The Law Offices of Heather M. Boxeth represent many clients going through the naturalization process. It is an exciting time for most, however there can be difficulties in the filing process. Much of citizenship (also called “naturalization”) processing is document intensive and involves the careful exchange of immigration information between the client and attorney. After years of experience, we have developed a system that optimizes our immigration legal expertise and provides our clients with an unmatched personalized experience, customized to their needs. If you have resided outside of the country, have any sort of previous arrest or criminal conviction, difficulties entering the country you should consult an experienced attorney in immigration and criminal defense. We are skilled at requesting records, reviewing them and providing you with the necessary information and advocacy to assist you in becoming a United States Citizen.
Immigration law is highly complex and constantly changing, and the key to smooth citizenship processing involves constant monitoring of the daily changes in immigration law. We subscribe to immigration services like AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) and ILW.COM (Immigration Lawyers on the Web) to receive daily emails concerning immigration and the constantly changing requirements by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Like our immigration laws, the laws that say who is a U.S. citizen are very complicated. Most people know that anyone born inside the United States or certain territories—like Puerto Rico—are U.S. citizens by birth; but there are other ways that you could be a citizen from birth, even though you were not born inside the country. An obvious example is the child of two U.S. citizens who was born in a different country. Sometimes a child born in another country is a U.S. citizen from birth even if only one of his parents or grandparents was a U.S. citizen when he was born. It sounds strange, but now and then someone will go through a lot of paperwork and spend a lot of money to immigrate because he did not realize that he was already a U.S. citizen. If any of your parents or grandparents were born in the United States, you should consult an experienced immigration lawyer if you might be a U.S. citizen.
What is "naturalization"?
‘Naturalization’ is the process of becoming a U.S. citizen, if you were not a citizen when you were born. In most cases, you must be a lawful permanent resident before you can become a citizen. Whether you are eligible to become a naturalized U.S. citizen depends on a number of factors—such as, how long you have been a lawful permanent resident, the way you became a lawful permanent resident, whether you ever served in the U.S. military (and when), your ability to speak English and even your age. Different rules apply to different cases. An experienced immigration lawyer can help you sort it all out and tell you what your options are for becoming a citizen.
Why become a citizen?
There are a number of important differences between U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. First and foremost, being a U.S. citizen provides you with more rights and privileges. Only U.S. citizens can vote in this country. U.S. citizens also have greater ability to file visa petitions to immigrate relatives.U.S. citizens are not deportable for criminal offenses.
The status of lawful permanent resident is a privelege and you can be at risk of losing that privilege. As a lawful permanent resident you may file visa petitions for your spouse and unmarried children. U.S. citizens can file petitions for their parents, married children and siblings, in addition to their spouses and unmarried children. Most relatives of U.S. citizens take priority over relatives of lawful permanent residents–that is to say, the relatives of the U.S. citizens will be able to immigrate faster.
