Backlog Delays Naturalizations

More than 2.5 million people who applied for citizenship during the summer will not be sworn in in time to vote in next November's election. All thought they had allowed enough time and usually it is. DP

By SUZANNE GAMBOA (AP)

apgoogle.com: WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigrants who applied for citizenship after June 1 will have to wait more than a year to become Americans, immigration officials said Wednesday, a delay that will prevent many from voting in next November's elections.

The delay is due to a deluge of applications that Citizenship and Immigration Services, a Homeland Security Department agency, received this summer as immigrants rushed to beat drastic fee increases for naturalization, legal residency, work permits, international adoptions and a host of other immigration benefits.

That means naturalization applications filed after June 1 will take 15 months to 18 months to process and become final, said Bill Wright, spokesman for the immigration agency.

"We certainly are hoping to beat that, but there certainly is that possibility," Wright said. Generally, becoming a citizen takes on average about seven months after an application has been filed, Wright said.

A total of 2.5 million applications were filed with the agency during July and August, Wright said. He could not provide numbers for June.

For the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a total of 7.7 million applications were filed, compared with 6.3 million the previous fiscal year, Wright said.

The spike in applications came in the months before Citizenship and Immigration Services raised all application fees, effective July 30. Costs for applying for citizenship rose from $330 to $595 and from $325 to $930 for legal residency. In both cases, applicants also must pay fingerprinting fees, which increased from $70 to $80.

The year and a half to nearly two year waits for naturalizations could hurt efforts of a coalition of groups trying to increase citizenship and voter registration among immigrants.

The delays have raised some concerns about possible political motivations, which Wright denied.
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