8 Misconceptions about Becoming a US Citizen

Approximately 12 million lawful permanent residents in the United States, and over 7 million are eligible for citizenship. Yet, less than 1 million generally apply for U.S. citizenship each year. According to Federal Data, citizenship applications drastically rose since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Search results from Google reviewed exclusively by TIME reveal that search interest in citizenship peaked on January 10 and has remained high since, indicating that immigrants are looking for more information about naturalization. 

Common Misconceptions of obtaining US Citizenship

1.    Citizenship is too expensive. Not true – the cost is only$680 Dollars.

2.    There are no benefits to becoming a US citizen. WRONG. Innocent people are convicted of crimes all the time, a Us citizenship will protect you from being deported. You will be able to travel with a US passport and help your family migrate to the United States. 

3.    Tests are too difficult. Not True Civics is the rights and duties of a citizen. There are 100 civics questions on the naturalization test, applications will be asked ten from this 100. You must answer correctly 6 out of 10 questions from the test in English.

4.    I have to live in the United States legally a very long time before becoming a citizen. Not Exactly True. You must be a permanent resident or green card holder for five years.  You must have held a green card for at least 5 years immediately preceding the date of filing Form N-400, the Application for Naturalization.  You must have lived in the same State for Three Years. You must learn American language and history, which includes read and write English fluently. You must have knowledge of how American government operates, included in your immigration civics test.

5.    Donald Trump cannot stop me from becoming a US citizen. Wrong. Normally, this would be the case. Article I, Section 8, clause 4 of the Con­stitution entrusts the federal legislative branch with the power to “establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization.” Here is how he can stop you......

a.    Alien and Sedition Acts: This act was signed into law by President John Adams in 1798 on the heels of the Quasi-French war. The act allowed the president to imprison or deport any alien considered “dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States.”

b.    You mays say, 1798 was a long time ago, we don’t have to worry about that. Wrong. Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526. And 2527. These three proclamations were signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Citing the Alien and Seditions Actions as precedent, these proclamations restricted the entry and naturalization of Japanese, Germans and Italians.

c.    What all this means, is that even if you follow all the rules – Donald Trump can stop you from becoming a Naturalized Citizen.

6.    “I served in Iraq, the United States does not deport non-citizen veterans.” Wrong! US military service isn’t enough to prevent deportation. When veterans are deported, most of them deported are sent back to Mexico. As I said, innocent people can also be convicted, it happens all the time. 

7.    “I have an H-IB VISA because I am a highly skilled worker, an engineer, physicist or medical doctor,” Congratulations, you are the kind of person we want, and need in the United States. Trump is trying to revoke temporary H-IB Visas, on the notion that we have plenty of Americans to take these jobs. According to the Department of Labor and Statistics, 2 million health care workers are foreign born. Twenty-five percent of all medical doctors are foreign born. Imagine losing 25% of our orthodontists, internal medicine physicians, emergency OBGYN, and oncologists. The problem is that many Americans are not going to going to medical or engineering school. To make matters worse, when our president encourages American's to get more education - he gets called a snob because apparently, being ignorant is something to be proud about. 

8.    Once I am a citizen, I am home free. Wrong!  USCIS is authorized to cancel any Certificate of Citizenship or Certificate of Naturalization in cases were Immigration considers the citizenship was obtained illegally or fraudulently. Simply put – do not pay someone to marry you, and think it won’t come back to bite. It can, you can lose your citizenship and will be deported.