United States, the land of dreams for countless people, has a certain charm around it. Anti-immigrant rhetoric aside, it is a great place to be. The US is (apparently) the most powerful country on earth in terms of military might as well as technological progress. It hosts some of the best companies and universities in the world and the culture is unique. So what does it take to pledge your alliance to this great nation, where liberty, equality and justice for all is likely to be guaranteed?
Time and money
Citizenship of any country is a serious issue. You should prepare to spend a lot of time in the country and show that you understand the native culture and the law of the land. And the US is not an exception to this rule.
To be a citizen, you need to have stayed in the US for at least five years as a permanent resident (which can take years to obtain itself). Otherwise, you need to be a spouse of an existing US citizen for three years. This is called naturalization. The other way to obtain a citizenship is by derivative means. You will get automatic citizenship if you are younger than 18 years with at least one parent as a naturalized citizen. And you must be an immigrant in the US. For parents, if you are US citizens yourself, your child will acquire automatic citizenship if you give birth to it outside the US.
After you have paid the fees and started the application, you have to give a naturalization test. If you fail the test, you can give it again in 3 months. If you fail a second time, you have to apply again. This will become costly, because the application fee stands at $725 which includes $65 for Biometric Services.
Becoming a U.S. citizen has become tougher for sure. However, now that you know the road, what do you think?
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