According to recent data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), citizenship applications are being processed at their fastest pace in years.
For fiscal year 2024, the USCIS reported that the N-400 Application for Naturalization, also known as the application for U.S. citizenship, has been processed in about five months. Previously, the processing times for such applications had been on the rise since at least 2016, hitting a high of 11.5 months in 2021.
Susana Luna, who has lived most of her life in Colorado, became a U.S. citizen just last month.
"It just felt like a weight has been lifted from me, you know?" she said.
Luna prepared for several years in order to qualify for citizenship. She became a lawful permanent resident and had to prove good moral character.
When the time came for her to submit her N-400 Application for Naturalization, she expected to settle in for a long wait before she could take her Oath of Allegiance. To her surprise, that day came sooner than she thought.
"I want to say, it was roughly about four months," said Luna. "So yeah, it's definitely way faster than I thought."
Arturo Jimenez, an immigration attorney and MSU Denver Chicano studies professor, helped guide Luna through the immigration process.
"Second half of last year, we saw applications being processed in three to five months," he said. "Where before it was, you know, eight to nine months or more."
In 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to “substantially reduce current naturalization processing times.”
"When there's a Democratic president, a sitting Democratic president, they seem to speed it up faster than the Republican presidents," said Jimenez.
Since then, USCIS data shows processing times for the N-400 Application for Naturalization have trended downward.
Luna said she's eager to exercise her new right to vote in November. Immigration and the high cost of goods are two topics that weigh heavily on her mind.
"I do want to vote," she said. "I feel like it's gonna be a tough election."
Ultimately, the rights that Luna is afforded by citizenship equate to a feeling of stability for her. She intends to focus more on cultivating other parts of her life now that her presence in the U.S. is more protected.
"Now that I'm a citizen, I definitely want to look into, well, going back to school," she said. "It feels good to say I'm an American."
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