Immigration meetings show citizenship test takes careful study

The path to naturalization can be a maze of confusing paperwork, capped by a test in English and U.S. civics.

For some, it’s a daunting road.

John Macharia is thinking about applying for citizenship after Christmas. The Kenyan from Duluth has lived here 10 years and his children are U.S. citizens, but he and his wife are not.

Rumors about the citizenship process abound, Macharia said. That’s why face-to-face contact with a citizenship official is helpful, he said.

“It’s always good when you hear about it from the horse’s mouth,” he said.

Joe Kernan, a community relations officer with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in Tucker, spoke to Macharia and 20 other immigrants in Marietta on Wednesday night.

The American Legion hosted the event and will also host citizenship classes starting in January. It’s in keeping with the Legion’s goal to foster “Americanism,” said Bill Beaudin, commander of Post 29 where the meeting was held.

Kernan said the classes could come in handy. He recounted tales of citizenship tests gone wrong.

If an immigration officer asks if you will bear arms for the United States, don’t roll up your sleeves and show your arms, Kernan said, to chuckles from the immigrants in the audience.

“You need to know that means will you defend the United States,” he said.

Ling Go, originally from China and now living in Acworth, wondered if speeding tickets would hurt citizenship chances.

Not if the fines have been paid, Kernan said.

In general, crimes that indicate a lack of good moral character are the ones that will ruin a chance at citizenship, Kernan said.

Also he cautioned immigrants not to leave the country too often or for too long. An absence of more than a year can sink a citizenship application, Kernan said. A prospective citizen must show where his loyalty is based, he said.

Esther Wilson, a U.S. citizen who lives in Marietta, attended the class on behalf of her sister, who traveled to the Philippines in May. She has not returned because she has Typhoid fever and diabetes and has been too fragile to travel, Wilson said.

“I’m worried about her not coming back,” Wilson said.

If a person with a green card visa stays outside of the United States too long, they could lose their residency and be turned away at the airport, Kernan warned.

Federal immigration officials have held a series of community meetings across the country this year to educate immigrants on common pitfalls and to demystify the process.

About 8.2 million legal permanent residents are eligible to apply for citizenship, immigration officials said.

At the Atlanta immigration office, 14,456 people took the oath of citizenship in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to Ana Santiago, a spokeswoman for USCIS. Nationwide during the year, 1.1 million people became citizens..

A new version of the citizenship test was phased in last year and became standard Oct.1. It is intended to emphasize an understanding of fundamental concepts of American democracy and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, more than rote learning of historical facts such as who wrote “The Star Spangled Banner.” The government has printed flash cards and exam materials for prospective citizens.

Pointing to a list of English words, Kernan told the group that those words would be scrambled into any number of variations to create sentences. They would need to read the sentence aloud, without lengthy pauses, to pass.

Everyone opened their study pamphlet to look at the words.

Understanding basic English is essential to participate in civic life in the United States, Kernan said. If an applicant fails, they can take the test again.

Kernan recalled the time an immigration officer raised his hand to administer an oath to a prospective citizen who didn’t understand and thought it was time to give a high-five.

“He was not ready,” Kernan said.

Source: AJC

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