Citizenship & Naturalization
What is "naturalization"?
Why become a citizen?
Like our immigration laws, the laws that say who is a U.S. citizen are very complicated. Most people know that anyone born inside the United States or certain territories—like Puerto Rico—are U.S. citizens by birth; but there are other ways that you could be a citizen from birth, even though you were not born inside the country. An obvious example is the child of two U.S. citizens who was born in a different country. Sometimes a child born in another country is a U.S. citizen from birth even if only one of his parents or grandparents was a U.S. citizen when he was born. It sounds strange, but now and then someone will go through a lot of paperwork and spend a lot of money to immigrate because he did not realize that he was already a U.S. citizen. If any of your parents or grandparents was born in the United States, you should ask a lawyer if you might be a U.S. citizen already.
‘Naturalization’ is the name of the process for becoming a U.S. citizen, if you were not a citizen when you were born. In most cases, you must be a lawful permanent resident before you can become a citizen. Whether you are eligible to become a naturalized U.S. citizen depends on a number of factors—such as, how long you have been a lawful permanent resident, the way you became a lawful permanent resident, whether you ever served in the U.S. military (and when), your ability to speak English and even your age. Different rules apply to different cases. An experienced immigration lawyer can help you sort it all out and tell you what your options for becoming a citizen are.
There are a number of important differences between U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. Only U.S. citizens can vote in this country. U.S. citizens also have greater ability to file visa petitions to immigrate relatives. As a lawful permanent resident you may file visa petitions for your spouse and unmarried children. U.S. citizens can file petitions for their parents, married children and siblings, in addition to their spouses and unmarried children. Most relatives of U.S. citizens take priority over relatives of lawful permanent residents–that is to say, the relatives of the U.S. citizens will get to immigrate faster.
