What year did Melania Trump become a naturalized U.S. citizen?

1. Straight answer: the year most sources report

Multiple government and news sources referenced in the search results indicate Melania Trump became a U.S. citizen in 2006; the White House biography cites that she moved to New York in 1996 and "10 years later, she proudly became a United States Citizen" ^[1]. Independent outlets and background pieces repeat the same timeline, saying she obtained lawful permanent residence around 2001 and naturalized by 2006 ^{[6] [3]}.

2. How that year fits the documented timeline

Reporting reconstructs a sequence: Melania Knauss moved to New York in 1996, applied for an EB‑1 visa in 2000 and was approved in 2001, obtained a green card around that time, and — according to multiple summaries — completed naturalization approximately five years later, which aligns with 2006 ^{[6] [3] [1]}. The five‑year interval between green card and citizenship is common under U.S. law, which explains why the 2001 approval followed by 2006 naturalization is plausible ^{[6] [3]}.

3. Official and media characterizations: "naturalized" first lady

Government pages and institutional announcements explicitly call Melania a naturalized citizen and emphasize she is the first First Lady to have been naturalized, a point made on the White House site and U.S. government archival materials used when she spoke at naturalization ceremonies ^{[1] [5]}. News coverage of her participation in a National Archives naturalization ceremony also labeled her "a naturalized citizen herself" ^[4].

4. The EB‑1 visa context and scrutiny

Background reporting — notably the BBC — traces her visa route to an EB‑1 category, a work‑based immigrant visa for people with "extraordinary ability," and notes she began that process in 2000 with approval in 2001 ^[6]. That reporting and later coverage raised questions about how she qualified for EB‑1 and prompted scrutiny in the press, but those questions concern the visa category and timing, not the widely reported final naturalization year ^[6].

5. Areas where sources disagree or leave gaps

Available sources uniformly give the broad timeline (move in 1996, green card/EB‑1 around 2001, citizenship roughly ten years after the move), but details about precise dates, certificate numbers, or the exact date of oath ceremonies are not provided in the materials cited here ^{[1] [6] [3]}. Some outlets and commentary focus on the EB‑1 controversy rather than the naturalization date itself, which leaves finer procedural details unreported in these items ^{[6] [2]}.

6. Why 2006 is the common shorthand and how reliable that is

Government statements and multiple news summaries use the "10 years after 1996" formulation, which yields 2006 and is therefore the most commonly presented year ^{[1] [2]}. This consistency across official and media sources makes 2006 the accepted reference year in public reporting; however, the precise legal naturalization date (month/day/year) is not given in the provided sources ^{[1] [3]}. Available sources do not mention the exact ceremony date or the naturalization certificate details.

7. Competing viewpoints and implicit agendas to note

Coverage that highlights the EB‑1 visa (BBC, other outlets) framed questions about whether she met the "extraordinary ability" standard, which carried political undertones given contemporaneous immigration debates and her husband’s policy positions ^{[6] [2]}. Government bios and diplomatic sites emphasize the narrative of lawful immigration and the symbolic status of a naturalized First Lady ^{[1] [7]}. Readers should note the differing aims: news outlets investigated process and vetting; official pages emphasized milestone and public messaging ^{[6] [1]}.

Limitations: this analysis uses only the provided search results; those sources consistently point to 2006 as the year she became a U.S. citizen but do not supply the precise naturalization date or primary documentary proof such as a certificate number ^{[1] [6] [3]}.