If you have been living in Illinois on a green card and your life is running along smoothly, you might not be inclined to worry too much about applying the US citizenship. After all, citizenship applications seem like such a hassle, and if everything in your life is fine exactly how it is, why would you want to rock the boat and change things? While this is a valid question, and it's easy not to think about citizenship when things are going well, as a resident of the United States you always want to be planning for your future, and to be prepared in case your circumstances change. For example, what happens if the laws in Illinois change and the change affects your resident status? It is at times like that, that you will wish you had made an application for US citizenship earlier in the game, instead of waiting until a problem crops up.In addition to security and personal peace of mind, citizenship also has other advantages. For example, US citizens have the right to vote in elections, which is something that simple residents do not have the right to do. Also, the citizenship laws become more and more complex everyday, with each separate state overlaying its own rules on top of the federal regulations. In other words, there will never be any better time to get your US citizenship and right now -  if you are expecting the process to get easier at some point in the future, you will very likely be disappointed.Movies and television often make citizenship applications look like a very frightening process, but if you speak to someone who has actually been through it, you'll learn that most citizenship applications are time and effort consuming, but not particularly difficult. The best tip is probably to get legal representation right away, because as mentioned before, the complexity of immigration law in Illinois can make it very easy for individuals to have their applications rejected if they make a mistake during some part of the application process.The basic requirements for the United States citizenship application are a minimum of five years residency, a good grasp of written and spoken English, and some basic knowledge of United States history and government. If you are married to a United States citizen, however, don't be tricked into thinking that all these requirements will be waived in your case. The process of naturalization is the same for every applicant, regardless of marital status, and the only thing that marriage does is reduce your residency requirement from five years to three years.The lawyer gets all your required paperwork together and submits your application, the next step is to wait for your interview. Most applicants get nervous about the interview, but keep in mind that you're not being set up to fail - the interview is there simply so that you can show that you have a normal, productive life in the United States, and that you would take your role as a United States citizen seriously.