New Year's Resolution? Naturalize In 2009!

Every year it is time for us to reflect on our goals for the New Year. For many people it is time to grapple with issues such as immigration, which have been ignored or put off because they did not feel they had the ability to do anything about their problems. In other cases, individuals have told themselves that having a green card (legal permanent residency) versus naturalization is “good enough” and see no reason to take that final step and pledge towards citizenship.

One resolution I have made is to inform every client for whom we have obtained a green card the importance of naturalization. This comes after over ten years of practice in immigration law in which I have seen tragedy after tragedy with regard to persons who have lost their legal permanent residency. Recently I was able to preserve legal permanent resident status for a client after three years of litigation in the Immigration courts. Sadly, had she naturalized when she had the chance, her green card status could not have been challenged in immigration court and she would have saved thousands of dollars in legal fees.

The list of laws which render a green card holder “removable” includes most crimes involving weapons, drugs or crimes involving imprisonment for more than one year. Young people are particularly vulnerable to these sorts of convictions. Also important are convictions for fraud crimes, and many persons involved in medical care are vulnerable to accusations of fraud based on filing of claims with Medicare, Medical or other publicly funded health care systems.

Also important is the concept of abandonment of status. Green Card holders exiting the United States for an extended period without obtaining a re-entry permit are subject to challenge at the port of entry such as LAX where a customs officer can inquire as to the length of your stay abroad, whether you worked abroad, or acquired property or other form of residency in another country. Even with a re-entry permit your legal permanent resident status may be determined to be “abandoned”. This happens in the blink of an eye at the airport or other border crossing without the benefit of an attorney, immigration judge or other due process. The lesson here? NATURALIZE!

Citizens of the Philippines who have children have been told for years to put off their naturalization in order to keep their children in a more favorable (“F2B”) visa category. This is no longer true based on changes in the law, which allow a parent to naturalize and then file a letter with USCIS informing them of their intent to have their child “opt out” of the automatic change in visa category to “F1” and remain in the more favorable “F2b” status. In the meantime that parent enjoys all the benefits of naturalization including the ability to sponsor a child under the age of 21, or a parent for immediate change of status to legal permanent resident.

Finally the estimated 750,000 persons who have older green cards without expiration dates (issued from 1977 – 1989) may soon be required to renew their cards in order to eliminate the old documents and allow USCIS to improve security by having current information on residents who by now have been legal permanent residents for over 20 years. The proposed federal rule was released in 2007 and it could be one of the first changes made once the new administration takes office.

Most individuals will choose to naturalize rather than pay the fees and expense of renewing their old green cards. As always it pays to beat the rush and naturalize ahead of the next wave of applicants. Finally naturalization is an important step for many immigrants, and having the right to vote and no longer having to worry about immigration status, especially during travel is a great relief for many individuals.

Consider taking care of your naturalization or naturalization of your children before it becomes an expensive problem for the whole family.

Robert J. DuPont is the founding attorney for The Law Offices of Robert J. DuPont. Mr. DuPont graduated from Yale University and USC Law School. He is admitted to the California Supreme Court, Federal District Courts in the Central and Northern Districts of California, as well as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. DuPont has been a speaker at ILW, a leading immigration law publisher. He was the founder of the Immigration Law Committee with the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Mr. DuPont has risen to prominence with over a decade’s practice in the field of immigration law. He has brought cases to their successful conclusion before the EOIR, BIA, AAO, Federal District Court and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

A similar version of this article may have been published in the Asian Journal.

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