CITIZENSHIP :

                 BENEFITS OF CITIZENSHIP

                 ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP

                 NATURALIZATION

                                  INTRODUCTION

                                  PROCESS

Benefits :

Amongst others, a U. S. citizen (USC) enjoys the following benefits :

1. A USC may petition for the permanent residence of parents, children & spouse as immediate relative immigrants with no backlog and/or siblings (but with substantial backlog);
2. He/she may bestow U.S. citizenship on a child born abroad to the USC;
3. He/she may reside in the U.S. permanently or even indefinitely outside the U.S. without losing status;
4. A USC is afforded protection from loss of status resulting from certain bad acts or other grounds of inadmissibility or deportability;
5. USCs are entitled to certain political rights such as the right to vote, to hold political office & serve on juries;
6. Eligibility for certain welfare benefits;
7. Eligibility for sensitive government jobs requiring only USCs;
8. Certain tax exemptions.

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Acquisition of citizenship :

1. Birth in the U.S.;
2. Birth abroad where at least one of the parents is a USC;
3. Naturalization; and
4. Derivative citizenship through parent’s citizenship.

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Naturalization :

Introduction :

Naturalization is the process by which an alien may acquire U. S. Citizenship. For this the alien must have become a permanent resident first and must have maintained permanent resident status for 5 continuous years before applying for naturalization (3 years in case the permanent resident has been married to a USC).

 

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Process :

The naturalization process in brief involves the following steps:

• Filing of an application in the prescribed form together with the necessary filing fee & documentation;
• Scheduled USCIS fingerprinting;
• Scheduled interview;
• Scheduled swearing-in ceremony.

The application is filed in the USCIS service center having jurisdiction over the applicant’s place of residence in the U.S. (for cases based on military service with the Nebraska Service Center).

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