N-400 early filing calculator: the first day you can apply
Enter the Resident Since date on your green card and your longest trips to see when USCIS accepts Form N-400 and whether your days in the country add up.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error
Form N-400
You can file now
Earliest filing day: August 17, 2026
| 5-year anniversary | November 15, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Earliest filing day (90 days before) | August 17, 2026 |
| Days outside the U.S. in the period | 43 |
| Days present / required | 1,783 / 913 |
| Trips over 6 months / of a year or more | 0 / 0 |
How this was calculated
- USCIS accepts Form N-400 up to 90 days before the 5-year (or 3-year, married to a U.S. citizen) anniversary of the date on your green card.
- Physical presence: at least half the period, 913 days (548). The days you leave and return count as days present.
- An absence of more than 6 months but less than a year raises a presumption that residence was broken; a year or more breaks it.
Estimate from public data, not legal advice. Your case may differ (cross-chargeability, CSPA, waivers). For advice, see a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative. Not affiliated with USCIS or the Department of State. Method and past error
USCIS accepts Form N-400 up to 90 days before the anniversary that makes a permanent resident eligible: 5 years after the Resident Since date on the card, or 3 years for someone married to a U.S. citizen. Filing on that ninetieth day is only half the test. In the statutory period before filing, the applicant must have been physically present in the United States for at least 913 days on the 5-year route or 548 days on the 3-year route, counting the day of departure and the day of return as days present. Continuous residence is a separate condition: an absence of more than 6 months but less than 1 year raises a presumption that residence was broken, which the applicant may try to rebut, and an absence of 1 year or more breaks it. This calculator returns the first filing day, the days present and required, and a count of trips over each threshold.
What the calculator counts
It starts from the Resident Since date and adds 5 years, or 3 if you answer yes to the spouse question, then steps back 90 days. It then rebuilds the statutory period behind that filing day, or behind today if today is later, and subtracts the days spent abroad on each trip you enter, leaving out the departure and return days as the physical presence chapter requires. Only the part of a trip that falls inside the period is counted.
The default card, read line by line
The form opens on a card dated November 15, 2021. The 5-year anniversary is November 15, 2026, so the first filing day is August 17, 2026. One summer trip of six weeks costs 43 days, leaving 1,783 days present against 913 required. Replace that trip with seven months away in 2023 and the presence total still reads 1,605, which passes, yet the row for long trips shows 1: the case would rest on rebutting the presumption described in the continuous residence chapter.
Why a date alone is not enough
An early-filing date is easy to get from a calendar. What trips people up is the trip they forgot, or a long stay abroad that leaves the day count fine but the residence in question. Entering the two longest trips is usually enough to see which side of the line you are on; if you have more, add their days by hand.
Limits
The calculator does not check the marriage conditions of the 3-year route, good moral character, the English and civics tests, or residence in your state. Read the Form N-400 page and, if a long trip or an arrest is in your history, speak with a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative first. Fees are on the N-400 fee page.