U.S. citizenship is a highly desired status, the ultimate goal of many immigrants. However, immigrating to the U.S. is not so easy. It is also a time consuming process.
U.S. citizenship confers more benefits than a green card. The following are some of the benefits of citizenship benefits:
- U.S. citizens will not be deported from the country. This benefit is meant only for U.S. citizens and not for non-immigrants or legal permanent residents.
- U.S. citizens can get U.S. passports with which they can travel abroad freely.
- The process of bringing family members to the U.S. will be easy for U.S. citizens.
One can become a U.S. citizen through a few different ways. A person born in the U.S. will automatically become a U.S. citizen. Likewise, a person born to U.S. citizens can acquire citizenship from his or her parents and get a citizenship certificate. The other way to gain citizenship in the U.S. is through naturalization. This process is meant for the foreign nationals who want to become citizens of the U.S.
There are a lot of requirements to be met by a person seeking to become a U.S. citizen. One must have been a permanent resident of the U.S. for a certain number of years and must be a person of good character. The other requirement is knowledge of English and the history of the U.S.
How will the green card lottery help?
To obtain citizenship, one must first obtain a green card. Green cards can be obtained through family or employer sponsorship. However, not all can get a green cards through a family member or an employer. Foreigners who do not have sponsors can apply for the green card lottery program, also known as the Diversity Visa lottery. This program is said to be a boon for those who do not have sponsors as it doesn’t require sponsorship. People belonging to green card lottery eligible countries can participate in this program.
Getting a green card is the first step on the path to U.S. citizenship. 50,000 people win green cards every year through this lottery program. Interested and eligible foreigners just need to e-file their applications in October and wait until they get their results in May. Eligible winners can then apply for immigrant visas and get green cards. Once they meet all the citizenship requirements, they can file applications for naturalization. This is how green card lottery will put eligible foreigners on a path to U.S. citizenship.
