Articles Posted in Citizenship & Naturalization

For those individuals taking naturalization tests AFTER January 5, 2011 please note that there are some changes to the civics test answers due to the recent federal elections. Questions 20, 23, and 47 will have different responses.

For question 20 which asks: “Who is one of your State’s US Senators now?” please choose a senator for your state that will serve in the 112th Congress. A list of current members of the US Senate can be found at www.senate.gov.

For question 23 which states: “Name your US Representative” also make sure to write the name of your representative that will be serving in the 112th Congress. A list of the members of the US House of Representatives can found at www.house.gov.

The town of Brookline, Massachusetts has approved a measure that will someday allow immigrants with a green card to vote once voted on by the Legislature. Similar measures in San Francisco and Portland were turned down but because Brookline is such a highly diverse area where 53 languages are spoken and immigrants with green cards pay taxes and have a say in town affairs, many believed they should also be allowed to vote.

One Brookline resident said, “They live here, they should vote here. They’re going to be citizens, ultimately, if they have a green card.”

During the 2010 fiscal year 11,146 members of the armed forces were granted citizenship by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the largest number amount in any year since 1955. The number represents a 6 percent increase in naturalizations from the 2009 fiscal year.

Outreach programs created by USCIS have been launched in order to reach more military members. They are encouraged to attend seminars that review that naturalization process and other immigration services. Attendance at the seminars often results in increased applications for naturalizations within the community. The Naturalization at Basic Training Initiative has also allowed for all processes like the interview, administration of the Oath of Allegiance and collection of biometrics to be done on the military bases. The initiative allows recruits to gain citizenship once they complete basic training. Specific information about citizenship and immigration benefits for the armed forces and their families can be found at http://www.uscis.gov/military.

On October 27, the DHS Office of Immigration Statistics released a compiled Fact Sheet which compares the naturalization rates of IRCA(Immigration Reform and Control Act) legalized immigrants up until 2009 with the rates of other immigrants who arrived during the same period or obtained in a LPR(legal permanent resident) status.

The IRCA was passed back in 1986 and created pathways to citizenship for many different groups of immigrants. The two main groups that benefited were immigrants who had always resided in the US illegally before January 1, 1982 and special agricultural workers (SAWs) who were required to have worked in US agriculture during specific years ending on May 1 for at least 90 days (1984, 1985, and 1986). In order to gain LPR status, IRCA immigrants were required to meet certain requirements and standards.

All of the data for the Fact Sheet was gathered through the Department of Homeland Security’s records. No individual below the age 18 was included and children who may have received legal status because of their parents were also excluded. All rates were compared amongst immigrants during the same time period. Some of the findings and results of the Fact Sheet were that 2.7 million immigrants achieved LPR status under IRCA, naturalization rates were lowest among individuals who gained status through IRCA provisions and as time went on the percentage of immigrants who were naturalized gradually increased. Other conclusions from the Fact Sheet are that fact that Mexican-born SAWs had a lower rate of naturalization than other groups of immigrants and non-Mexican born immigrants were not subject to the same extra requirements others were.

The launch of the redesigned Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550) was announced October 25 by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The new certificate was redesigned in order to increase security and reduce the amount of fraud. Due to the revamping of the naturalization certificates, USCIS estimates over 600,000 individuals will receive the enhanced certificate over the next year. Features of the redesigned certificates include a digitized photo and an embedded signature on the document, as well as a color-shifting background that is difficult to copy. In addition, USCIS has implemented a new, more secure printing process that makes the document more resistant to fraud. The Director of USCIS, Alejandro Mayorkas, also announced that by the end of the year USCIS would fully transition to an automated production process for the new certificates. The automated process would allow for increased consistency in the creation of naturalization certificates and it would cut down on preparation time. Any previously issued Certificates of Naturalization will remain legitimate even with the implementation of the redesigned certificates.

USCIS Issued a Fact Sheet and a Q&A regarding the redesign of the Naturalization Certificate, please click here to access.