Finding 1: Practical Urgency Drives Naturalization

For many, there is greater urgency in receiving permanent residency than citizenship—until an experience uncovers a tangible reason to naturalize.

Many immigrants share the notion that a Green Card is enough. Many of our interviewees identified a lack of urgency, competing priorities, or already feeling American as reasons for waiting to naturalize. The Green Card was seen as the challenge that needed to be overcome, because the benefits of permanent residency are tangible and urgent for many when compared to the limitations of visas. Having greater (or any) ability to work, fewer restrictions on travel in or out of the United States, and access to benefits are primary necessities. It’s understandable that immigrants will prioritize obtaining the Green Card even though it's such an arduous process.

Most interviewees understood that citizenship allows them to civically engage in society and said it was important to them. Pew Hispanic Center research states that "among the 18% of Latino foreign-born U.S. citizens who identify civil and legal rights as their main reason for naturalizing, about seven in ten (72%) cite gaining the right to vote."¹ But for many, other needs take precedence over obtaining citizenship such as moving, having children, divorcing, and finding a job. For some, this lack of urgency, combined with the complexity of the naturalization application, causes the potential applicant to procrastinate. Additionally, many of those raised in the United States felt sufficiently "American," so connected to society and resources that they were only rarely reminded of their lack of citizenship. For these individuals, citizenship did not feel necessary to be a part of this country. Others perceived that naturalizing would result in a loss of connection with their motherland, even when they were able to keep dual citizenship.

"[Citizenship is] a nice-to-have, it wasn't a necessity. Getting the Green Card is a necessity, you wanna be a permanent resident." Interviewee 11

"It was hardly something I thought about. It's the kind of thing where back then, really, when did you think about it? You thought about it when you were traveling. You thought about it, maybe for me, applying for college, applying for … you're checking boxes. […] Yeah, like basically I felt like I was American in every way except for the technicality." Interviewee 63

What often bursts this bubble is when the Green Card is no longer enough. While interviewees aspired to becoming citizens to be able to vote and fully participate in society, the catalyst that got them to take action often mapped onto a moment when a citizenship benefit felt tangible to their lives. This could happen through learning about a benefit described in the context of their lives, or seeing naturalized peers enjoy one or more advantages. Now recognizing that the benefits outweigh the barriers, this moment often empowered eligible LPRs to take action and apply.

Understanding Naturalization Benefits While Traveling

Many interviewees mentioned they first started thinking about citizenship while traveling, when they noticed the difference between having a U.S. passport and their home country passport. This usually meant having to obtain a visa to visit a certain country while a U.S. citizen counterpart didn't need one, or wasn’t put through a separate line and scrutinized by an immigration officer at a U.S. port of entry.

"I met [my partner] and then he started working in London and Paris. As somebody who didn't have a U.S. Passport, every time I wanted to go there I had to apply for a visa, to go to Europe. And he was telling me that if you're a U.S. citizen then you don't need a visa every time. So that was kind of the motivating day for me […] that I should become a citizen." Interviewee 11

"My colleagues were like, 'Hey, let's go to Canada.' We took a day to go and have fun, but then those who had American passports, had an easy pass and I decided to, okay, I think it's about time to do stuff like that." Interviewee 16

"I had a DUI on my record […] I got detained at the Miami airport for 5 hours. […] My kids were with me, we were in a room waiting. They asked me questions and eventually asked if I had any encounters with the police. […] This year I traveled to El Salvador. Going through immigration in LA, an officer from Puerto Rico, very nice, told me that the only way that this wouldn't happen again was if I naturalized. […] This motivated me." Interviewee 56

Naturalizing for Family

Interviewees with foreign-born families were often driven to naturalize as a result of pressure from their families. Naturalized citizens can petition for Green Cards for their immediate family and, in most situations, their LPR children naturalize automatically if one of the parents is naturalized by the time they turn 18. A few people we interviewed in citizenship workshops mentioned attending because of pressure from their underage children, who worried they would need to go through the naturalization process if their parents failed to naturalize.

"Well part of it was then I had a decision I'm staying. The second part was I thought that with my citizenship perhaps I could help my own family if anyone wanted to be here. That process actually the only person affected was my father, because my mother didn't want to come here. My sister still doesn't want to come." Interviewee 3

Naturalizing for Better Opportunities

Some interviewees reported they started working on their application when they realized their careers depended on it — they wanted a government job that required citizenship. One of the interviewees, a former diplomatic liaison in his country, felt that his career could only continue in the United States if he worked for the U.S. State Department. He enlisted in the Army with the sole goal of obtaining his citizenship as early as possible. Others with more options may not act with the same urgency.

"It's just one of those things that I felt like I was walking away from my country. […] Then, what made me decide to do it was […] I started to think about going on the job market and then applying for future grants. I knew I was going to go into academia, and even though I knew that most of the things that I would be applying for I could probably apply for as a resident, there were some things that were only for citizens, and at some point I just decided that I didn't want to be constrained by anything to pursue my career and what I wanted to do with my life." Interviewee 63

"So when I got on the fire department I went step further to go apply for FEMA. […] That's the reason I got my citizenship, […] that's it." Interviewee 23

"Basically what I was doing before I immigrated was kind of liaising between U.S. diplomats and government officials [in my home country] and also politicians, members of parliament, elected officials, and stuff like that. I kind of wanted to carry on that line of work, but it's kind of tough to get into a government level job without U.S. citizenship." Interviewee 46

Naturalizing to Simplify Documentation Needs

The practicality of the benefit could come into play when the LPR is addressing identification and documentation needs, like when the Green Card or a home country passport expires and they need to renew it. Many interviewees decided to naturalize instead of renewing their Green Card to save money in the long run. Another context in which naturalization came up frequently was when their home country passport was about to expire. Interviewees weighed if having a U.S. passport would mean fewer documents to handle and lower fees to pay upon expiration. For these individuals, naturalization came down to a clerical decision, a way to make traveling and identification proof easier and even cheaper.

"It seems like the natural process is just to apply for your passport [citizenship]. You don't have to deal with it, you know. You have to do one or the other. You renew your Green Card or you apply for your citizenship, and it's a couple of questions on a test, so why not?" Interviewee 15

"[I started thinking about citizenship] just because my passport my Japanese passport is expiring next February. So the Green Card is good till 2022 so it's really another three years. […] And then to request for U.S. citizenship it's just a matter of you know time and a hundred and fifty dollars difference. And so should I go. No passport for a while and let my Japanese passport expire and then just become a U.S. citizen." Interviewee 1

Naturalizing Upon Learning About the Fee Waiver

Some interviewees’ catalyst to naturalize was tied to learning about the fee waiver and discovering they were eligible for it. Many of our interviewees weren't aware of the fee waiver, and showed a high level of interest when we mentioned it. Removing the cost barrier of citizenship seemingly made all other efforts to naturalize easier to overcome.

"She helped me to fill some kind of waiver so I don't have to pay for the citizenship. I think this help me also to take the decision in this moment because I don't have to pay for the citizenship. […] When she prepared my taxes, she tell me if I want to become citizen, she can help me to apply for the waiver." Interviewee 17

Pragmatic Catalysts and Motivations are Difficult to Discuss

Some interviewees were conscious of the practicality of their desire to naturalize, but not always. Through the course of the research, we got used to digging deeper, since the primary motivation or the catalyst was not always top of mind for those interviewed. Messaging around the pragmatic benefits was mostly successful, but some interviewees still felt that citizenship shouldn't be pursued just for its benefits, even when they themselves acquired citizenship for pragmatic reasons. While the actual catalysts and reasons to naturalize may be practical in nature, some LPRs still feel a sense of belonging when thinking about what citizenship means to them.

For some, the practicality around citizenship was not immediate. Over time, the tangibility of a benefit became more real as they had children, developed careers, and felt like their "life is here."

"You just sort of get … You know, you're here, you make your friends. I don't think I'm … I mean, however many years I've been here, over 20 now, it's … I don't know that I still wanna stay here. I think you meet somebody, I've worked here, I went to school here, events, just one rolled into the next one. And you keep staying here." Interviewee 15

"I really love living here, it was the first time in my life that I felt like this is my city. This is the place that I wanna be. So as soon as I got my Green Card, I already started my mental countdown for my five years to apply for citizenship. Because again, even though Green Card it's way safer than being on a visa and gives you a bunch of other rights, you're still not fully in the country, in a way." Interviewee 45

It’s clear that there are many benefits to naturalizing, but it often takes more than just knowing the benefits exist to go through the arduous application process. Interviewees identified practical benefits that increased their urgency to apply, which should be used in future messaging to make clear that there are benefits worth naturalizing over.