Citizenship

Citizenship

Becoming a United States citizen is one of the greatest privileges you can obtain as an individual. Holding a U.S. passport is invaluable, as it allows you to travel to most countries without obtaining a visa, it allows you to vote and partake in important government elections, to obtain federal benefits only available to citizens, and you can petition for your family members to come to the United States – just to name a few.

However, not everyone is fortunate enough to obtain citizenship through birth. The process of becoming a citizen outside of birth in the U.S. is called “naturalization.” And unless you are the child of a parent who acquired citizenship before your 18th birthday and meet other requirements, you must first be a legal permanent resident before you can graduate to citizenship.

Most individuals must wait 5 years from the time they obtained permanent resident status before qualifying for citizenship. The exception to this is if you obtained your permanent residence through marriage to a U.S. citizen, and you are still married to your U.S. citizen spouse – in this case, you only have to wait a period of three years before applying.

While the process may seem simple and straightforward, many individuals fall into a gray area either due to language barriers and the inability to learn English and U.S. civics, but also due to moral character (criminal) issues, or periods of overstay outside of the U.S. Many find that having an attorney present during their citizenship interview brings them both peace of mind, and ensures that the USCIS officer interviewing you follows the proper protocol and does not overstep their authority during the application process.

Call our office today for a free consultation.