Naturalization & Citizenship

naturalization-citizenship-200x300In general, there are two ways for an individual to become a United States citizen.

One way would be by operation of law which generally does not require an affirmative act. An example would be by birth in the Untied States or birth outside the United States to U.S. citizens.

Another way would be by naturalization which does require an affirmative act and satisfaction of eligibility requirements. The law does allow for special derivative benefits for certain children whose parents naturalize.

Naturalization Delays:

In the event an individual’s naturalization application is unreasonably delayed, federal court intervention is available. Federal courts may compel the government to take action. We have represented many clients whose naturalization was unreasonably delayed by the Department of Homeland Security.

In one particular case, we filed suit in federal district court on behalf of a client whose case was pending for more than twelve years! He had repeatedly been told that his background and security clearance was pending and that he should simply “sit tight.” Due to our firm’s intervention and federal lawsuit, he became a U.S. citizen within about three months after we sued the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service, the U.S. Attorney General and the F.B.I.