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Yes, you have to go through the naturalization process or get legal "forgiveness" from the federal government because you broke the law by entering the country illegally.

At this point in time, there is no way to go to INS/CIS (or whatever we're calling it this month) and say "I'm here illegally - how can I fix this?". They'll deport you for being illegal. Period.

The only way to get a U.S. Permanent Resident ("Green Card") or other resident visa is to apply for one through the normal visa-application process, for which you MUST BE IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY for a portion of that process. In short, you have to travel back to your home country (the one where you hold citizenship), and apply for a visa there, and WAIT until it's granted (if it ever is). Not a lot of fun, and, since the process is so arduous, it's why most illegals are here illegally.

Once you have a permanent resident (or certain other visas), you can then apply for U.S. citizenship.

Hopefully, sometime in the near future after the US comes to some sanity, Congress will create some way for US illegals to change over to legal residents without leaving the country. But, that's in the future, and is by no means certain. For an example of legislation that would do this, but DIDN'T pass, see "The Dream Act". For now, the above applies.

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