Agency is prioritizing naturalization ceremonies during the COVID-19 pandemic

WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is celebrating the Declaration of Independence and the birth of our great country by hosting naturalization ceremonies across the United States from July 1 through July 7. Despite the pandemic, USCIS continues to welcome new citizens, demonstrating American resiliency and the importance of our independence.

USCIS began to conduct limited naturalization ceremonies in May and began to fully resume ceremonies in early June, after temporarily pausing in-person services to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The ceremonies have been shorter to limit exposure to those in attendance, incorporating social distancing and other safety precautions that protect the health and safety of applicants and USCIS staff. USCIS has naturalized approximately 64,500 new citizens over the past month and anticipates completing nearly all postponed administrative naturalization ceremonies by the end of July.

“Taking the Oath of Allegiance and embracing U.S. citizenship is a remarkable act of patriotism. We are a stronger nation today because of those who have chosen to become naturalized citizens,” said USCIS Deputy Director for Policy Joseph Edlow. “I am proud of the USCIS employees who have worked diligently to ensure that our agency can conduct safe, yet meaningful, naturalization ceremonies during these difficult times.”

USCIS is committed to promoting assimilation, awareness and understanding of citizenship by offering a variety of free citizenship preparation resources for applicants and teachers, including materials like the Establishing Independence lesson plan in the Citizenship Resource Center. Immigrant-serving organizations can register to receive a free Civics and Citizenship Toolkit to help lawful permanent residents prepare for naturalization.

USCIS continues to encourage applicants to file their Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, online. To file online, individuals must first create a USCIS online account at myaccount.uscis.dhs.gov.

Naturalization is the most significant benefit USCIS offers. Immigrants who lawfully join our country through naturalization express their attachment to our Constitution and commitment to assimilate into our society.

We invite new citizens and their families and friends to share their experiences and photos from the ceremonies on social media using the hashtags #NewUSCitizen, and #IndependenceDay.

For more information on the naturalization process and filing online, visit our website at uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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