00:07American citizenship a process that can take years to achieve US immigration laws have not
00:13changed in decades but the interpretation and implementation of those laws are constantly
00:18evolving and that remains a hot topic so how does one become a citizen of the United States
00:24ladies and gentlemen our newest American citizens the path depends entirely on where they start
00:31some paths lead to the finish line others to dead ends before we can talk about citizenship we really
00:38need to talk about the various types of statuses a non-citizen who's in the US might hold and then
00:44the various paths someone who's outside of the US might try to follow to even get into the US
00:49with the hopes of eventually being able to apply for asylum or for US citizenship Katie Meyer is the
00:54director of the immigration law clinic at Washington University in St. Louis and a professor of practice
01:00Meyer explains that non-citizens generally fall into four distinct categories first there are
01:06non-immigrant visa holders those are everything from you know your temporary visas who come to go to
01:12Disneyland to students to medical workers to people who work in hotels to other types of temporary and
01:21seasonal workers in the US okay a really broad number of categories generally those non-immigrant visa
01:29holders do not have a path on to permanent resident status in the US and therefore don't have a path
01:36to
01:36citizenship there are a few programs that might have sort of accompanying programs that often lead to
01:44permanent status but but they are not designed to lead to permanent status and citizenship second we
01:50have the immigrant category those seeking lawful permanent residents there are generally three paths
01:56here family employment and the diversity visa lottery however there is another critical path for
02:03those who are not coming through the traditional visa system specifically refugees and asylees they
02:10enter the US with status with refugee status asylees are people who came to the US applied for asylum and
02:17were
02:18granted asylum that is a category of people who in the future will be able to apply for permanent resident
02:24status making them like immigrants and then after that will be able to apply for citizenship finally a fourth group
02:31falls outside
02:32these categories they often don't hold traditional status but are a significant population and I'll call
02:39them you know people who hold other immigration documentation that includes programs protections that
02:46we hear about a lot on the news temporary protected status DACA people who have been found a
02:53approvable for a special visa for victims of crimes once a non-citizen identifies which category they fit into
03:01the next step is usually to apply for a visa so the normal process is someone who's outside of the
03:07US
03:08is petitioned for for most immigrant visa categories so we're not talking about the temporary ones the
03:13permanent visa categories the actual person who wants to immigrate to the US cannot apply for themselves
03:19there are very few exceptions generally they must be petitioned for so if it's the family-based category
03:26their US citizen close family member their spouse their child over age 21 their parents or in limited
03:35circumstances their sibling must be the one who files the petition Congress places a limit on the
03:41number of visas allowed but there are key exceptions for the spouses of US citizens the unmarried young
03:50children of US citizens they don't have to wait in a line Congress said we're not going to cap or
03:55limit the
03:55number of visas for those family members but most other family members if it's employment you need
04:00to show that employer still has that position waiting for you okay and that you still have the
04:06qualifications for that job you must prove you're not what the law calls inadmissible you're not not able to
04:14be admitted into the US under the statute in plain terms you can't have a criminal background could be
04:21simple arrests could be prior immigration violations came on a visa and didn't leave when you were supposed
04:26to could be certain public health grounds right if you have certain communicable diseases and more
04:32increasingly lately could be if the government has reason to believe you are likely to become a public
04:38charge might need to go on welfare in the future approval rates can vary wildly often running between 60 and
04:4590 percent depending on the origin if you are approved you'll use your visa at the border your
04:51papers are stamped and you are granted lawful permanent resident status the first step on the road to
04:57naturalization the actual green card as we call it will come in the mail later you have to pay a
05:02fee to get
05:03the card that will come later but you are in and a lawful permanent resident once you enter on an
05:09immigrant visa
05:11the clock starts ticking for those who obtain lawful permanent residence and want to become an American
05:17citizen to apply for a citizenship you must live in the United States for a minimum amount of time either
05:23five or
05:24three years there is an exception for spouses of US citizens not other relatives of US citizens but spouses the
05:31ideas Congress has has sort of long had this idea of of you know promoting marriage and family unity so
05:38if you you can apply
05:39after only three years three years after getting permanent residence if you are still married to and living
05:44with your US citizen spouse at the time you apply and go through the process you must pass a couple
05:49of
05:50tests prove that you can speak read and write English at at least a second grade level you must pass
05:56a US
05:57history and civics exam you must prove you have been a person of good moral character while living in the
06:03US and
06:04you must be willing to take the oath of allegiance to the United States and with that you are now
06:09officially an American citizen the process is cumbersome but for those who enter the country illegally the
06:16chance of becoming a citizen is very slim you are not eligible to apply for permanent residence even if
06:23you're married to a US citizen even if you have US citizen kids if you enter the US without permission
06:29the
06:29opening line of that statute that Congress wrote says you must have been quote inspected and admitted or
06:35paroled into the United States basically to become an American citizen they must leave the country and
06:41apply for a visa from their home country for those facing deportation the battle is an uphill one you
06:48have to be able to prove you've been a person of good moral character during 10 years plus the final
06:53hardest element is proving that your deportation would cause quote exceptional and extremely unusual
07:00hardship on one or more of your qualifying relatives and the case law has said when Congress wrote
07:06exceptional and extremely unusual Congress was very clear that this hardship must be rare it must go far
07:15beyond the normal hardship you would expect a family to suffer from separation immigration statutes have
07:22remained largely unchanged since the 1990s most changes since then have been tweaks and implementation usually
07:29driven by executive authority you can have the heads of agencies you know at Department of Homeland Security
07:35Department of Justice issue formal regulations regulations are rules that are promulgated or put out by the
07:44agency that say this is how we are interpreting and applying the law passed by Congress and you get some
07:51wide differences between how different administrations will interpret them
