What Is U.S. Citizenship?

The United States was formed in the late 1700s by people who came to begin new lives. It has remained a dynamic country of immigrants ever since, and it continues to flourish today as a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities.

The United States has always had laws that separate government-recognized citizens from people who are not citizens. Today, those laws are even more steadfast than in the past and have many stipulations. The key to becoming a U.S. citizen is understanding the process and correctly following all the appropriate steps.

In order to be considered a U.S. citizen one of the following must be true:

All U.S. citizens are entitled to enjoy the highest level of rights and services the government provides, including free primary education, the right to vote, and the ability to help family members obtain citizenship.

If you want to become a U.S. citizen, you must go through the naturalization process—a way of attaining U.S. citizenship by submitting an application and passing required tests. Once you have successfully completed this process, you are officially considered a citizen and have the same rights as people who are born U.S. citizens.

According to law, anyone residing in the United States illegally must apply for U.S. citizenship. This means if you weren’t born in the United States or don’t have U.S.-born parents, you must take the necessary steps of naturalization.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., 37.9 million people in the United States (about 12% of the total population) are of foreign birth, meaning that they were born neither in the United States nor to U.S. citizens. These figures are approximate, as exact numbers often fluctuate due to illegal immigration and other factors.

An estimated 12 million or more of the 37.9 million foreign-born population reside in the United States illegally. The majority of these undocumented immigrants reside in western states, such as California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. It is nearly impossible to know the exact number of illegal immigrants in the United States. The numbers change each day, and by nature, illegal immigrants fly under the radar, making it difficult to track them effectively.

If you wish to get a green card, apply for naturalization, or acquire any information regarding immigration and citizenship, the U.S. government’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the place to go. The USCIS, which is online at www.uscis.gov, has been in operation since 2003 and is a division of the Department of Homeland Security. The USCIS employs roughly 15,000 federal employees and contractors who work in roughly 250 headquarters and field offices around the world. Before the USCIS was formed, immigration issues were handled by the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).