If you have been a Permanent Resident of the United States for five years, or in the case of a spouse of a U.S. Citizen, three years, you are eligible to become a U.S. citizen!  This is great news because becoming a citizen is the final step in the immigration process and it will grant you many rights and benefits that are unavailable to Lawful Permanent Resident.  Immigration lawyers roundly encourage Lawful Permanent Residents to become U.S. Citizens as soon as possible, for the following reasons:

• You are protected from ever being deported
• You can leave the country for as long as you want
• You never have to pay another immigration fee again!
• You can vote
• You can petition for additional relatives to come to the United States
• You qualify for more benefits from the federal government, such as Medicare, Medicaid and other social benefits.
• You are eligible to apply for federal employment

To become a U.S. Citizen, you need to be conversant in English, be able to write basic sentences in English and you need to have a basic understanding of the how the U.S. government works and its history.  There are many free study guides available to help that you will pass the English/Civics portion of your Naturalization interview.

If you are in the Milwaukee area, Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant right’s group, offers fantastic and FREE English and civics classes on Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.  I strongly encourage you to attend.  Please visit vdlf.org.

To schedule an initial consultation with Attorney Maria Ryan, click here.

Additionally, the Milwaukee Area Technical College and Madison Area Technical College also offer low-cost English classes.  Please see the following websites:

• Milwaukee:  http://www.matc.edu/student/offerings/precollege/learn.html
• Madison: http://matcmadison.edu/english-second-language

USCIS also offers free study guide materials.To download a study guide, click here.