Apply for US Citizenship
Being a citizen of the United States is considered a privilege by many. A lot of people wait for the day they can take the Oath of Allegiance and call themselves American citizens. Being born in the United States, being born to US citizens abroad, and getting citizenship through naturalizing parents are some of the simplest ways of becoming US citizens. For others, there is a long path to citizenship.
To apply for citizenship, first of all a person need to be a permanent resident in the United States. Just being a green card holder is not enough, the person has to meet a lot of other eligibility requirements, some of which are being above the age of 18, being a person of good moral character, being physically present in the country and having lived continuously in the country for a set period of time.
Once a person has met all the requirements, he or she will have to file Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. The application process includes a background check by the FBI and then a citizenship test and interview. The test is on English and civics. On passing the test and interview, the applicant has to take the Oath.
US Citizenship Services
The procedure explained above seems quite simple enough. But in reality, it is not so. Though the application form and the form instructions are freely available on the USCIS website, many people still seek the services or attorneys and other agencies for help in completing the application. This is because the instructions tend to be a tad confusing. And it is definitely more so for people who are not native speakers of English.
US citizenship services offer help to people for a fee. The application has to be filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) along with the submission fees and supporting documents. If the application is not correctly filled in, or if there is an error on the application, it will be returned to the applicant. The fees will not be returned. The applicant will then have to file a new application and pay the submission fees again. The submission fees for the naturalization application is $680 ($595 processing fees and $85 biometric fees). Considering the fees involved, it is a wise decision to spend a small amount for the US citizenship services which will ensure that applicants have error-free applications.
The US citizenship services provide additional benefits like help with the preparation for the test and interview. As soon as a person decides to apply for citizenship, he or she needs to start preparing for the citizenship test and interview. With regular preparation one can go to the interview confidently.
Once the test and interview is passed successfully, all that is left is for the applicant to take the Oath and call himself or herself a citizen of United States!