Director of Legal Service Robert McCreanor and Immigration Operations Manager Frederik Stefani assist legal permanent residents complete their N-400 forms.
On Saturday March 1st, Catholic Migration Services hosted a Citizenship Application Assistance Workshop at St. Thomas Aquinas in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Staff and volunteers worked with many legal permanent residents to complete their citizenship applications.
CMS is a part of The New Americans Campaign which provides free and much needed access to legally qualified permanent residents to take the critical step to becoming American citizens. The process to obtain citizenship can be confusing and complex. Limited knowledge about the path to citizenship and costly fees can make the process more difficult for legal residents. However, the benefits of having citizenship can really enhance a person’s quality of life. When new Americans gain the rights, freedoms and responsibilities of citizenship they contribute more fully to their communities.
Registered applicants were assisted by CMS staff members or volunteers who screened them to ascertain if they were eligible for a fee waiver to excuse them from the $680 dollar government application fee. Applicants then worked with that same staff member or volunteer to fill out the N-400 application. Last, their applications underwent a detailed review and were given specific instructions on the next steps that they should take before mailing out their applications.
Guest were enthusiastic about the chance to begin the process of getting their citizenship, after having been residents for so long. This event is part of a large scale “workshops” initiative of the New American Campaign which aims to quickly and efficiently guide legal permanent residents through their citizenship applications. Now is the final opportunity for legal permanent residents to get assistance from CMS using the current versions of the N-400 form. Recently, the N-400 form underwent changes that will make the current version of the N-400 form obsolete after May 5th. The newer version of the form will be double the length of the older form which can make the process even more arduous for applicants.
Our next Citizenship Workshop will take place on April 5th at Immaculate Conception Church located at 21-47 29th Street in Astoria,NY. To register for this workshop or for more information please call 1-855-6-CAMBIA. (1-855-622-6242).
Click here to see more images from our event .
