Citizenship Attorney in Fort Lauderdale.

For lawful permanent residents anywhere in South Florida, the path to U.S. citizenship runs through a USCIS field office, an interview, a 128-question civics test, and a record review of your entire time in the United States. It is not a routine application. It is the most consequential immigration filing a green-card holder ever submits — because once you are a citizen, you are no longer subject to USCIS, no longer subject to removal, and no longer dependent on continuous good-moral-character review.

Roberta has filed thousands of N-400 naturalization applications across South Florida over thirty years. Every interview includes a civics test. In thirty years, none of her clients has ever failed it.

Roberta serves Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding Broward County communities from her Boca Raton office — about a 25-minute drive north on I-95. Fort Lauderdale clients consult in person at the Boca office or by phone if travel is impractical; once we are engaged, most of the document work happens by email and the in-person component is reserved for the interview itself.

Why Fort Lauderdale residents bring their citizenship case to Roberta

Roberta's office is at 1800 Corporate Blvd., N.W., Suite 310, three blocks east of I-95 — about 25 minutes north of central Fort Lauderdale and accessible from Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, Plantation, Davie, Sunrise, Tamarac, and the rest of Broward County. The reason to bring a citizenship case to a solo practitioner is that solo practice means something specific in citizenship work:

• One attorney reviews your entire record. Tax history, criminal history, child-support history, Selective Service registration if applicable, and every prior interaction with USCIS. The good-moral-character analysis is too important to delegate.
• You meet the lawyer who files your case — and the lawyer who walks into the interview room with you. There is no associate handoff between intake and submission.
• The civics-test prep is personal. Roberta taught immigration law at FAU and Broward College for six years. She has taught the Constitution, the federal-state structure, and U.S. history to thousands of clients. She tells her clients why the answer is the answer — not just what to memorize. The result is a thirty-year track record with no civics-test failures.

The naturalization timeline for Fort Lauderdale residents

USCIS estimates that 80% of N-400 cases nationally complete in 6 to 12 months from filing to oath ceremony. Real timelines vary by case complexity. For a clean N-400 — a five-year permanent resident with no criminal record, all taxes filed, child support documented, Selective Service registered — Fort Lauderdale clients have been approved in as little as 4 to 5 months. For cases with complications — old criminal histories, tax issues, child-support gaps, prior immigration denials — the timeline lengthens because the underlying eligibility analysis takes longer.

Where the interview happens depends on where you live. Fort Lauderdale and the rest of Broward County are typically scheduled at the USCIS Oakland Park Field Office at 4451 NW 31st Ave in Oakland Park — a short drive from anywhere in central Fort Lauderdale. Palm Beach County residents go to West Palm Beach; Miami-Dade residents go to the Miami Field Office. Roberta prepares each client for the interview in advance — going through the likely civics questions, reviewing the application line by line, and making sure the supporting evidence package is ready before the appointment.

The good-moral-character review — and why criminal history is the conversation that matters

The most important driver in any naturalization case is good moral character. The five years before filing — three years if you got your green card through a U.S. citizen spouse, two if through military service — is the statutory window USCIS scrutinizes most closely. But the review is not limited to that window. There is no statute of limitations in immigration. A crime from twenty years ago can still come up. A traffic ticket you forgot to disclose can still be held against you.

If you have any criminal history at all — including charges that were dismissed, expunged, or pardoned — Roberta's position is the same: do not file an N-400 without a complete record review first. Some convictions are an absolute bar. Some fall outside the good-moral-character window and can be addressed. Some are best handled by waiting until the next anniversary, or by pursuing a waiver before naturalization, or by approaching the application with a specific legal argument prepared in advance. The cost of a denial is more than the filing fee — a denied N-400 can put you back in front of USCIS in ways you do not want.

Other issues we see in Fort Lauderdale naturalization cases

• Overdue federal taxes. If you owe the U.S. Treasury, you are not eligible until the debt is on a payment plan and current. Roberta works with CPAs to get the documentation in order before filing.
• Child support obligations. If you have children under 18 (or had children under 18 in the five years prior to filing), USCIS will want to see consistent payment records. Missed payments are a good-moral-character question that is best addressed before the interview.
• Selective Service registration. Men who were in the U.S. in any status other than lawful permanent resident between ages 18 and 26 should have registered. If they did not, the issue can usually be addressed — but it has to be addressed.
• Derivative citizenship. Some Fort Lauderdale clients discover during a consultation that they are already citizens through a parent who naturalized while they were still a minor. The N-600 application for a Certificate of Citizenship is the right path in those cases — not the N-400.

How working with Roberta unfolds

The engagement is straightforward, but not every client moves through it the same way:

1. A free initial phone call. Roberta listens. She explains the law. There is no attorney-client relationship yet — and no charge for this conversation. If you are clearly eligible and the case is straightforward, she will tell you so. For the most straightforward cases — no criminal history, no child-support issues, no Selective Service questions, no other complications — Roberta can skip the consultation entirely and book a filing appointment instead. Many clients hire her on the first phone call, and clean cases can be filed the same day they walk in. That is what makes the practice different — nobody else has the time to do that.
2. An in-person consultation at the Boca Raton office (if necessary). $375 for the hour. Document review and case-specific advice when the record needs to be examined before filing — older criminal history, tax issues, a name change without supporting documentation, prior immigration denials. Bring your green card, your tax returns, any criminal-history records, and your travel records.
3. A retainer for representation. Whether the engagement follows directly from the initial phone call or from the consultation, the retainer is where the work begins. Roberta files the N-400, prepares the supporting evidence, prepares you for the interview, and accompanies you to the Oakland Park Field Office on interview day.