Announcement
This story originally appeared in The Oakland Post on June 24, 2016.
Naturalization applications received by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services received 249,730 applications for naturalization between January and March of 2016, up 28 percent over the same period in 2015. While upticks are common during election years, 2016 numbers are 6 percent higher than those of 2012. In Oakland, the immigration department of the International Rescue Committee, a refugee resettlement agency, has seen an 8 percent increase in naturalization applications this fiscal year.
It is difficult to attribute the increases to Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, but the IRC says for many applicants the right to vote is top of mind. “Everyone is asking us – can we finish everything in time for me to vote in November?” said Amir Music, the IRC in Northern California’s Immigration Manager.
To qualify for citizenship, an individual needs to have been a permanent resident of the U.S. for five years, or three if they are married to a U.S. citizen.The process takes approximately six months and in addition to the
actual application includes studying for the naturalization test, which focuses on civics and must be completed in English, and an interview.The application’s long, sometimes confusing, questions can be difficult for those for whom English is a second language to navigate. Those hoping to vote in November should have started the process by April.
There are 90,252 lawful permanent residents eligible to naturalize in Alameda County; 77 percent are from Mexico or Asia. This is equal to 7.4 percent of all adults in the county. One of these is Bhutanese refugee Rakshida Sanyasi, who arrived to Alameda with her family in 2008. The transition to the U.S. was challenging. “Speaking English was a challenge for us,” she said. “But time passed. We all started working, and started to love and understand all [this country] had to offer us.”
The IRC’s low-cost naturalization services – consultation, application assistance, and case management – are open to all area immigrants. The organization partners with other local groups to provide naturalization workshops, the next of which is scheduled for July 26 in Concord.
As a refugee in Nepal, Rakshida didn’t have citizenship and felt a lack of identity. Now, as she finishes the naturalization process, she realizes that will change.“To become a citizen of United States is everything to me. I belong to America. It is the most important day of my life,” Rakshida said.
