Over the past few years, we have written often about the needless setbacks and difficulties many immigrants have faced as they try to lawfully obtain status in the U.S. No immigrant group has seemed to feel this more acutely than those lawful permanent residents seeking U.S. Citizenship. Green card holders who want to obtain the rights, security, and privileges associated with U.S. citizenship on their own face a long and difficult road because of the government’s increased scrutiny of applications, staggeringly long wait times for pending applications, and nearly doubling the government fee for an application. We can help make this journey smoother for clients.
The attacks on citizenship applicants is no accident. Government wait times to process an application have increased more than 50% since Trump took office. The fees to apply are set to increase by over $500 next month. Simultaneously, USCIS will eliminate fee waivers for those who cannot afford the hefty fee. The policy changes the current administration has introduced, in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to more than 300,000 applicants stuck in a naturalization backlog. Many of these applicants hoped to vote in the 2020 election, but will not get the chance.
All of these factors and policies are meant to discourage people from applying for citizenship. We understand that these are difficult times, but the best way to fight back against these policies is to show that we will not be discouraged! For this reason, we relish the opportunity to work with clients to get them across the finish line to full U.S. Citizenship. We hope that we can continue to help people naturalize to U.S. citizens, even as the system tries to work against them.