Skip to main content

Top Three Excuses for Not Becoming a US Citizen and Why They are Meaningless



If you have ever listened to our radio show, you know that we are constantly encouraging individuals to apply for US citizenship if they are fortunate enough to qualify.  Here are the top three excuses that I often hear as well as reasons these excuses just don’t hold up.

1.       I’m worried about the English Exam.  I have good news for everyone who has ever used this as an excuse for not applying for citizenship:   The English exam is not that hard!  Immigration understands that English is your second language.  Immigration does not expect you to be an English language expert.  All that is required is a basic English and the ability to answer a few questions in English.  And the best news is that Immigration gives you a list of the questions beforehand so you will have plenty of time to practice.  Additionally, many individuals over age 50 can qualify for a waiver of some or all of the English language requirements. Thus, the English language requirement is no excuse for not applying for citizenship.   

2.      I can’t afford the filing fee.  This excuse also doesn't work.  The filing fee is much cheaper than constantly renewing your green card.  Currently, the filing fee is citizenship is $680.  I understand that this can be a lot of money, but when you think about the cost the renew your green card - $450 every time you renew it, you don’t have to be a mathematician to see that it is more expensive to remain a legal resident.  Furthermore, it is much cheaper to become a citizen than it is to have to fight to protect your residency if issues with respect to your residency ever arise.  I know lots of individuals who have spent thousands of dollars fighting the loss of their green card, a loss which could have easily been prevented by paying a $680 filing fee and become a citizen. 

3.      I’m fine with my residency and don’t need citizenship.  This is one of the most common excuses and is the least valid.  Citizenship offers many benefits that are not available to legal residents.  You will be in a better position to help your family with their immigration issues.  You will be able to apply for certain federal jobs.  You will have a far higher limit on the amount of your estate that would be subject to the “death tax” upon your passing.  You can vote!  Finally, you will never have to worry about losing your right to live in the United States because as a citizen you will not be restricted by residency requirements.  I have known many individuals who were “fine with their residency” up until the point it was taken away from them because they unexpectedly had to spend considerable time outside of the country to unforeseen family or employment issues.


In short, there is no valid excuse for not becoming a United States Citizen if you are fortunate enough to qualify.  If you plan to permanently live in the United States, you should take steps to protect that dream and become a United States Citizen.

Comments

  1. Don't forget the possibility of a fee waiver! http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-912instr.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  2. If I was to become a US citizen, would I have to give up my citizenship of the UK and Australia (I am currently a dual citizen)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Are An Immigrant (even a US Citizen), Here Are 9 Things You Should Know

Are you a Naturalized U.S. Citizen, Lawful Permanent Resident, Visa Holder, or an Undocumented Immigrant? We recommend you take the following steps to protect yourself in our current version of America. The last couple of weeks have reminded immigrants, even naturalized U.S. citizens, that they were not born in the United States. Our office has received countless phone calls, emails, and social media messages from people worrying about what their family’s future in the United States holds. Most people want to know what they can do now to protect themselves from what promises to be a wave of anti-immigration activity by the federal government. Trump's Executive Order on Interior Enforcement has some provisions that should make most Americans shiver.  We recommend the following actions for each of the following groups: Naturalized U.S. citizens. In particular if you have a foreign accent, and you are traveling within 100 miles of any US Border (including the oceans

Seven Reasons Why the Georgia Legislature Should Repeal HB-87

Recently the Alabama Attorney General called on the Alabama State Legislature to repeal parts of Alabama's horrid anti-immigration law ( HB 56), because of the "unintended" consequences of the bill (frankly, what happened was not unintended). Because of the similarity between the two laws, Georgia's Speaker of the House, David Ralston was asked whether Georgia Legislature would repeal part or all of HB 87, Georgia own anti-immigration law. HB 87 has caused almost a half a billion dollars in damage to the Georgia economy (along with untold suffering in Georgia's immigrant communities) without any noted or reported positive effect. Speaker Ralston plainly stated that the Georgia Legislature would NOT do anything to repeal HB 87 . While it understandable why a politician would not admit that a pet bill he shepherded and pushed through the state legislature was simply bad law, it is also clear that Speaker Ralston is facing a challenge on his RIGHT in th

How To Stop Illegal Immigration

In the midst of the never ending political season, we hear much rhetoric about immigration, and what candidates will "do" to fix what everyone considers to be a broken (not failed, just broken) immigration system.  Most of the candidates, however, put a condition on fixing this broken system by saying that:  "FIRST, we must secure the border and end illegal immigration, then we will talk."   What will it take to accomplish this precondition to solve a the acknowledged problem. There are two types of "illegal" immigration to the United States.  The first is what everyone already considers to be illegal immigration--those who enter the United States without a visa through our thousands of miles of borders.  Proposals to fix this particular type of illegal immigration range from alligators and moats, to automatic firing machine guns, to “beautiful” walls, to limitless numbers of border patrol agents.  The second type of "illegal" immigratio