Labor Immigration Law

USCIS has released an interesting report from its field offices on the processing times and statistics of N-400, Application for Naturalization, filings for the fiscal years 2010 through 2012 (or, October 2011).

Number of N-400 Applications

The report breaks down, for each field office processing N-400 applications, the number of receipts, approvals, denials and pending cases for both military and non-military N-400 filings.   The statistics are provided for fiscal years 2010, 2011 and YTD 2012.

Average N-400 Processing Times

The report also provides average processing (or cycle) times for N-400 applications, calculated on a service-wide basis.   As of October 2011, the average service-wide processing time for N-400 application was 4.2 months for military N-400 case and 4.9 months for non-military N-400 case.

Please note that these average processing times are calculated on a service-wide basis, taking into account all field offices (including ones with very little load).   A more reliable (and accurate) way to obtain specific field office processing times is to check the field office processing times for N-400 cases on USCIS website.

Our practice handles a number of N-400, Application for Naturalization, cases for U.S. lawful permanent residents seeking to obtain U.S. citizenship.    In addition to preparing and filing a complete Form N-400 application with USCIS and submitting to a biometrics appointment, the N-400 naturalization process includes a personal interview and a naturalization test.

While the information below should not be a substitute for the personal preparation by an immigration attorney for the naturalization interview and test, we are hoping to provide our clients and readers with an overview of the naturalization interview and test and to, hopefully, allay any anxieties an upcoming interview may cause.

The Naturalization Interview

During the naturalization interview, an N-400 applicant (who would be placed under oath) is asked to confirm the validity and correctness of key information submitted on the N-400 application.   The N-400 applicant is also asked to produce originals or copies of relevant supporting documents expressly requested in the interview notice or generally required for the N-400 process.   It is always a good idea to bring original documents of any copies submitted as part of the N-400 filing; in addition to bringing additional (and more updated) documents.     A good overview of the case (and any issues) should identify any additional items that may need to be brought.   It is difficult to over-prepare for an interview.

The Naturalization Test

In addition, the USCIS office would seek to test the applicant’s knowledge of civics and the applicant’s ability to speak, understand, read and write English.

Verbal English.  The applicant’s ability to speak and understand English is normally tested in the course of the interview by the USCIS officer who often asks questions and seeks input from the applicant.   It is often obvious, after a short conversation or after a few questions, whether an applicant has a sufficiently good command of the verbal English language.

Written English.  For the written portion of the English language test, the applicant is normally given a reading and a writing test.  The applicant must be able to read 1 out of 3 sentences correctly and must be able to write 1 out of 3 sentences correctly to pass the written English test.

Civics.  Finally, the civics portion of the test, the applicant may be asked up to 10 questions from a list of 100 civics questions.  Answering 6 out of 10 correctly is the passing rate.

Preparing for the Test, Retaking and Passing Rate

There are many websites providing study resources for the naturalization test.   USCIS provides good resources and free study materials for the English and the civics portions of the test.    USCIS also offers a number of free educational products and resources such as vocabulary flash cards, list of the 100 civics questions (in English and in other languages) and civics flash cards.  There are also commercial test preparation books and software, in addition to many websites providing free or paid naturalization test preparation assistance.

Before the naturalization interview, we recommend N-400 applicants to try the Naturalization Self Test (offered for free by USCIS).  While the format of this self-test is different than the format of the actual test (which may be verbal), the self-test helps an N-400 applicant assess his or her level of preparedness for the actual interview and test.

If an applicant does not pass the English and/or civics test, he or she is given another (but only one additional) appointment within 60 to 90 days to be retested on the section which was failed.   If the component is failed again, the N-400 application may be denied.    According to USCIS data, the passing rate as of June 2011 is 92 percent.

Video of the Interview Process

USCIS has also produced a video of the naturalization interview process.   Please see the embedded video window below or watch on YouTube.

Although there are variances in the procedures followed by different USCIS centers, the video is a very good (and helpful, we think) representation of what an applicant should expect to happen during an N-400 naturalization interview.   We recommend that every N-400 applicant watches the video in preparation of (or even before filing) the N-400 interview.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, these resources are very helpful to preparing for the N-400 interview and test but are not intended to replace a thorough N-400 review and preparation by an attorney.   Our office is happy and ready to help N-400 naturalization applicants with their process of applying to become a U.S. citizen.   Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any help.

Effective Monday, October 25, 2010, USCIS started issuing a redesigned U.S. naturalization certificate (Form N-550).  The new certificate includes enhanced security features and, important for some, it is designed to be “a higher-quality certificate, which will now be easier to showcase in a standard 8 ½ by 11 inch frame.”  See a sample.

New Features

The naturalization candidate’s digitized photo and signature are embedded in the security-enhanced certificate. Its background features a color-shifting ink pattern that is difficult to recreate. Additionally, USCIS will use a more secure printing process, making it more tamper-proof.

Production Begins October 25

The USCIS offices in Atlanta, Denver and Baltimore will begin to utilize the automated production process this week, including digitizing photos and signatures on all certificates.  USCIS will deploy the automated production system agency-wide by the end of the calendar year when all new N-550 naturalization certificates will feature the new design.

Older-Design Naturalization Certificates Remain Valid

It is important to note that naturalization certificates issued and printed using the older design remain valid and unaffected.   Only new naturalization applications (upon approval) and replacement applications would be issued with the new design.

Our office continues to handle an increasing number of naturalization and citizenship applications so it is interesting to share with our clients and readers some recent numbers on the citizenship statistics for Fiscal Year 2009 (FY2009).

During FY2009, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) received 743,715 applications for naturalization (in comparison to the 1,046,539 during FY2008 and 660,477 in FY2007).  Some of our readers would conclude that there is a sharp drop in the naturalization applications in FY2009 compared to the fiscal year prior; however, FY2008 was the year when USCIS instituted a substantial Form N-400 fee increase, which prompted a higher-than-normal filing numbers.  FY2009 is actually substantially higher than FY2007 and FY2006 (660,477 and 702,589, respectively).    Based on these statistics, it is important to show that the citizenship and naturalization applications are increasing.

Most of the applicants (74%) resided in 10 states: California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Virginia, Massachusetts, Washington and Maryland.   The largest metropolitan area of residence was New York-New Jersey (15%), Los Angeles (11%), Miami (7.3%).

The top countries of origin of naturalization applicants were Mexico, India, Philippines, China and Vietnam.

USCIS has released a 16-minute video on the naturalization process including the eligibility requirements, application process, preliminary steps, interview, English tests and U.S. history and government test (civics).   The video also includes two simulated interviews.

USCIS Naturalization Interview and Test Video

This video should  be very helpful to naturalization applicants  to become familiar with the interview and test process and to get a better sense of what they should expect.

As our office continues to handle an increasing number of citizenship application, we thought it would be interesting to share some naturalization statistics, grouped by decade, for the past four decades.

According to numbers provided by USCIS, the period between 2001 and 2010 noted a slowdown in the number foreign nationals becoming U.S. citizens.  The number of naturalized Americans between 2001 and 2010 was 5.6 million, roughly the same as between 1991 and 2000.  By comparison, 1991 to 2000 doubled in comparison to 1981 to 1990.   Much of the slowdown during 2001 to 2010 period is attributed to increased scrutiny as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks.  As the U.S. immigration authorities adjust their policy, we expect the growth to continue, although not so quickly.

The naturalization statistics, broken down by decade, are as follows:

2001-2010: During this decade, the United States welcomed more than 5.6 million new citizens, including more than 744,000 people during fiscal year 2009 and more than 138,000 in the current fiscal year.  Since September 2001, USCIS has assisted more than 55,000 members of the military to become naturalized U.S. citizens.

1991-2000: Approximately 5.6 million individuals became U.S. citizens during this period, doubling the number from the previous decade. The late 1990s also marked another shift in naturalization demographics, with those of Mexican decent yielding the most naturalized citizens, followed by Vietnamese and Filipinos.

1981-1990: Nearly 2.3 million people were naturalized during the 1980s, nearly half of whom came from Asia. Together, Canada and Mexico accounted for more than one quarter of the remaining new citizens.

1971-1980: The United States welcomed approximately 1.5 million new citizens during the 1970s. The Philippines, Cuba, and China were the leading countries of origin. This trend represented a shift from the 1960s, when the largest number of new citizens came from Europe. An estimated 66,000 members of the U.S. military were naturalized during this decade.

1908: The United States naturalized approximately 25,975 individuals.

1907: The United States naturalized approximately 7,941 individuals.

Our office handles many naturalization and citizenship applications every year.  Please contact us if we can provide you with an initial case consultation or if we can help you with your immigration process.

The nation (and particularly here in Washington, DC) is still abuzz with Senator Arlen Specter’s switch from Republican to Democrat (CNN news article).   The political implications are important – the U.S. Senate’s balance of power will be 59 in favor of the Democrats.

Filibuster Proof Majority?

With the very likely possibility that when Al Franken becomes Minnesota’s junior senator, the Democrats will have 60 Senate seats, which will give them a very strong filibuster-proof majority.

With Sen. Specter’s party switch, one of the immediate questions is how would that impact the possibility and the nature of a comprehensive immigration reform.  With 60 Senate seats in Democrat hands, passing a comprehensive immigration reform may be so much easier now because the Republicans would not be able to oppose and filibuster a proposal with which they do not agree.

Sen. Specter’s Immigration Record

Senator Specter’s record suggests that he would support many of the immigration proposals already circulating in Washington.  Sen. Specter supports “pathway to citizenship” and a “guest worker program” which some opponents call “amnesty.”  He introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which was passed by the Senate on 25 May 2006 before reaching a stalemate in the House.

Additionally, Sen. Specter has supported a Guest Worker program (in 2006), has supported allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security (2006), and supported visas for skilled workers (1998).  He is considered to hold an open-border stance.

Conclusion

While it is very early to talk about immigration reform, Sen. Specter’s switch to the Democrat party makes it more likely that a comprehensive immigration reform will happen and that it would contain some favorable provisions to aliens already in the country and for skilled workers applying for immigration benefits.   We will continue to be part of Washington’s immigration reform dialogue and provide updates and analysis on the issue over the next months.   If you have not already done so, you can subscribe to our Newsletter to receive weekly updates on this and other related topics.

The Washington Post has a nice expose of a new source of delays for the naturalization proceedings for thousands of legal permanent residents.  The Post article quotes the report by the USCIS Ombudsman, dated December 16, 2008, which finds that while USCIS naturalized more than 1,000,000 new citizens in Fiscal Year 2008 and while there is a significant improvement on eliminating processing bottlenecks such as FBI security checks, there are some new and unexpected sources of delays – the U.S. federal courts.

For example, in one of the nation’s busiest courts (unnamed in the report), a judge’s delay caused nearly 2,000 people to not receive the oath in time to register for November’s general election.  There are four cities in the U.S. where the federal courts retain exclusive jurisdiction over naturalization cases – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit.  One of the examples cited in the report refers to an unnamed judge’s refusal to schedule more naturalization appointments or to allow USCIS to administer the oath to new citizens.

It  turns out that federal courts are being paid by USCIS for each naturalization ceremony they perform, and as a result federal judges are reluctant to give up their authority to do so.  The report urges USCIS and federal courts to work together and set rules on how each party handles ceremonies in order to “to ensure a consistent customer service ethic that safeguards the significance of the event for new citizens.”