(KTAL/KMSS) — A recent report on American Citizenship reveals around 9 million immigrants could become naturalized ahead of the November, Presidential election.
United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) defines naturalization as ‘the process to become a U.S. citizen if you were born outside of the United States.’
Boundless Immigration is an online resource for immigrants navigating the American Immigration system. They reported that the Biden administration pushed to make the naturalization process more accessible to immigrants, resulting in shorter wait times and a decreased backlog.
However, immigrants in certain cities face wait times that are more than double that in other cities.
They state, “In New Orleans, Louisiana, the average processing time for naturalization applications in May 2024 was 11.5 months, whereas in Cleveland, Ohio, an application could be processed in 5.5 months.”
The immigration resource expects a surge in naturalization applications in 2024 due to the presidential election.
Boundless Immigration reports the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election could ‘carry grave consequences for immigrants and their families.’
On the campaign trail in May of last year, Trump stated he would end birthright citizenship and deport between 15 and 20 million undocumented immigrants.
In January 2024, the Biden administration made a final ruling to adjust immigration and naturalization fees for the first time since 2016, a significant financial barrier for many immigrants seeking citizenship such as:
- The ‘eligibility for a 50% fee reduction for naturalization applications, available to individuals who can demonstrate household income between 150% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines;’
- ‘Half-price Employment Authorization Document applications for applicants for adjustment of status and a reduced fee for adjustment of status applicants under the age of 14 in certain situations.’
The report noted that as of January 2023, 12.7 million immigrants in America are lawful permanent residents, commonly known as ‘green card holders,’ eligible to apply for U.S. Citizenship, “Of that number, 9 million are eligible to naturalize.”
Boundless found that naturalized immigrants earn 10% more than non-naturalized immigrants – giving skilled immigrants the long-term freedom to live and work in the U.S.
Boundless notes the Biden-Harris administration has made ‘huge progress’ in streamlining the application process:
“USCIS is finally getting a handle on the skyrocketing backlog of applications in recent years.
In 2023, the agency faced a backlog of 416,034 citizenship applications, a 44% decrease from the high of 942,669 in 2020 and the lowest the backlog has been since 2015.”
The USCIS reported that in 2024, the processing time for Naturalization (N-400) was 4.9 months, compared to 10 months in 2019. Additionally, the processing time for the application for the certificate of citizenship (N-600) was 4.4 months, as opposed to 7.1 months in 2019.
Boundless reported, ‘If half of the eligible immigrant population in the U.S. were to naturalize, it could boost the nation’s GDP by $45 billion annually through increased earnings and demand for home ownership.
They note that Charleston, SC, Norfolk, VA, New Orleans, Nashville, and Fort Myers, FL, have the slowest processing times.
Reporting the states with the fastest processing times: Cleveland, Boise, Cincinnati, Hialeah, FL, and Pittsburgh.
Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.