CitizenshipYes

Most applicants for citizenship need to read, write and speak basic English. There are exceptions to the basic rule for older applicants who have had their green cards for a long time. If you are over fifty-five years old and have had a green card for at least fifteen years or are over fifty and have had a green card for at least twenty years, you can be interviewed and answer the civics and US history questions in your own language and you do not have to demonstrate your ability to read and write English.

Long delays persist in USCIS processing of citizenship cases according to new figures published yesterday by USCIS. Many major offices now have processing times of close to or above 14 months. USCIS’s target processing time is 6 months, but processing times ballooned last year after USCIS announced a huge price increase and was flooded with applications just before the increase took effect.

By becoming a citizen you can provide an important benefit to your children. Permanent resident children, under eighteen and in the custody of their naturalizing parent, automatically acquire citizenship when the parent does. This applies to children already in the US, and also to newly-sponsored children, who will acquire citizenship on the day they arrive […]

Saturday, April 12’s New York Times gives timely reinforcement to our warnings about the potential dangers of making a citizenship application – especially making an application yourself without the advice of an attorney. The article describes a series of cases where obscure problems with long-ago green card applications, old convictions, or failure (or inability) to […]

As April 15 approaches, remember that it filing your taxes on time is very important if you want to become a US citizen. USCIS will normally consider filing late to be sign of bad moral character. Even if you cannot pay everything you owe, file on time. If you cannot pay what you owe in […]