Green Card

“My cousin lived in Massachusetts for many years in the 1960s She paid taxes and got married. Although she qualified for being a U.S. citizen she never signed the papers. Is it too late for her to sign the papers to become a U.S. citizen? Her daughters want to come here and work legally. If their mom is a U.S. citizen could they file paperwork too?”

Your cousin who lived here in the 1960s is not a U.S. citizen and, from the information you’ve provided, has no claim on U.S. citizenship, even though she lived here for several years and complied with tax laws. Therefore, her daughters also have no entitlement to U.S. citizenship.

Get ready for a new round of fee increases for the vast majority of immigration benefits available from the financially strapped U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) – but those applying for naturalization will be spared any hikes.

“I am an Irish American whose maternal grandparents were born in Ireland. I have all of their birth and marriage records from a previous trip I took over there. I know that I can become an Irish citizen, but I’m hesitant to do so because a friend (a non-Irish one) told me that if I pursued citizenship of another country, my U.S. citizenship could be affected and even taken away from me. While I’m dearly proud of my Irish roots, I would never want anything like this to happen. Is this true or not? I’m sure many others out there would wonder as well.”

“I AM an Irish American whose maternal grandparents were born in Ireland. I have all of their birth and marriage records from a previous trip I took over there. I know that I can become an Irish citizen, but I’m hesitant to do so because a friend (a non-Irish one) told me that if I pursued citizenship of another country, my U.S. citizenship could be affected and even taken away from me. While I’m dearly proud of my Irish roots, I would never want anything like this to happen. Is this true or not? I’m sure many others out there would wonder as well.”