Interesting new policy brief from the National Foundation for American Policy
The National Foundation for American Policy has just put out a policy brief "Reforming the Naturalization Process" with research made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. It includes a number of interesting recommendations on reforming the naturalization process to make it less difficult and expensive for immigrants.
Among the recommendations in this report to improve the naturalization process and access to citizenship:
- Consider fee reform and streamlining that brings down the price of applying for naturalization, as proposed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Immigration Forum. Over the past decade, naturalization fees have risen from $35 in 1983 to $680 today.
- Revise and simplify the language in both the form and instructions, as recommended by several experts.
- Restore offsite naturalization interviews at local community centers. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) notes this is particularly important for people with disabilities in cities not served by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices.
- Make citizenship part of the immigration integration process, as recommended by the Immigration Policy Center.
- Institute reforms so individuals do not lose their lawful permanent residence status due to time outside the country. Attorneys Cyrus Mehta and Gary Endelman provide salient recommendations to ensure our immigration service maintains rules that keep pace with the realities of 21st century travel, employment and business.
Download the full report here:
nfap.com/pdf/reformingthenaturalizationprocess.nfappolicybrief.august2011.pdf
Posted: to Citizenship News on Thu, Aug 18, 2011
Updated: Thu, Aug 18, 2011