Many of our readers in Florida have probably interacted with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office for a variety of reasons, such as for securing family visas, travel visas or issues involving green cards, for example. But, for many, the ultimate goal is to be naturalized as a U.S. citizen.
Naturalization overview
As anyone who has interacted with the federal government before knows, there is, as always, a step-by-step process that must be followed in order to achieve the goal of citizenship naturalization. First, assuming you already know that you are now a U.S. citizen, you must determine if you are eligible for the naturalization process in the first place. The USCIS has a series of questions that potential applicants can work through to determine their eligibility.
Next, there are, of course, forms to fill out and fees to pay. After that, in many cases, applicants will be required to go to a biometrics appointment, where they will have their fingerprints and photograph taken. This assists the USCIS to conduct background checks and to help with identification of the applicant. From there, an interview and naturalization test will be conducted. If all is well from there and you receive notice that you are eligible to become a U.S. citizen, there is typically only one final step: attending a naturalization ceremony to take an oath of allegiance.
Getting through this process can seem arduous. It is definitely a detailed process. Anyone who is thinking about applying for naturalization should be sure to get the right legal information about their own application process.
