WASHINGTON: US Federal immigration authorities announced that the current form for immigrants to apply for US citizenship will include numerous new questions about the applicant’s links to terrorist groups, genocide, militias, prisons and military training.
The authorities said that they are are scrapping the current form and will replace it in 90 days with a longer and more complex form.
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007 require that US officials “obtain sufficient evidence” to decide whether every foreign-born person in the US may be barred from permanently immigrating.
The Obama administration, while increasing border-protection efforts and deporting record numbers of illegal immigrants, has been working to streamline and speed up the process of residency and citizenship for legal immigrants. Officials said the new application form would be easier and faster for them to process, and that none of the rules for eligibility have changed, as reported by AP and Washington Post.
But a number of organizations that help US green-card holders apply for citizenship complained that the changes would intimidate people into not applying, especially those with limited English who might have difficulty understanding the new questions. Some are long and complex, with numerous technical terms.
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