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London School of Economics and Political Science

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London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

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Professor Conor Gearty, Director, Institute of Public Affairs and Dr Shakuntala Banaji, Lecturer, Department of Media and Communications discuss different types of citizenship, what it means to be a citizen?, why are young people so disengaged and how can we entice them to become active citizens?

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Dual Citizenship.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Dual Citizenship.

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Advantages:

Two Passports: As a dual citizen you get two passports so you can travel to the other countries easier. So example if you are a U.S and Mexico citizen, you are able to travel to both easier. A citizen passport eliminates the need for long-stays and questions form border patrol about your trip.

Property Ownership: This advantage makes it to were you are able to have property in both countries. Some countries don´t allow land ownership to citizens of both countries.

Disadvantages:

Double Taxation: As a dual citizen you will have to pay tax in both of the countries you are a citizen in. There are some countries have treaties that override the tax income law.

Security Clearance: Sometimes dual citizenship can be a disadvantage with your job. Like if you have a job with the U.S government and have access to classified information, dual citizenship can stop you prevent you from gaining the security clearance to get this information.

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The American immigration is broken because employers are hiring people without documentation and they are hiding in the shadows. President Obama plans to fix our broken system by dong things like Cracking Down on Illegal at the border, Deporting Felons, etc. Immigrants don't have the same rights as the citizens.

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The United States must adopt an immigration system that serves the national interest. To restore the rule of law and secure our border, President Trump is committed to constructing a border wall and ensuring the swift removal of unlawful entrants.

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How Long Does it Take to Become a U.S Citizen

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How Long Does it Take to Become a U.S Citizen

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It can take anywhere  between 5 to 8 months. If you live in an area with heavy immigrant population, it could take 2 years or more because you have to get more people in. The USCIS are working on shortening the time. If your application is not approved, it may be because you did not pass the test the first time, but you are able to retake the test.

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Once your application for naturalization is filed, the approval time to become a US citizen varies by person and location. The short answer is that it can take anywhere from 5 to 8 months between application and interview. If you live in an area with heavy immigrant populations, it is not unusual to wait 2 years or more to become a US citizen. The USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services or Immigration Services) claims to be working on reducing the processing time for naturalization to approximately 6 months. However, that goal has not yet been reached.

The waiting time between the filing of the application for naturalization and the interview can seem especially long. It helps to understand what is happening during that time. After you have mailed in your application, you should first receive back the certified mail receipt (a green postcard) that you included with your application. If you haven't received this back within 14 days, you should check with the US Postal Service to make sure your application was not lost in the mail. Look next for an official receipt notice from the USCIS that confirms that your application was entered into the Immigration Services system. Check your bank records and make a copy of the cashed check when it shows up. If your application gets lost, your cashed check might have your case number printed on it, and that will be helpful in tracking your case in the system.

After your application makes it into the system, your file goes to your local USCIS District Office. You will likely not know for sure when this happens and it will be very difficult to get an answer from the District Office. You will, however, at some point receive notification of your appointment to get your fingerprints taken in person by Immigration Services. If you're between the ages of 14 and 75, you must have your fingerprints taken (unless the fingerprinting officer waives the requirement). After your fingerprints are taken and the results sent from the FBI back to Immigration Services, you should receive notice of your appointment for the interview.

Keeping Track on the Road to Naturalization

You can take steps to prevent delays in your application and to track your application along the way. To prevent delays in the naturalization process:

Double check your application for naturalization before you submit it. Rushing an application usually results in errors or omissions. Either will require more work by you and the officer processing your request and will delay your quest to become a US citizen.

Send your application for citizenship to the correct address. Where you mail your application to will also depend on where you live.

Update your attorney and the officer handling your application of any changes in address or contact information. If they can't find you, neither will be able to advise you when additional items are needed or when you have reached the next step in your application process. This will also result in delays.

Make your appointments. Missed appointments, like for fingerprinting, will not only delay your application, but could result in the denial of your application and ultimately derail your quest for naturalization. If you fail to appear for an interview, your application will be considered "administratively closed." Your application will not be reopened unless you so request in a timely manner.

Because of internet access, USCIS now has more options for checking the status of your application on a regular basis. It also includes features for rescheduling interviews. Utilize these features to stay on top of your application. To check on the status of your application for naturalization, go to the website. If you are still confused about any part of the naturalization process, contact an immigration lawyer. They can assist you in reviewing your application so that you do not create unnecessary delays for yourself as you apply to become a US citizen.

Free Legal Advice - Get Informed

Citizenship Eligibility & Requirements Citizenship Process

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How Long Does it Take to Become a U.S. Citizen After Filing My Application for Naturalization?

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Once your application for naturalization is filed, the approval time to become a US citizen varies by person and location. The short answer is that it can take anywhere from 5 to 8 months between application and interview.

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3 Things you should know about Birthright Citizenship

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3 Things you should know about Birthright Citizenship

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People are making reforms and its even being talked about in the political world. Birthright Citizenship is a legal right for all children born in a country's territory. Its even in the constitution.

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Every few years, the common law concept of jus soli - or birthright citizenship - comes back into the news.

This time, it was thrust onto the stage by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who just unveiled an immigration plan. One of his proposals is to stop automatically giving citizenship to most people born on U.S. soil. Rival GOP candidate Scott Walker issued a similar call.

The concept of jus soli has a storied history in the United States that dates to the late 1800s.

Here are three things that will bring you up to speed on the issue:
1. It's in the Constitution
The issue of citizenship was brought into focus by a Supreme Court ruling in 1857 that essentially declared that blacks - even the daughters and sons of freed slaves - were not U.S. citizens.

In 1868, the U.S. ratified the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The first sentence reads: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

That language made it clear the Supreme Court's ruling in the Dred Scott case was overturned and that black Americans would enjoy U.S. citizenship.
2. It still left some big, open questions
As we've explained in the past, there's one key clause in that sentence from the 14th Amendment - "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" - that left wiggle room for interpretation.

As a Congressional Research Service report from 2010 puts it, what that clause means has been the subject of great debate. Did it mean that the children born to Chinese immigrants - who were once under law not permitted to become naturalized citizens - conferred birthright citizenship? Did it include Native Americans born on sovereign reservations?

All those questions were eventually settled in the 1898 Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark.

Essentially, the court said the common law concept of jus soli should be applied to the 14th Amendment. Congressional Research Service explains:

"The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment affirmed the traditional jus soli rule, including the exceptions of children born to foreign diplomats, to hostile occupying forces or on foreign public ships, and added a new exception of children of Indians owing direct allegiance to their tribes. It further held that the 'Fourteenth Amendment ... has conferred no authority upon Congress to restrict the effect of birth, declared by the Constitution to constitute a sufficient and complete right to citizenship' and that it is 'throughout affirmative and declaratory, intended to allay doubts and settle controversies which had arisen, and not to impose any new restrictions upon citizenship."

In other words, the 14th Amendment excludes children born to diplomats or hostile occupying forces and those born on foreign public ships.

Those are some very narrow restrictions that most legal scholars agree do not exclude the children of illegal immigrants from receiving automatic citizenship. To be clear, it means that current jurisprudence indicates the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants are given citizenship by the 14th Amendment.

As for Native Americans, the court ruled that the amendment did not confer birthright citizenship to those born on reservations, because they are not technically subject to U.S. jurisdiction. As Congressional Research Service reports, the Nationality Act of 1940 "finally and unambiguously declared all Native Americans born in the United States to be U.S. citizens."
3. Birthright citizenship is a New World philosophy
As University of California, San Diego sociologist John Skrentny told NPR in 2010, the U.S. is an anomaly in the world when it comes to this issue.

Most of the rest of the world, for example, gives people citizenship based on a concept known as jus sanguinis, literally "by right of blood."

"The idea there is that the nation, the people are bonded together through ancestry," Skrentny said. "The other notion of nationhood is generally understood as a civic notion of nationhood. And this is the idea that folks are bonded together by where they are, by locality and by the ideas that they might share. And that's what we have in the United States. There are folks who say that, you know, to be an American is to embrace an idea."

It is, Skrentny added, a philosophy that works well for countries made up of immigrants, such as the U.S. and Canada.

In 2012, the Law Library of Congress took a comprehensive look at France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the U.K. and found that none of those countries automatically give citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrant parents.

The Center for Immigration Studies, which tends to favor more restrictive immigration policies in the U.S., took a worldwide look at the issue in 2010 and found that "only 30 of the world's 194 countries grant automatic citizenship to children born to illegal aliens."

Here's a map of their findings:

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3 Things You Should Know About Birthright Citizenship

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Every few years, the common law concept of jus soli - or birthright citizenship - comes back into the news. This time, it was thrust onto the stage by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who just unveiled an immigration plan. One of his proposals is to stop automatically giving citizenship to most people born on U.S.

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There are people from all around the world that live in the U.S. The United States is a very big on agriculture. Culture from over 126 countries. Some people travel because the U.S has the biggest democracy in the world. Many people come because of war in their countries, religious persecution, and some just for the culture. Some people travel to the U.S for better jobs and more money. Some travel because there is religious persecution or because they are in poverty. Most of the people that come are happy to be able to vote and get a say in there government, because that is not allowed in most governments around the world

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What does it mean to be an American?

"It means everything."

That was the response newly minted U.S. citizens gave over and over again at a huge naturalization ceremony in Los Angeles.

Three thousand, seven hundred candidates for citizenship from 126 countries, along with their friends and families - many waving small flags - crowded into a cavernous hall at the L.A. Convention Center for the mass swearing-in on June 16.

As a magnet for immigrants, Los Angeles has been dubbed "the new Ellis Island." This year, according to immigration authorities, more than 100,000 people in the Los Angeles area - about one-fifth of the half million who take the oath every year in this country - will be sworn in as new American citizens.

"It's the most important day of my life," said Glenn Myers, a 54-year-old data-processing administrator originally from Belize, "Being in the greatest democracy in the world, there is no better country that I'd rather be in."

Myers came to the United States in 1973 seeking, and finding, a better life than he had back home. His wife, Laurine, also from Belize, became a U.S. citizen in February. They have five children and seven grandchildren and are looking forward to retirement, spending more time with their family and traveling across the country.

Laurine Myers said the ceremony left her with goose bumps. "I felt like crying," she said. "It's very sentimental to me. I take it deeply and personally."

Both of them say they're thankful for the opportunities they've had in the U.S. "My hope for the next five to ten years is to be a millionaire," said Glenn, clad in a festive tropical shirt. "Seriously."

A bittersweet day
After taking the oath of citizenship, Martha Escalante, 49, reflected on the bittersweet mix of feelings the day evoked.

"It was very emotional," she said.

Originally from El Salvador, Escalante came to America in 1968 with her mother. A brother, Adalberto, serving with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, had successfully petitioned the government to grant them legal residency; however, Adalberto was killed in combat the following year and Martha said life here has had its share of tragedies and hardships.

Divorced for 17 years, she raised four children as a single mother while working as a medical billing agent and collector. "I've been contributing to this country for 40 years," she said, "and now it's time to do it one hundred percent."

Her main regret, she said, is that her mother died in April and didn't live to see this day. "But ... wherever she is," she added, "she's going to be happy."

Importance of a vote
Many of the new citizens spoke about the importance of their newly earned right to go to the polls in America, a right that many native-born Americans often don't exercise.

"Finally, I can vote," said Keiichi Leon, 29, originally from Japan. "I can choose our leader."

Leon, married with no children, lives in Hawthorne, Calif., and works as an interpreter. "I can participate in the political system in this country," he said, "with a new life and a new future."

It was a sentiment echoed by Noemi Lopez, 43, who owns a bakery in Upland, Calif.

"It's important for me to be an American citizen," Lopez said, "Because after today they can hear my voice."

As an owner of a small business, Lopez, originally from Mexico, said she's also thankful for the opportunities in America. "I believe that I'm going in the right direction to have a better life," she said. "The United States gives a great opportunity to get where we want to be."

She also talked about the possibilities in this country for her two sons. Here dreams for them? "To see my kids coming out of college, become professional, to see them be a great citizen."

Large Mexican contingent
Mexico consistently produces the largest group of new American citizens at these Southern California naturalization ceremonies, and with the current debate over illegal workers, immigrant-rights groups are hoping an influx of newly naturalized voters from Mexico will send a message to Washington.

One such is Adela Zanudo Guadarrama, who came to the United States from Mexico 30 years ago when she was 13. "I had no choice," Zanudo said, "My parents brought me and I went to school here."

And, she said, she's eternally thankful that her parents made that choice for her. "Maybe I fell asleep," she said about the experience of becoming a citizen after so many years, "and I'm dreaming that I'm here."

Would Zanudo, an associate manager in a retail store who lives in Buena Park, Calif., with her husband and five children, ever think about going back to Mexico?

"Not in a million years," she responded emphatically. "I want to grow old [here], I want to move up," she said, "And this is where I want to die."

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What does it mean to be an American? "It means everything." That was the response newly minted U.S. citizens gave over and over again at a huge naturalization ceremony in Los Angeles. Three thousand, seven hundred candidates for citizenship from 126 countries, along with their friends and families - many waving small flags - crowded into a cavernous hall at the L.A.

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An immigration process of becoming a permanent resident. The green  card serves as a proof that its holder, a lawful permanent resident (LPR), has been officially granted immigration benefits, which include permission to reside and take employment in the United States

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Having a Green Card (officially known as a Permanent Resident Card (PDF, 6.77 MB) allows you to live and work permanently in the United States. The steps you must take to apply for a Green Card will vary depending on your individual situation.

Being Sponsored for a Green Card

Most people who apply for a Green Card will need to complete at least two forms-an immigrant petition and a Green Card application (Form I-485). Someone else usually must file the petition for you (often referred to as sponsoring or petitioning for you), although you may be eligible to file for yourself in some cases. Here are the most common forms:

Other petitions include:

Refer to your eligibility category to see if you need a petition.

If you already have a Green Card, go to our After a Green Card is Granted page for more information on travel, renewing a card, and your rights and responsibilities as a Green Card holder

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Having a Green Card (officially known as a Permanent Resident Card (PDF, 6.77 MB) allows you to live and work permanently in the United States. The steps you must take to apply for a Green Card will vary depending on your individual situation.

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Difference between China's and America's Citizenship

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Difference between China's and America's Citizenship

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China and America have differences when it comes to citizenship. China doesn't allow dual citizenship. America allows dual citizenship. In china your child is a foreigner if the parent is not a PRC citizen. In the U.S your child is automatically a U.S citizen if both of the parents are from the U.S, but the child is not born in the  states. In China with visa-free cards they can only travel yo 40 countries while in the U.S you travel to 170 countries.

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There are rights you have when you become a U.S citizen and if you are already one. There are also responsibilities like paying  taxes, and appearing to court when called. Why as citizens do we have duties and responsibilities? Because the government is of the people, by the people. and for the people. So we all have to fulfill the duties as a citizen.

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This website tells you what dual citizenship is and how you know you are a dual citizen. The benefits you have as a dual citizen and how to become a dual citizen. Mostly developed countries allow dual citizenship like U.S, UK, and Australia. Countries like Singapore, Austria, India, Saudi Arabia do not recognize or restrict dual citizenship.

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U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one nationality or another.

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This site gives you the requirements and ways to become a U.S citizen. From naturalization to dual citizenship. It gives you the value of citizenship and why it is important to become a citizen.

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If you meet certain requirements, you may become a U.S. citizen either at birth or after birth.

To become a citizen at birth, you must:

Have been born in the United States or certain territories or outlying possessions of the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; OR

had a parent or parents who were citizens at the time of your birth (if you were born abroad) and meet other requirements

To become a citizen after birth, you must:

For more information, see USCIS Policy Manual Citizenship and Naturalization Guidance.

The Naturalization Test

Most naturalization applicants are required to take a test on:

English

Civics (U.S. history and government)

We provide resources to help you prepare. For more information, visit our Naturalization Test page. Get study materials from the Citizenship Resource Center.

Citizenship for Military Members and Dependents

Members and veterans of the U.S. armed forces and their dependents may be eligible for special naturalization provisions. For more information, visit our Citizenship for Military Personnel & Family Members page.

Dual Citizenship

For information on dual citizenship, visit the U.S. Department of State Services Dual Nationality website.

The Value of Citizenship

The United States has a long history of welcoming immigrants from all parts of the world. America values the contributions of immigrants who continue to enrich this country and preserve its legacy as a land of freedom and opportunity.

Deciding to become a U.S. citizen is one of the most important decisions in an individual's life. If you decide to apply to become a U.S. citizen, you will be showing your commitment to the United States and your loyalty to its Constitution. In return, you are rewarded with all the rights and privileges that are part of U.S. citizenship.

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If you meet certain requirements, you may become a U.S. citizen either at birth or after birth.