When did Melania Trump apply for U.S. citizenship and when was she naturalized?
Executive summary
Melania Trump was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on July 28, 2006, a date reported consistently in public biographical sources [1] [2] [3]. Public reporting does not provide a precise, publicly documented date for when she formally filed her naturalization application; available records establish the timeline only insofar as she gained lawful permanent resident status around 2001 and completed naturalization in 2006 [2] [4].
1. Background: how Melania’s immigration timeline is documented
Contemporary reporting and biographical summaries place Melania Knauss’s arrival in the United States in the mid-1990s and indicate she obtained a green card around 2001 before becoming a naturalized citizen in 2006, a sequence repeated in multiple profiles and immigration analyses [2] [3] [4]. Major outlets and encyclopedic entries cite 2001 as the year she was approved for an employment-based immigrant visa — widely reported as an EB‑1 "extraordinary ability" category — and mark 2006 as the year her citizenship was finalized, which aligns with the five-year residency requirement typical for many employment‑based permanent residents [4] [2].
2. The naturalization date: what the record says
Public-facing sources state unequivocally that Melania Trump became a U.S. citizen on July 28, 2006 [1] [2] [3]. That specific date appears in widely used reference entries and has been repeated across reporting about her ability, after naturalization, to sponsor family members — for example, her parents’ later immigration steps are tied to her citizenship status [1]. While official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or National Archives naturalization records would provide conclusive primary confirmation, the secondary sources available to this analysis consistently report the July 28, 2006 date [1] [2].
3. The application date: what is and isn’t publicly documented
There is no reliably sourced, public record in the supplied reporting that gives an exact filing date for Melania Trump’s N‑400 naturalization application; most accounts infer timing from the green card approval in 2001 and the citizenship grant in 2006, implying a naturalization process culminating in mid‑2006 [2] [4]. Reports note she began applying for the employment‑based immigrant visa in 2000 and was approved in 2001, which would have established the eligibility clock for naturalization under ordinary residency rules [4]. Absent direct access to USCIS files or a contemporaneous official announcement of the application filing, asserting a precise application date would exceed what the cited sources substantiate.
4. Context, controversies and why the timeline matters
The particulars of Melania Trump’s visa and naturalization have been focal points for both straightforward reporting and partisan critique: outlets including the BBC and immigration analysts discuss her EB‑1‑type approval and subsequent path to citizenship, and critics have highlighted perceived political irony given public stances on “chain migration” by her husband, Donald Trump, after she sponsored her parents [4] [1]. Some commentators and immigration legal analysts have speculated about procedural details, but those speculations are distinct from the documented fact of her naturalization date; the available reporting confirms the citizenship date and the earlier green card timeline but does not publish the date she filed her naturalization paperwork [1] [2] [3] [4].