21st Century Immigration
After the mass immigration of the earlier years, the United States government enacted many new laws governing who could enter and exit the country. Citizenship, a highly sought after prize, became an even more elusive achievement.
In order to completely immigrate to the United States in the early 21st Century, you needed to become a legal citizen of the United States. To do this, you must first obtain a Green Card, or Lawful Permanent Resident Card. You must have this card for a period of 5 years, (or 3 years, if you have a spouse who is a citizen), and be 18 years old. If you have served in the U.S. Military for 1 year, you may apply for citizenship while in the military or within 6 months of discharge. It is also stated that it is required that physical presence is established within the U.S. for a total of at least one half of the period of required continuous residence. That is, two and a half years for most applicants and one and a half years for spouses of U.S. citizens. The applicant must have resided at least three months at their primary residence within the state where the N400 (citizenship form) is submitted before filing their US citizenship application. The applicant must be able to read, write and speak ordinary English unless they are physically unable to do so due to a disability such as being blind or deaf, or suffer from a developmental disability or mental impairment. Individuals over 50 years of age on the date of filing who have lived in the U.S. for a total of at least 20 years after admission as a permanent resident and those individuals who are over 55 years of age and have been legal permanent residents for at least 15 years are also exempt from this requirement. An applicant applying for US citizenship must have a general knowledge of the fundamentals of U.S. history and government. The applicant must be a person of good moral character and willing to abide by the principles of the U.S. Constitution. How Can I Become A Citizen of the United States? Click Here. |