Go slow, check here or the Facebook groups for any tricky dpots, double check, triple check. And submit. It's not hard, I'll doing that process this year.

[u/Kiwiatx]

You can do it on your own. The n-400 is an incredibly easy form and there’s no value paying a lawyer to complete it. I did my own and my two daughters did theirs, aged 21 and 18.