Citizenship of the US comes at great cost even after eligibility
By Albert Smith | Tue, 09/29/2009 - 00:42
How would you react to the fact that in spite of nearly 300,000 legal immigrants in Massachusetts being eligible to become citizens of the US any day, just a small percentage of them are able to acquire the golden title of being called citizen of the United States.
Researchers say that there has been too large an increase in the fess for applying for citizenship from what it was two decades ago to now- from $60 a person to $675- and thus, it becomes the highest in the western world. Not only this, even the assistance to navigate the utterly confusing system is deteriorating as a result of state budget cuts.
About 29,000 immigrants in Massachusetts became citizens of the US last year, which unfortunately is just about ten percent of those who are eligible. Even this federal year, just about 16,099 immigrants have been able to apply for citizenship.
Currently living in the US, members of the Arias family said that they had to wait for more than thirteen years in the Dominican Republic to finally come to the US, and after coming here, they waited to five years to become eligible for citizenship application. But mere eligibility does not ensure citizenship, as low wage jobs like cleaning offices and serving coffee can not fill their pockets with $3,375 for the four daughters and parents, one of the daughters being a minor who is exempt from the fee.
58-year old Leonidas Arias, who cleans office buildings, said that they will have to keep waiting if the prices are not decreased.
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