By Gemma
Alexander
On the Fourth of July in Seattle, over 500 new American
citizens were sworn in at an annual public ceremony that brings many
participants and observers to tears each year. Similar ceremonies took place
all over the country. Each of these new citizens had navigated the intricacies
of the immigration system, a process that’s opaque to most of us.
As the presidential election heats up and the amount
of chatter around immigration rises accordingly, it seems like a good time to
ask: just what does it take to become an American?
What is
naturalization?
The United States is called “a nation of immigrants”
for a reason. Most of our population of nearly 324 million were born citizens, but
only about 5 million can claim to be descendants of the North America’s
indigenous Native American and Alaskan peoples. The rest of us are – or are
descended from – people who came to the United States from someplace else. And
if they did so after 1790 and wanted to become citizens, they had to complete a
congressionally mandated legal process known as naturalization. It is, like
most federal processes, a test of endurance and attention to detail, and it
takes years to complete.
Historical
naturalization
Naturalization has grown into a highly complex process
that no one should attempt to complete without an attorney. Even the earliest immigration law, passed in 1790, made
naturalization a two-step process that could not begin before a candidate had
lived for two years in the United States. At that time naturalization was
restricted to white males “of good character.” The citizenship of women and children
was determined by their male guardian, and people of color were simply out of
luck.
Over time, the minimum residency
requirement was raised and reduced repeatedly, peaking at 14 years in the early
1800s. Laws fluctuated with immigration patterns and political fears.
Occasionally, the process was made easier, as in 1968, when a streamlined
method was introduced for non-citizens who had served in the US armed forces
during the Vietnam War and other periods of hostility. But generally the
changes made the process longer and more complex, as in 1922, when the
residency requirement for immigrants from the Western Hemisphere was raised
from one year to five years.
The green card –
it’s not easy
The first and often hardest step on the path to
citizenship for nearly all immigrants is obtaining a green card, which signifies the status
of the holder as a legal, permanent resident of the United States. The process varies depending
on the applicant’s current immigration status and place of residence.
- Applicants who currently reside outside of
the United States and intend to obtain a green card before arrival will
follow the consular
processing protocol.
- Those who are currently residing in the
United States on a temporary work or student visa must follow the adjustment of
status process to apply for a green card.
- Non-citizens who currently reside in the
United States, but their visa has expired or they entered without
documentation, need to obtain the services of an immigration
attorney. The rules governing immigration amnesty are labyrinthine and
constantly changing. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website
does not even have a page addressing eligibility for undocumented
residents.
Regardless of which process the applicant follows,
there are three main categories of eligibility for a green card. As with every
aspect of US immigration, there are exceptions and special cases:
- Through family: The spouse and minor
children of a US citizen or green card holder is eligible to apply for a
green card for themselves. This is the category often depicted as rife
with abuse in movies and TV shows whose plots revolve around a so-called
marriage of convenience. But in real life, immigration officials are on
the lookout for such fraud. Additional close
relatives – parents, siblings, and adult children – can apply for a
“family preference” green card but are usually placed on a waiting list. There are also special categories under this
category.
- Through work: To qualify for a
work-related green card, the applicant must have an offer of a job from a
US employer willing to petition on his or her behalf; be an investor in a
venture that generates US jobs; qualify as an “Alien of Extraordinary
Ability”; or have experience in one of a list of specific jobs. Favored job experiences
usually involve work performed abroad for the US government, but doctors,
broadcasters, and religious workers get special treatment as well.
- Through refugee or asylum: This category gets a
lot of press, but only about 85,000 of the 1.3 million
foreign-born individuals who moved to the United States last year were
classified as refugees. The unfortunate truth is that for many refugees,
it might be easier to obtain a green card through another category.
In addition to the three main categories above, up to
50,000 individuals each year receive green cards through the Diversity
Immigrant Visa Program, often called the “green card lottery,” which randomly
selects entrants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United
States. A small number of people obtain green cards via the Legal Immigration
Family Equity Act, K Nonimmigrant status, and Special Immigrant Juvenile
status. These special programs have complex rules that are beyond the scope of
this article.
Path to
naturalization
Once an individual has received a green card,
naturalization is still at least five years away. During those five years, the
prospective citizen must remain out of legal trouble and spend at least 30
months in the United States. When an immigrant becomes eligible for citizenship,
the remaining steps are arduous, but fairly
straightforward.
1. Submit the USCIS Form N-400.
2. Be fingerprinted for an FBI
background check.
3.
Pass the naturalization test. The test includes an
interview and sections on US history and government. Opinions vary on the
difficulty of these sections – you can draw your own
conclusions. Applicants must be
proficient in English.
4. Attend an oath ceremony and
receive a certificate of naturalization.
Given all the above description, you can see how the
naturalization ceremony is an emotional experience for new citizens and
witnesses alike, the culmination of years of legal hurdles and bureaucratic
frustrations. For more information and assistance,
consult Avvo’s immigration section.
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