More on the new N-400

part 9 'moral character' questions

What's new in the new N-400 citizenship application?

free resource from Lynne (via New Readers Press)

Two Timely Webinars Next Week

from the National Partnership for New Americans

changes in naturalization fees

(the news is actually good--but a little complicated))

New opportunity for citizenship educators!

free collaborative learning network--monthly sessions

More Commentary on the Test Redesign Project

a deep dive from my colleague Bill Bliss

Test Redesign Concerns

(the response so far)

What might the new civics test look like?

Here’s a likely possibility.

New Citizenship Test Already In The Works

Trial testing to begin in 2023

Naturalization numbers going up

the largest increase in almost 15 years

Two lawsuit stories: AIC challenges naturalization delays...

...and Lawsuit dismissed after Mississippi proof-of-citizenship voting law is amended

New paper N-400 filing location for some states

(no change for online submissions)

Lynne is offering a free webinar through New Readers Press

Strategies for helping students at risk of failing the test

GREAT NEWS!

2020 test is recinded

GOOD NEWS FINALLY!

indications that new test will soon be scrapped

Fee increase on hold for now

due to court injunction

A Rockier Road to U.S. Citizenship

Findings of a Survey on Changing Naturalization Procedures

US Immigration Offices Are Going To Temporarily Close Due To The Coronavirus Pandemic

The move will postpone naturalization ceremonies and citizenship and asylum interviews, among other functions.

Two stories in the news today:

DHS’s new "Denaturalization Section" and 10% of potential voters are now naturalized citizens

USCIS Fee Hike: How Immigrants Are Affected

Helpful new report reveals what USCIS’s proposed fee increases mean for immigrants

Judge Blocks DHS From Implementing Unlawful Restrictions to Citizenship and Immigration Applications

USCIS changes to fee waiver process foreclosed citizenship for some low-income applicants and barred others from immigration opportunities

Study: New citizens could swing battleground states in 2020

A progressive group shines a spotlight on a potentially potent voting bloc, but activists say Democrats are failing to mobilize it.

Webinar from CLINIC

Responding the USCIS Fee Changes: How to Fight Back and Prepare Your Program for What’s Ahead

USCIS nearly doubling the citizenship application fee

(and this increase is on the fast track)

Applicants Will No Longer Be Able To Use Means-Test Benefits to Qualify for Fee Waivers

USCIS Claims That Revised Criteria Provides “Clarity” for Demonstrating Eligibility

LAWSUIT FORTHCOMING TO CHALLENGE DHS BARRIERS DESIGNED TO PREVENT LEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM BECOMING CITIZENS

USCIS changes to naturalization fee waiver process forecloses citizenship for some low-income applicants

USCIS Awards FY 2019 Citizenship and Assimilation Grants

Nearly $10 Million Will Expand Citizenship Preparation Services in 24 States

Trump Administration

(forwarded message from National Partnership for New Americans)

USCIS Announces Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Opportunities

USCIS funding for citizenship classes available

NPNA: Naturalization Backlog Up 100.05% In in Two Years

2 million immigrants apply to naturalize, 734,000 stuck in the pipeline

Naturalization numbers up

report from the Pew Research Center

Whiskey ad features citizenship test question

JOHNNIE WALKER ASKS, COULD THE AVERAGE AMERICAN PASS A CITIZENSHIP TEST?

Opportunity to comment at USCIS

my idea on language access and the N-400

Fake [Naturalization] News

(on Fox, where else?)

NPNA Statement on Trump Nominee for USCIS Director 

(forwarded from National Partnership for New Americans)

Some N-400’s Going to a New Address

please check to see if your state has been shifted to a different processing center

2015 US Naturalizations: Annual Flow Report

from the Office of Immigration Statistics

Delayed Oath Ceremonies

caused by coding error at USCIS

USCIS announces this year’s Citizenship and Integration Grants awards

recipients are small community-based organizations this year

The (already too high) application fee is going up!

after Dec. 23rd it’ll be $725 (but there’s a new reduced fee option)

Over Half a Million Immigrant Voters Potentially Disenfranchised

Critical Report from National Partnership for New Americans

National Citizenship Drive Succeeding

Naturalizations up 32% so far this year...in time for new citizens to vote!

Latest Naturalization Trends Report

from Migration Policy Institute

NaturalizeNY

$1.25 Million Investment Will Offset Financial Costs and Help Reduce the Barriers For Immigrants to Become U.S. Citizens

You want to become a citizen? Spy on your friends (or else!)

BuzzFeed investigation turns up a disturbing trend

Naturalizations up 28% (in time for November elections)

news from the The National Partnership for New Americans

Application fee is going up again

BUT a new partial fee waiver will be available

New N-400 form released today

Still paper-based (but electronic submission may be coming)

USCIS Citizenship Grant Program

attend this teleconference to learn how to apply

Elements of Program Quality for Adult Citizenship Education

4/5 webinar from the Office of Citizenship

Donald Trump’s remarks spur Latino ’naturalization blitz’ before election

Citizenship clinics being organized in battleground states

When immigrants become citizens, cities benefit

Urban Institute study shows it’s a "win-win" for cities

Citizenship students and new citizens can participate in USCIS New Year’s video greeting!

send in a video of yourself wishing the world a happy new year

Pay the fee by credit card! New resources and outreach!

additional USCIS offices to be located outside of major cities

Concerns about EL/Civics and changing WIOA Regs

Join this MPI webinar for more info

LA Times editorial nails it

and a bonus piece from The Hill

Free Webinar: Reducing Barriers to Citizenship

from National Partnership for New Americans

Cities for Citizenship

11 cities are now actively promoting citizenship

New Americans Tour Launches In Philadelphia

provides context for understanding test questions

Why reject US citizenship?

Some eligible immigrants point to language, costs, return plans

Cities for Citizenship

NYC, LA, and Chicago announce new initiative

Volunteer Training Self-Study Modules

available on USCIS website

Lawsuit Charges Feds Block Muslims From Citizenship

thousands denied citizenship with no means to appeal

2013 Anual Flow Report

see the latest naturalization statistics from DHS

Citizenship Advocates Join With Labor Unions

promoting citizenship to immigrant workers

The New Edition of

you can order it now and get a big discount (on anything in the series)

Why do they ask that?!

disclosing a crime for which one has not been arrested

Share your ideas at the USCIS

a rare opportunity to make suggestions--take advantage of this!

2014 Citizenship and Integration Grants

USCIS accepting proposals from citizenship prep. programs until May 16th

N-400 Translations in Spanish, Vietnamese & Chinese

some VERY helpful tools available now, thanks to ILRC

Motor Voter Checkbox Confuses Immigrants

(and an unintentional error can get them deported!)

New (much longer) N-400 released

older version accepted until May 5th

Age at Which Immigrants Naturalize May Determine Health Outcomes In Later Life

study finds correlation between age at naturalization and health outcomes

PRI is all about citizenship this week

several stories worth checking out (audio and text)

USCIS Uploads Video of the Oath of Allegiance

(and a list of this year’s USCIS grant awards)

3 Naturalization-Related News Stories

Secret Program delays Muslim Applicants, Companies Help Workers to Naturalize, and Some Choose NOT to Naturalize

Why the naturalization fee is so high

TIME explains (without taking sides)

Family gets into car crash on the way to their oath ceremony

USCIS finds them in the hospital and swears them in anyway!

ACLU calls out USCIS for racial/religious discrimination

Blog post: Unequal Access to Citizenship for Muslims

Free Webinar on Mobile Apps for Citizenship

from the New Americans Campaign

Priced Out of Citizenship

NYT opinion piece by Rahm Emanuel and Luis Gutierrez

Public Comments on the New N-400

many ideas offered by individuals and groups around the country

New Americans Being Priced Out of U.S. Citizenship

report demonstrates that the high fee is discouraging potential applicants

New N-400 Citizenship Application on the way

lots of new questions/new vocabulary to teach

Program opens door to citizenship for immigrants

The $20-million New Americans Campaign will hold workshops to help permanent residents in eight U.S. cities fill out applications and prepare for exams.

Problems for new voters

poorly trained poll workers, ID issues cause problems for newly naturalized citizens at the polls

The Oath, New Voter Registration, Reasons to Naturalize

Here’s an assortment of resources/information I’d like to share

Case Inquiries

some useful information

The New Immigrant Vote

new citizens, voter registration, and the upcoming election

Free webinar on working with older citizenship students

June 28th (take advantage of this great opportunity!)

Financial issues and naturalization

law article with some useful info

What you probably knew already

one in three native-born Americans could not pass the citizenship test

National Citizenship Partnership Launches New Campaign

Building a National Movement for Citizenship

A new round of citizenship grants from USCIS

direct services: citizenship instruction paired with application assistance

Michigan State Professor Says the Citizenship Test Lacks Reliability

study suggests that only 10% of questions are performing well

CitizenshipWorks

a great new resource for citizenship applicants/advocates

New Citizens Registering to Vote at Increasingly Higher Rates

according to data analysis from the American Immigration Council

Free online resources at ProLiteracy Ednet

plus a free webinar on promoting citizenship in the media

111-year-old woman becomes a US citizen

second-oldest person ever to be naturalized

Free Citizenship Legal Training for Non-Profit Staff

Offered in San Jose by ILRC and CLINIC

Pass rates have improved with the new citizenship test

new records study shows gains for all demographics in all test areas

Great new program development resource from CLINIC

"Creating A Citizenship Preparation Program"

Citizenship for Older Applicants

USCIS teleconference on Dec. 14th

A Cautionary Tale

old criminal convictions can come back to haunt citizenship applicants

Another Great Training Opportunity from CLINIC

Free webinar: How to Design and Implement a Citizenship Program

Reforming the Naturalization Process

Interesting new policy brief from the National Foundation for American Policy

A Great Training Opportunity from Clinic--don’t miss it!

Free webinar: Strategies for Naturalizing the Most Vulnerable Applicants

N-400 Priority Processing for Certain Non-Citizen SSI Recipient

expedited processing possible for elderly and disabled immigrants in danger of losing benefits

Spotlight on Naturalization Trends

mpi publishes naturalization statistics

Jacksonville woman has bedside oath ceremony

a story that shows what a difference people can make when they care enough to go the extra mile

Has the recession affected citizenship applications?

Statistics suggest that fewer immigrants can afford the fee

Basic combat training now includes naturalization

miliary makes it easier and quicker for soldiers to become citizens

2010 Annual Flow Report

characteristics of immigrants naturalized in 2010

Haley Barbour, Slavery, and the Citizenship Test

What was the real cause of the Civil War?

Terrific new resource from APALC

free workbook and videos in several languages

Newsweek asks: How Dumb are We?

Christian Science Monitors has some fun with the question

New form for requesting a disability waiver for citizenship test (N-648)

clearer instructions, new section for interpreters, & doctors can submit electronically

Austin judge grants dying man a last wish: US citizenship

USCIS facilitates quick in-home interview/oath ceremony

Q: What would happen if more Latinos applied for citizenship?

A: They could decide the results of elections in key states

USCIS looks at applicants' Facebook pages?

FOIA request shows that USCIS is using some new methods to detect fraud

Refugees lose SSI

situation is grim for disabled and elderly who have not yet become citizens

New

"Characteristics of Persons Naturalizing in the United States Between 1980 and 2008"

More on Elderly Refugees Losing SSI

Report from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Judge makes jury dury no-shows watch a naturalization ceremony

Here's an editorial your citizenship students may enjoy

USCIS puts useful citizenship information all in one place

new on-line resource center is well put-together

USCIS Announces 2010 Citizenship and Integration Grant Program Recipients

$7.8 Million Awarded to Expand Citizenship Preparation Programs for Immigrants

Members of Congress want to swear in new citizens

Bipartison bill introduced in the House by Rep. Jose Serrano

Is Georgia trying to keep new citizens from voting?

Frustrated new citizen tells her story

More on elderly/disabled refugees losing SSI

Those who have not filed citizenship applications by 9/30 will lose cash assistance

Some elderly and disabled refugees will soon lose SSI

New York Times editorial suggests removing time limits for naturalization

New features added to USCIS website

case inquiries for delayed N-400's and case status updates in Spanish

2009 Anual Flow Report

USCIS reports on naturalization trends in the previous year

Once again, fees will go up...

...but not for citizenship!

’’A Citizen From Day One’’

Demos report advocates for voter registration opportunities at every oath ceremony

Lawsuit over confiscated/defaced/withheld naturalization certificates

Looks like a naturalization certificate isn't proof enough of legal status for some state bureaucrats...(so, no licenses for people with accents?)

Want to review grant proposals for the Office of Citizenship?

This looks like a great opportunity for citizenship advocates all over the country.

USCIS Announces Citizenship and Integration Grant Opportunities

Funding will expand local capacity to prepare legal residents for citizenship

Will Fees Go Up?

more murmuring...