How many years do you have to be a resident of the US to run for office?

Answer 1

I suppose in principle it depends on the particular office you're talking about.

However, the only office I can think of that has a specific term of residency requirement is President. The President must have been a resident within the United States for a minimum of 14 years. The Constitution doesn't actually state that these must have been the most recent 14 years, though; technically, you could have lived in the US until you were 14, then moved to Outer Mongolia for 21 years, then return and run for President (good luck with that).

In order to be eligible to be elected to the House of Representatives you must have been a citizen for at least 7 years, but strictly speaking you can be a citizen without actually living in the US. You must, however, be an "inhabitant" of the state electing you.

The eligibility for the Senate is similar, except there's a 9 year citizenship requirement instead.

(There's no grandfather clause in these rules like there is for the Presidency, since the constitution wasn't drafted until 1787, so anyone who had been a citizen of the US since its founding already met the requirements.)