The CitizenshipWorks mobile app
A new mobile app helps eligible immigrants apply for naturalization. CitizenshipWorks is the only free mobile app available to help legal permanent residents understand and prepare for the naturalization process. Available in English and Spanish, the app helps eliminate confusion by enabling applicants to:
- Determine their eligibility to become a U.S. citizen;
- Walk through and collect documentation for the application process;
- Find free and low-cost legal help; and
- Study for the English and Civics tests.
The app, created by Pro Bono Net and the Immigration Advocates Network, also enables citizenship-support service providers to assist greater numbers of applicants.
The mobile app provides a map and directory of local citizenship support services
More than 80 organizations across the nation have already assisted thousands using the interactive web-based screening and application preparation tools on CitizenshipWorks as a part of the New Americans Campaign, a national nonpartisan effort working to streamline and modernize access to naturalization assistance services. The app is the latest example of efforts by the New Americans Campaign to innovate the system of naturalization assistance to help more legal permanent residents become citizens. Now advocates will be able to also offer this easy-to-use, plain language mobile app for immigrants to better navigate the process.
As Congress grapples with landmark immigration legislation, more than eight million legal immigrants are eligible for citizenship without a single change to the law. Yet only about eight percent of them naturalize each year. They face a range of barriers, including high application fees and a cumbersome, lengthy application process. Several efforts to support naturalization are gaining momentum, as the public and private sectors recognize the value and benefits of citizenship, such as the Bethlehem Project, an initiative to motivate private sector companies to provide citizenship assistance to employees.
The app also provides an easy-to-use checklist of requirements
The app is available in the iTunes store and on Google Play for Android. CitizenshipWorks is funded by the New Americans Campaign, the Knight Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and is a project of the Immigration Advocates Network (IAN), the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Pro Bono Net.
Below: A quick chat with Tony Lu, the CitizenshipWorks project manager, about the unique new mobile app that can help millions of eligible legal immigrants on their path to citizenship.
Download the news release here:
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