Number of Naturalization Applicants Falls 62%

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NewRunner

Registered Users (C)
Article in the Washington Post today about the decline in the number of naturalization applications between 2008 and the peak in mid-2007. This is said to be because of both the fee increase and the deteriorating economic conditions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/11/AR2009091103727_pf.html

The decline in the number of applications may partially explain some of the faster processing for N-400s throughout the system.
 
I believe there should be a 5 year delay between a bad economy time and drop in naturalization applications. Bad economy affect green card application a lot but may not citizenship.
 
I think it is mainly the application fee more than the economy. Bad or good economy, there is not much difference between GC & Citizenship as far as work oppurtunities are concerned.
 
spiderman03 said:
I think it is mainly the application fee more than the economy. Bad or good economy, there is not much difference between GC & Citizenship as far as work oppurtunities are concerned.
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In a bad economy, more people are either unemployed or are very worried about losing their job, so they are more reluctant to spend hundreds of dollars for citizenship.
 
Jackolantern said:
In a bad economy, more people are either unemployed or are very worried about losing their job, so they are more reluctant to spend hundreds of dollars for citizenship.
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Does it mean people do not considter long term cost of not applying for citizenship because renewing green card also carry a fee that is compatible with citizenship application fee and you have to renew your GC every 10 years?

If the case were GC need to be renewed every 5 years or one to be pr for 10 years for citizenship, would this factor be gone because people would have to spend moneyanyway
 
WBH said:
Does it mean people do not considter long term cost of not applying for citizenship because renewing green card also carry a fee that is compatible with citizenship application fee and you have to renew your GC every 10 years?
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Most people's green cards aren't expiring this year. So they can postpone the naturalization or GC renewal until another year when the economy (hopefully) has improved.
 
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Jackolantern said:
Most people's green cards aren't expiring this year. So they can postpone the naturalization or GC renewal until another year when the economy (hopefully) has improved.
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Why don't people think this way - In bad economy, you may need public benefits and only citizens are eligible for that.
 
WBH said:
Why don't people think this way - In bad economy, you may need public benefits and only citizens are eligible for that.
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Permanent residents who have been PRs for at least 5 years are already eligible for every public benefit that citizens are eligible for (with possible rare exceptions). For 80-90% of PRs who are eligible for citizenship now, there is no financial reason to apply for citizenship this year.
 
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I agree with Jackolantern. In most cases, there is no compelling economic reason for people to naturalize if they are already green card holders. The exceptions include people who benefit significantly from being U.S. citizens in particular job markets such as the Washington DC metro area. Naturalization applications also tend to rise in specific states when those states cut back benefits for even long-term permanent residents. So in most cases, I would assume that potential applicants have to weigh the relatively steep per application fee of $675 against the specific benefits of having citizenship.

The 62% decline is really measuring the number of 2008 applications against the unusually high 2007 number. What would have been been interesting for the Washington Post to report is whether the 2008 number was significantly off from the average of the previous five years.
 
Jackolantern said:
Permanent residents who have been PRs for at least 5 years are already eligible for every public benefit that citizens are eligible for (with possible rare exceptions). For 80-90% of PRs who are eligible for citizenship now, there is no financial reason to apply for citizenship this year.
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When seeking re-admission (say you stay outside USA for more than 6 months), public charge (recieing public cash benefit) criterion is still applicable.
 
Also, consider that many people would not naturalize even if they are eligible because they would lose their original citizenship (Chinese, Indian, Indonesian etc).
 
eltoro said:
Also, consider that many people would not naturalize even if they are eligible because they would lose their original citizenship (Chinese, Indian, Indonesian etc).
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But this has nothing to do with bad or good economy. USA having a bad
economy now does not mean it is collapsing or anything like that to make
people less interested to keep their residence here
 
WBH said:
When seeking re-admission (say you stay outside USA for more than 6 months), public charge (recieing public cash benefit) criterion is still applicable.
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The majority of the people have a job that will not allow 6 month vacations. Even self employees and people who work with cash sometime can not afford to be out of the country for that long. Citizenship may help somebody who wants to work with government or be overseas for long time but still I do not think there are many in these categories.
 
so1994 said:
The majority of the people have a job that will not allow 6 month vacations. Even self employees and people who work with cash sometime can not afford to be out of the country for that long. Citizenship may help somebody who wants to work with government or be overseas for long time but still I do not think there are many in these categories.
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This go back to teh original point we are discussing, if you have a job,
you should not let $ 675 fee prevent you from applying. If we are worrying about $ 675, we are on the brink of being broke
 
Another reason if I may is that lots of people have applied because of the last election in 2008 therefore, there is no rush in getting citizenship in 2009 et 2010. I am pretty sure that the number will jump prior to 2012.
 
WBH said:
If we are worrying about $ 675, we are on the brink of being broke
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Not necessarily. If someone has a green card already and otherwise would not be hindered by obtaining US citizenship (i.e. they would not lose their original citizenship) it is still a considerable amount to part with. One can get a really good digital camera with $675, or buy a return flight to Europe for that amount. Why would such a person apply? They already have majority of benefits US citizens are enjoying and they won't have to go through a hassle of fingerprinting and interview and then passport application.

I applied mainly because I would like to be done with US immigration and I can afford both the application fee and my really good digital camera. My current passport already opens up the world for me (in some cases opens up more than a US passport does) so I don't have to get a visa to anywhere in the developed world when I want to visit. I don't have to get a US passport to be able to go anywhere I want. I assure you if my country of origin was not allowing dual citizenship I would NOT apply for US citizenship. I would be fine as a US permanent resident.
 
WBH said:
When seeking re-admission (say you stay outside USA for more than 6 months), public charge (recieing public cash benefit) criterion is still applicable.
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Nobody is saying citizenship applications will drop to zero. There will always be some people who want citizenship ASAP for personal or financial or other reasons. But for the vast majority, there is no pressing need to apply for citizenship in the middle of a bad economy. Most permanent residents can't afford to or don't want to spend more than 6 months outside the US, and citizenship will not enable most to get any benefit they didn't already qualify for as a permanent resident.
This go back to teh original point we are discussing, if you have a job,
you should not let $ 675 fee prevent you from applying. If we are worrying about $ 675, we are on the brink of being broke
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People who have a job and are worried about losing it and being unable to find another one often will prefer to save that $675 in case they get laid off and need it to pay their rent or mortgage, rather than spending it on citizenship which gives them no short-term financial benefit in most cases.
 
Its not just $675 ... that's just naturalization...

Here's my true cost... I am from Indian origin

- Naturalization - $675
- Passport (expedited) - $175
- Indian PIO - $365
- Misc (postage, parking, etc.) - $100

I realize not everyone will need a Indian PIO...

That's another a total of $1215 ... that's just me ... that's nearly $2500 for husband & wife... its a good deal of money. Bad economy or not...
 
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