Articles Posted in Citizenship

Readers often inquire about the general requirements for Citizenship and when can one apply. A number of criteria must be reviewed to determine if a person is eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship. As a starting point, the applicant must be a legal permanent resident (LPR) and at least eighteen years old. There are limited exceptions to this rule, including honorable service in the U.S. military during a time of war or declared hostility. The basic rule, however, is LPR and eighteen years of age.

Continuous Residence

In order to be eligible for naturalization, after Green Card has been obtained, one must be able to establish “continuous residence” in the United States for a period of five years before filing the application. This period is reduced to three years for individuals who are married to U.S. citizens, or who obtained Green Cards based on marriage but were battered or abused by their spouses. With the exception of cases involving abuse, in order to be eligible for the three-year period based on marriage to a U.S. citizen, the applicant must be married and living in marital union with the U.S. spouse for the past three years and the spouse must have been a U.S. citizen for the past three years.

Today is Veterans day, and I wanted to send warm wards of support to our Veterans and the active duty men and women fighting for our country day and night.

As it relates to immigration, On July 3, 2002, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order allowing certain noncitizens to become Naturalized citizens of the United States if they served an in an active-duty status during the war on terrorism.

Additionally,as a Gulf War veteran, one may be eligible for expedited Naturalization under Immigration and Nationality Act section 329, Naturalization through Active-Duty Service in the Armed Forces during World War I, World War II, Korean Hostilities, Vietnam Hostilities, or in other Periods of Military Hostilities. For example, if one performed active duty military service during the Persian Gulf (August 2, 1990 – April 11, 1991) or on or after September 11, 2001, one may be eligible for expedited Naturalization.

USCIS announced the launch of a redesigned Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550) with new security features that will reduce fraud—part of USCIS’ ongoing efforts to enhance the integrity of the immigration system. USCIS began using redesigned certificates at all offices last week, and the agency anticipates that over 600,000 new citizens will receive the enhanced certificate over the next year.

I attended my wife’s Naturalization ceremony last week and the new Certificate is really striking. The redesigned certificate features the naturalization candidate’s digitized photo and signature embedded into the document. The background also features a color-shifting ink pattern that is difficult to reproduce. USCIS is now using a more secure printing process that renders the certificate more tamper-proof.

For more info and see the new features click here

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced it has begun issuing a redesigned, more secure Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550) as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance the integrity of the immigration system. The agency anticipates that over 600,000 new citizens will receive the enhanced certificate over the next year.

The USCIS recently launched a great resource for those preparing to take the Naturalization Test. The online resource has many interactive tools to get ready for the test and more.

Naturalization is the manner in which a person not born in the United States voluntarily becomes a U.S. citizen. Before you apply for naturalization, you must meet a few requirements. Depending on your situation, there are different requirements that may apply to you. General requirements for naturalization are below.

Eligibility Requirements

As a service to our readers we publish local ceremony dates. If USCIS approves your application for naturalization, you must attend a ceremony and take the Oath of Allegiance to the United States. USCIS will notify you by mail of the time and date of your ceremony.

The notice USCIS sends you is called the “Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony” (Form N-445). In some cases, USCIS may give you the option to take the Oath on the same day as your interview. If you decide to take a “same day” oath, USCIS will ask you to come back to the office later that day. At this time, you will take the Oath and receive your Certificate of Naturalization.

If you cannot go to the oath ceremony, you should return the “Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony” (Form N-445) that USCIS sent to you. You should send the N-445 back to your local office. Include a letter saying why you cannot go to the ceremony. Make a copy of the notice and your letter before you send them to USCIS. Your local office will reschedule you and send you a new “Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony” (Form N-445) to tell you when your ceremony will be.

Good News for Our Citizenship clients. More than 9,000 candidates will become new citizens during 63 special ceremonies hosted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in recognition of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day on Sept. 17. As part of this celebration, USCIS is partnering with the National Park Service (NPS) to hold naturalization ceremonies at 22

national park sites across the country Sept. 13-24 under the theme, “Embrace Citizenship –

Experience America Through Your National Parks.”

With all the recent mess in this country the recent news about Americans giving up their Citizenship is interesting.

The Federal Register, the government publication that records such decisions, shows that 502 expatriates gave up their U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status in the last quarter of 2009. That is a tiny portion of the 5.2 million Americans estimated by the State Department to be living abroad.

Still, 502 was the largest quarterly figure in years, more than twice the total for all of 2008, and it looms larger, given how agonizing the decision can be. There were 235 renunciations in 2008 and 743 last year. Waiting periods to meet with consular officers to formalize renunciations have grown.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association is a great organization, and I am proud to be an active member. We know that this is also important to our clients and future clients.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will celebrate its 4th Annual Citizenship Day on Saturday, April 17 by helping more than 2,000 legal permanent residents apply to become US citizens. In partnership with the “ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía!” campaign, AILA will hold 43 naturalization clinics in 30 states serving more than 2000 immigrants who are preparing to become citizens.

s a single-day, nationwide event, AILA Citizenship Day provides free or low-cost assistance to eligible legal permanent residents who wish to apply for U.S. citizenship, utilizing partnerships between AILA chapters across the country and grassroots organizations such as the “ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía!” campaign. In 2010, AILA Citizenship Day will celebrate its 4th anniversary on a national scale and its second year with the campaign.

A great program on KPBS this morning covered the case of Ruben Flores-Villar. Flores-Villar, 35, was born in Tijuana, Mexico, but grew up in the San Diego area, in the care of his father and grandmother.

When he sought U.S. citizenship in 2006 — to fend off criminal charges of being in the country illegally — U.S. immigration authorities turned him down. For people born before 1986, their U.S. citizen fathers had to have lived in the U.S. for 10 years, at least five of them after the age of 14. Flores-Villar’s father could not meet the second part of that requirement because he was only 16 when his son was born. American mothers need only have lived in the U.S. continuously for a year before the birth of a child.

Later this year, the Supreme Court will enter a curious corner of U.S. immigration law that applies only to children born outside the U.S. to one parent who is an American and one who is not. The law makes it easier for children whose mother is a citizen to become citizens themselves. Even after reform legislation in 1986, children of American fathers face higher hurdles claiming citizenship for themselves.