Citizenship Application - Travel and Tax Matters

Naturalization is the legal process by which foreign born nationals (who are legal permanent residents) may gain citizenship if they meet all the citizenship requirements.

Most US green card holders qualify for citizenship through naturalization after five years of legal permanent residency or three years if an individual is married to a citizen or serving in the military.

If you intend to apply for US Citizenship remember to keep records of ALL travel dates, destinations and reason/s for travel. This applies to five years preceding your application for naturalization.

You must, prior to submitting your application, ensure you have paid all taxes owed to the IRS or have official documentation evidencing any payment arrangements with the IRS.

Are you preparing to submit your naturalization application? Have a question about this process? Feel free to ask using the comment option below.

2017 Green Card Lottery Deadline

The DV-2017 Lottery entrance deadline is Nov. 3 at 12:00 PM EST. Entries are free and results will be announced May 3, 2016.

The lottery is open to foreign nationals from eligible countries. Individual eligibility is determined by birth country. The entry form and application requirements are available at the U.S. Department of State's official Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery page. Importantly, remember to save your confirmation number -it is the ONLY way to check your results.

50,000 diversity visas have been allocated for the 2017 DV Lottery.

Good luck!

Izizwe Retires

Izizwe.com, An Immigrant on Immigration's companion site retired in May 2015. This decision was in order to consolidate all things immigration into one site.

Have an immigration question? Please feel free to use the comment button below.

Will the Green Card Lottery Survive Immigration Reform?

There are several calls for the 2015 green card lottery entry submissions.

Prospective entrants must note that although entry traditionally runs from October to November, the next (2015) green card lottery entry dates have not been officially announced.

The fate of the diversity lottery is unknown, it may well be scrapped in the immigration reform bill. As such, prospective entrants should consider waiting for the official Department of State announcement before submitting an entry via a third party.

Immigration Reform and Current Visa Number Wait Time

An Immigrant on Immigration's primary objective is to share information with fellow migrants and hopefully assist individuals who either plan to or are in the process of legally migrating to the United States.

That said, one of the things I wanted to learn more about is how the immigration reform bill's path to citizenship proposal would affect approximately 4.7 million prospective migrants currently waiting eons to obtain a visa number.

So here are the facts:

The immigration reform bill, if passed, would create a path to citizenship for approximately 11 million illegal migrants. Importantly, the bill's passage does not disenfranchise individuals currently waiting for a visa.

President Obama proposes creating a mandate for individuals illegally in the US to undergo a process of paying taxes, learning English, background checks and paying a penalty before joining the legal migration queue like everyone else.

A copy of the proposed bill available here.

Visa Number Wait Continues

The June 2013 Visa Bulletin is out.

There hasn't been any progress on the F4 category as the NVC is processing applicants with a May 1, 2001, Priority Date. This is the same date published in the April 2013 Bulletin.

President Obama, in January 2013, said; "if you are a citizen, you shouldn't have to wait years before your family is able to join you in America."

We will have to wait and see how the immigration reform bill addresses this.

Immigration Facts, Numbers & Reform Bill

Immigration reform is a hot topic at the moment. Check out my article on US Immigration Facts and Figures.

Also, the New York Times, on May 11, 2013, published a link to the proposed immigration reform bill. You may view it here if you are interested.