Becoming a U.S. citizen: Resources to help in Indianapolis
(MIRROR INDY) — Jorge Luis Woods drove an hour from Seymour to Indianapolis every Friday morning for two months.
He was taking classes at the Haughville branch of the Indianapolis Public Library to study U.S. history and government for his citizenship interview. After classes, he worked the second shift as a materials coordinator at a company that makes engines.
At first, he tried to figure out the citizenship process on his own. But he had a few questions, like whether his divorce or a ticket for driving without a license would affect his application to become a citizen.
Last September, he went to a free workshop led by the Immigrant Welcome Center in Indianapolis. The workshops happen four times a year. Lawyers volunteer to help people fill out the form to apply for citizenship.
Woods, who moved to the U.S. from Guatemala in 2014, passed his interview on the first try. He took his oath of allegiance and became a citizen in February, five months after applying for citizenship with help from the Immigrant Welcome Center.
He is glad he reached out for help, instead of trusting secondhand information from people he knows.
“So much misinformation is out there,” said Mistie Rivas, the Immigrant Welcome Center’s marketing and communications coordinator, who recently became a U.S. citizen.
Mirror Indy spoke with the Immigrant Welcome Center to outline the steps to becoming a citizen and learn the answers to common questions about the process.
First, you need a green card.
A green card is a document that lets you live and work in the United States, permanently.
There are eight categories that list ways you can qualify for a green card, including: family, employment or refugee status.
Once you have a green card, it can take anywhere from three to five years to be eligible to apply for citizenship, Rivas said.
For example, Rivas came to the U.S. when she was 3. She was a DACA recipient, and she graduated from IUPUI in 2021.
“I paid my way through college, and in college, I married a U.S. citizen,” Rivas said. “And because of that marriage, he was able to submit an application to immigration and petition to get my green card.”
Next, you can apply for citizenship.
Once you are eligible, you can file an application. It costs $710 for an online application and $760 for a paper application.
To find out if you’re eligible to apply, you can use this quiz from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The N-400 form is the form you need to fill out to become a citizen. It is 14 pages long, and it has 16 parts. It asks for information about you, your marital history, any recent travel, addresses of former residences, and more. You may need a lawyer’s help filling it out.
What updates were made to the N-400?
A new version of the form to apply for citizenship came out April 1, 2024. There is now a third gender option, “X.” If you submitted an N-400 before April 1, you can ask to have your selection changed to X. Old versions of the paper form will be accepted for mail-in applications until June 3. After June 3, you must submit the updated version.
How to get free help applying for citizenship
The Immigrant Welcome Center, at 2049 N. Meridian St., hosts citizen application workshops four times a year. At these sessions, lawyers help immigrants fill out the form for free. The next one will be in September.
Last year, the Immigrant Welcome Center helped 163 people apply for citizenship. However, some people may have more complicated cases that require an immigration attorney’s help.
Diana Avila, the Immigrant Welcome Center’s citizenship and legal services coordinator, often shows clients the Citizenshipworks website. It asks questions for you to answer, then fills out the N-400 for you.
When you use Citizenshipworks, you have to file the form using the mail-in option. Mailing the form costs $50 more than filing online.
How do you know if you need a lawyer’s help?
Even when you have a green card, some things can make it harder to get citizenship. For example: Traveling out of the United States for more than six months, getting arrested or failing to pay taxes.
These are called “red flags,” and you can find them on this checklist (the second page of this document), which is offered in English, Spanish and Chinese. If you check any of the boxes, you’ll need to consult an immigration attorney.
If you don’t have any red flags, you can go to an Immigrant Welcome Center workshop and find help there. When you register for a workshopa, the staff will ask questions to find out if you need a lawyer.
Next up: The citizenship interview
After successfully applying for citizenship, immigrants must study 100 civics questions that could be asked at their citizenship interview. There is also an English test with three parts. It measures how well applicants can read, write and speak English.
The Immigrant Welcome Center offers classes to help people study for the interview. Teachers use photos to help the students who speak different languages study for their interviews.
Students can also prepare with local, in-person classes and free online classes:
In-person
Online
The last step: Take an oath of allegiance and celebrate.
Each person who has passed their interview will take an oath of allegiance at a naturalization ceremony. Then, they will receive their certificate of citizenship.
The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site hosts naturalization ceremonies. The next one is July 3.