Immigrants with a ‘green card’ should be encouraged to apply for citizenship after completing the mandatory three or five years, since this will bring them greater benefits than staying indefinitely as permanent residents, experts indicated.
“I would tell anyone who is thinking of applying for citizenship that it is a very rewarding process,” said Samantha Pascal, coordinator of Naturalization at Catholic Migration Services (CMS), an organization that works in conjunction with New York Lawyers for Public Interest (NYLPI) to help immigrants.
The expert acknowledged that the process can be “scary” for immigrants, but the benefits are a good reason to finalize the process.
“There are multiple reasons why where it is important for someone to apply for citizenship… One reason is that a green card… expires after 10 years and after expires, one person would have to renew it,” Pascal warned. “In that case, some people who don’t qualify for a fee waiver will have to pay for the green card. And that cost would accumulate over the years.”
He added that one of the benefits is that immigrants would no longer have to worry about how long they spend outside the country, since with the ‘green card’ if someone spends more than six months Outside the US, this can mean a “red flag” for immigration authorities and affect your naturalization process.
“One of the requirements to naturalize is to have what is called physical presence, which is a certain number of days or time per year that the immigrant is in the US”, indicated the expert, who highlighted the right to vote that an immigrant could have when becoming a citizen.
She added that this step is the “last” in a long process of immigration procedures that she lives a non-citizen, so it will also help reduce your worries.
Dr. Nelson Castillo, an immigration attorney practicing in California, agreed with Pascal, paying other benefits.
“Permanent residents should become US citizens to have more rights, get better jobs and process petitions for immediate relatives more quickly,” said the expert. “In addition, being citizens, they can no longer be removed from the country, unless they have committed fraud to obtain US citizenship.”
The Dr. Castillo recalled that there are more than nine million Legal Permanent Residents (LPR, as it is known in English) who could be eligible to apply for US citizenship through naturalization.
Four big pieces of advice
Pascal reminded immigrants to provide enough information to your lawyer so that you can make a realistic evaluation to apply for naturalization before the office of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Because it is a free legal guidance service, the CMS does not accept complex cases, such as those in which a person is facing deportation proceedings.
Pascal indicated, however, that it was essential that an immigrant who has committed a crime or faces problems with the law, even administratively, must provide this information to his lawyer, in order to correctly evaluate his case.
“We have conversations with the client to develop the possible problems they have, we make sure to help them obtain the documents they need. And we use those documents essentially to do analyzes with the lawyers, ”he exposed. “If we don’t feel confident with our analysis, we reach out to other legal providers to make sure our analysis is correct and that we’re not putting our client in jeopardy…essentially we’re here to help our clients.”
The reason for this exhaustive review is so that the immigrant can arrive more calmly at the interview and the exam to obtain her citizenship.
Dr. Castillo pointed out that not all immigrants with a ‘green card’ would be eligible to obtain citizenship, since each case is unique, so he gave three great pieces of advice.
1.- Reveal possible problems.- Each immigrant knows their personal history and is aware of what a legal problem can mean, so Dr. Castillo reminds that not all immigrants LPRs are eligible. “These individuals should consult with a licensed and experienced immigration attorney to determine if they can apply for citizenship as soon as possible,” he said.
2.- Never lie.- Dr. Castillo warned that lies during the immigration process can mean serious problems. “This may result in a denial of your naturalization application and, under certain circumstances, subject you to removal proceedings (formerly called deportation proceedings),” he warned.
3. Evaluate payment options.- There are payment exemptions for low-income people that could help you avoid having to pay the $640 dollar fee for the naturalization process, recalled Dr. Castillo. He indicated that there are also non-profit organizations, such as CMS, that provide free or low-cost authorized legal services.
4. Stay away from “cheaters”.- Dr. Castillo suggested immigrants “never use the services of notaries, immigration consultants, fill-in-papers or multi-services to receive legal help in a naturalization process”, he said. The reason is that, by law, these people or businesses are not authorized to offer legal advice.
Step by step
There are different processes to obtain naturalization. The experts from CMS and NYLPI have clinics that do a pre-evaluation of the cases and then have physical meetings with the immigrants.
The lawyers evaluate:
– General immigration history, including how long you have had a green card, if someone will sponsor you.
– There are specific questions about whether or not the person committed a crime or had any legal problems, including whether or not that person used a false Social Security number.
– Documents are requested: originals and copies of ‘green card’, Social Security Number, passport, marriage certificate (if applicable), certificate of divorce (if applicable), tax reports, if you have health insurance.
– The attorney reviews all the documentation and, together with the oral history, evaluates the case to determine if it is viable or if it would face a special challenge before USCIS.
– The lawyer may request additional documents as evidence, but they depend on each case.
– The cost to pay before USCIS is $725 dollars , of which $640 dollars are the cost of the procedure and $85 for the collection of biometric data.
– USCIS could decide that a person does not need to go to biometric data collection, because the information from the ‘green card’ is used.
– A fee waiver may be requested under certain circumstances.
– USCIS may request additional information (this does not always happen).
– The agency would send notifications of the next steps, including the interview and examination appointment.
– The immigrant completes his interview, English and civics test.
– If he passes his exams, a swearing-in date is reported and the naturalization certificate is delivered.
Extra help
Money can be an impediment to apply for the naturalization, but civil organizations and companies have aid programs.
– You can request a loan with very low interest at onepercentforamerica.org, where minimum requirements are requested.
– Catholic Migration Services and NYLPI offer free legal advice with several clinics a year. Look at catholicmigration.org.
– The Department of Justice has a list of pro-bono lawyers throughout the country: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/list- pro-bono-legal-service-providers
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