If you filed an N-400 and had your interview, but your still don’t have a decision on your application, you’re probably getting nervous. Is there something wrong with your application? Are they ever going to make a decision? What if they deny the case?  Will you have to go to immigration court?

“I didn't flee a dictator or swim an ocean to be an American like some do. I just thought long and hard about it.” 
― Craig Ferguson, American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot

Researching How to become a U.S. citizen?  If you already have a Green Card and feel like you’re ready to take the next step in your immigration process, read this before you take action.

US Immigration Process: Honesty is the Best Policy

It’s not unusual for someone to ask me if something they do will affect their US immigration process or status in the U.S. –  my job is to advise my clients and assist them with these decisions. My clients run ideas by me all the time, so it’s not unusual for a client to approach me and ask how anyone (meaning anyone in the U.S. government) would find out if they did something that might hurt their chances to stay in the U.S. Often I am asked travel-related questions such as this: “If the U.S. Customs and Border Protection people don’t stamp my passport when I leave the country, how would anyone know when I left the U.S.?” Usually people ask me this because they’re thinking they might be able to list a different date on an application. In citizenship applications, most people must show that they’ve spent a certain amount of time in the U.S. If someone hasn’t spent enough time here, listing a different date that they left the U.S. might help them appear to qualify even if they don’t.

Permanent Residents Should Consider Naturalizing

This is a Presidential Election year. It is February, and we have been hearing lots of campaign promises since last summer. Back then, many of us thought Donald Trump was an entertainer using the presidential primaries to increase his popularity. Now we know that Mr. Trump’s campaign is not going away – he appears to be prepared to accept the Republican party nomination later this year. He has also shown that he has no problem with a blanket ban of all Muslims from entering the United States, regardless of whether they are Syrian refugees. He also believes every undocumented person has to be deported, albeit “humanely.” On the other political side of the race, Hillary Clinton has indicated she supports immigration reform with a path to citizenship for undocumented people in the United States, but has supported President Obama’s recent initiative to arrest and deport Central Americans who entered the United States illegally, many of who came to flee violence in their home countries and to seek refuge.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike caused severe damage to much of the Houston area. It happened just weeks before the Presidential election in which Barack Obama would become the first Democratic Party President elected to office since Bill Clinton. This time is particularly vivid in my memory – I had moved to Houston the year before and was in my first year of practicing immigration law. Several of my clients had applied for citizenship, and their applications had been approved. They were eager to vote in the election, but there was one problem – they had to take an Oath of Allegiance to the United States before they actually became citizens and could vote. In Houston, we have Oath Ceremonies once per month, often with over 1500 people who have been approved to become citizens naturalizing at each ceremony. When Ike came through, it caused damage to the facility at which the oath ceremony was to take place. The Houston Chronicle published an article entitled Ike Put Their Citizenship- and Their Votes – On Hold. Then the Houston U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office found a new venue for the ceremony and it occurred in time for new citizens to register to vote in the November 2008 election. My clients and many others approved for naturalization breathed a sigh of relief.

The Houston Business Journal reported Wednesday that large numbers of expatriates are returning to Houston due to growth in the energy sector. With many of these expats come spouses and stepchildren who will need to apply for lawful immigration status in the United States. An experienced immigration attorney can assist with these processes.

The Huffington Post is reporting on a a veteran whose citizenship suddenly came into question almost 50 years after he arrived in the U.S. as a child. The story indicates that U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reviewing his case. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for veterans to apply for expedited naturalization in some circumstances, and if this individual's parents naturalized when he was under the age of 18 he may have derived citizenship from them.