New Citizen Campaign

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Letter of Intent (LOI) for Citizenship Services

The Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs (OIRA) is seeking Letters of Intent (LOI) from agencies interested in providing citizenship services to legal permanent residents through collaborative group processing events (aka "citizenship clinics") in Seattle with the New Citizen Campaign (NCC).

Approximately $252,000 is available through the NCC LOI.

The contract period will run from of January 2019 through December 31, 2019.

Go here for the description of the funding available and instructions for submitting LOIs.

Go here to download the LOI template to complete for applying agencies.

Go here for the NCC LOI 2019 Question and Answer Document List **ADDED 12/7/2018**

Proposals are due at 5:00 PM on Friday, December 14, 2018.

For more information on eligibility or the LOI process, please contact Christian Guros at (206) 684-5705 or at christina.guros@seattle.gov.

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Citizenship Clinic Schedule for 2018

A citizenship clinic is a free community event where volunteer attorneys, interpreters, and others assist eligible green card holders with completing their N-400 naturalization application through an organized step-by-step process. The goal for these events is usually to serve 30-50 people.

Attendees can also usually receive information about low-interest loans to pay for the naturalization application processing fee or help completing a fee waiver application. Each citizenship clinic is sponsored by a local community organization.

Click here to see the 2018 citizenship clinic schedule for Seattle.

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New Citizen Campaign

The New Citizen Campaign is an effort to help the tens of thousands of Seattle legal permanent residents (LPRs) become U.S. citizens. This campaign utilizes outreach and education, citizenship curriculum and legal assistance, and engagement with local and national partners to achieve our goal of naturalizing the over 75,000 LPRs living in the Seattle/King County area.

Because of our 2016 and 2017 citizenship workshops, the campaign is well on its way of achieving our goals. We anticipate a 63% increase in the number of eligible residents served to become naturalized citizens. In 2017, we expect a 125% increase.

New Citizen Campaign Action Items

Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union partnership has developed a citizenship loan product to reduce financial barriers and increase access to banking services. You can find out more about this loan here.
USCIS partnership to promote citizenship and make resources easily available.
Broad public awareness campaign utilizing ethnic media and social media in multiple languages to highlight the benefits of citizenship.
New Citizen Campaign web portal will act as a clearinghouse for information and resources relevant to Seattle residents.
Citizenship Clinics and Workshops: group processing events and clinics in immigrant-dense neighborhoods.
New partnerships with national coalitions, local networks, financial institutions, business, labor, and community-based organizations.

Check out our New Citizen Campaign Web Portal

This comprehensive website newcitizencampaign.org can answer all your questions regarding the naturalization process. It features information on the topics below, as well as listings of free/low-cost classes and citizenship events in the Seattle area that you can attend to help get you on the path to becoming a U.S. citizen.

What to Bring to a Citizenship Clinic/Documents Needed to Become a Citizen

Citizenship Application Eligibility

Why You Should Become a U.S. Citizen

Download a flyer about the New Citizen Campaign. (Right-click, then select, "Save link as..." and save to your computer.)

For more information about the New Citizen Campaign, contact Christina Guros at (206) 684-5705 or christina.guros@seattle.gov.

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New Citizen Program

Can't make it to a Citizenship Clinic or Citizenship Workshop event? Consider attending a class or program with a New Citizen Program organization (NCP). NCP is a component of the New Citizen Campaign. Through a consortium of 12 community-based organization partners (see below), NCP provides free naturalization services to immigrants and refugees who are low-income, elderly, illiterate, or have limited English skills living in Seattle/King County. Services include citizenship instruction/tutoring, interview preparation, assistance with submitting applications/waivers, and referrals for legal assistance. In-language services are available in Mandarin, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Cantonese, Tongan, Samoan, Somali, Korean, Amharic, Tigrinya, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Moldavian, Spanish, Burmese, Polish, French, Chin, and Arabic.

Since its inception, NCP has served over 17,800 people, provided naturalization assistance to over 11,300 legal permanent residents (LPRs), successfully naturalized 8,900 LPRs, and provided over 82,800 hours of instruction.

These 12 nonprofit organizations are members of the NCP consortium. Located across Seattle/King County, they offer classes that can help you become a naturalized U.S. citizen. Click below to find out more information about English as a second language and citizenship classes near you:

Asian Counseling and Referral Service