ESSAY: Becoming a United States citizen
Penn Yan Action Coalition
Special to The Chronicle-Express
Welcome back to the Penn Yan Action Coalition’s second installment on citizenship. This week, we’ll explore what it takes to become a citizen in greater detail.
Most of us don’t even think about the process of becoming a citizen if we were born in this country. But what if you weren’t born here. How would you become a citizen? Do you know that becoming a citizen is a very complicated process with many components?
The first step in the process is to determine if you’re eligible to become a citizen. To be eligible, you must be at least 18 years old and a permanent resident in good standing in the United State for a minimum of five years. The next step is to complete the 20 page Form N-400: Application for Naturalization (www.uscis.gov). Supporting documents must be attached, along with the $725 fee ($85 for fingerprinting and $640 for the application). You must memorize the