City of Boston hosts 12th annual Citizenship Day

Special to the Regional Review

Mayor Michelle Wu, the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA), and Project Citizenship hosted the City’s annual Citizenship Day at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury. The annual event provides free legal help with citizenship applications for immigrants eligible for naturalization. This event builds on the City’s efforts to make Boston a home for everyone and on its longstanding commitment to connecting residents with services and supporting eligible residents with citizenship applications.

“For more than a decade, Citizenship Day has helped Boston residents apply for U.S. citizenship at no cost. Now more than ever, naturalization offers an important pathway to stability, opportunity, and a more secure future,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “I’m grateful to the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement, Project Citizenship, and the hundreds of volunteers who help make Boston a welcoming home for everyone, no matter where you come from.”

Since 2014, MOIA has partnered with Project Citizenship to host Citizenship Day, New England’s largest one-day citizenship clinic. Before this year, the clinic has served over 3,200 people from 115 countries. To date, the event has helped more than 1,900 eligible immigrants become citizens.

Between legal fees and USCIS application fees, becoming a U.S. citizen can be prohibitively expensive for residents. On Citizenship Day, hundreds of community volunteers, law students, and pro bono attorneys help people complete their citizenship applications for free and determine whether they qualify for a USCIS fee waiver. It currently costs $760 to file a citizenship application. Since the event’s inception, over 2,000 fee waivers have been submitted for qualifying applicants.

“Citizenship can be a life-changing benefit that allows for increased family reunification, stability, and opportunities to become more civically engaged through voting and running for office. We are proud to have sponsored this event for over 12 years,” said Monique Tú Nguyen, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement.

In Boston, 1 in 10 residents is a naturalized citizen, and about 30,000 residents are eligible for U.S. citizenship. MOIA encourages all eligible immigrants to apply for citizenship. Eligible applicants must be at least 18 years old, lawful permanent residents for five years or three years if married to a U.S. citizen, able to read, write, and speak basic English, and not have traveled extensively outside the U.S. in the past five years.

“At a time when many who weren’t born in this country feel especially vulnerable, Boston Citizenship Day honors the important role that immigrants play in our communities,” said Gail Breslow, Executive Director of Project Citizenship. “By providing free legal help, we make sure everyone eligible has access to the benefits and protections of citizenship, as well as the opportunity to participate fully in our democracy.”

Project Citizenship screens applicants to ensure registered participants complete their applications on Citizenship Day and are processed for naturalization.  To learn more about Citizenship Day in Boston, eligibility, and the benefits of becoming a U.S. citizen, visit: boston.gov/citizenship.