FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                            

Monday, September 9, 2019

MEDIA ADVISORY: Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington Partners with the American Immigration Lawyers Association to Host Citizenship Day Application Workshop

Assists Eligible Green Card Holders in Achieving the Dream of U.S. Citizenship

ARLINGTON, VA – On Friday, September 13, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington is partnering with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on its annual Citizenship Day Workshop. The workshop is one of 10 AILA is offering in Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. in the lead up to national Citizenship Day and Constitution Day on Tuesday, September 17[SJ1] .  

Catholic Charities’ annual partnership with AILA adds to the approximately 8-10 workshops that Catholic Charities [SJ2] hosts each year, [SJ3] in conjunction with the New Americans Campaign, helping an average of 250 individuals[SJ4] [AR5] [AR6] .

Each 2019 Citizenship Day workshop provides practical assistance to those who wish to become U.S. citizens, including consultation, application preparation and postage. The Friday workshop is $110 per person. A list of all the documents applicants must bring is here. Individuals may call Catholic Charities at 703-534-9805, ext. 252, to pre-register as an applicant, to become a volunteer, or for more information. 

WHO:             Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington,

                        the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and                      

                        qualified applicants for U.S. citizenship.

WHEN:          Friday, September 13, 2019

                        10 a.m.-12 p.m.[SJ7] 

(Applicants checked in prior to 12 p.m. will be processed.)

WHERE:       Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington

Hogar [SJ8] Immigrant Services

6301 Little River Turnpike

Suite 300

Alexandria, VA 22312                       

General naturalization eligibility, as prescribed by the Immigration and Naturalization Act, includes:

• Being at least 18 years old;
• Having been a lawful permanent resident, commonly referred to as a “green card holder,” for five years, or three years if married to a U.S. citizen;
• Being physically present in the U.S. for at least half of the last five years[SJ9] [AR10] ;
• Living as a resident of the state in which the application is being filled out for a least three months;
• Having the ability to speak, read and write in English;
• Being able to pass a U.S. history and civics exam; and
• Having “good moral character” – applicants who have been convicted of certain crimes, have not paid their taxes, have not financially supported their children[SJ11] , have presented false information on any previous immigration applications or misrepresented themselves to any government agency, or have failed to register for the Selective Service when required, among other things, may not meet this requirement and so may not be eligible for naturalization.

For additional information, contact Amber Roseboom, Director of Media Relations, Catholic Diocese of Arlington, at 571-215-8731 or Amber.Roseboom@arlingtondiocese.org.

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Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington serves the poor and vulnerable who live within the 21 counties and seven cities of the Diocese of Arlington, which is led by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge. Catholic Charities provides food for the hungry, a free medical clinic for adults including prenatal care, adoption services, transformational housing for the homeless, mental health counseling, emergency financial assistance, prison ministry, workforce development, and immigration and refugee services. Catholic Charities serves all, regardless of faith. www.ccda.net.

 [SJ1]Not sure if you want to include a link here to AILA DC’s flyer with info for all of the 10 workshops?  Read-only versions of the flyers in various languages including English are available here - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1U6xNqvarNtAk4KTh1xHn6tH6C-Cgn0io.

 [SJ2]Might want to specify “of the Diocese of Arlington” here to avoid confusion?

 [SJ3]I’d add maybe here or somewhere in this part that our regular workshops are also supported by the New Americans Campaign (NAC) – they help fund us, and we’re supposed to mention that we are NAC members whenever we talk about our naturalization work (their logos are on our flyers too).  More information at https://www.newamericanscampaign.org/.

 [SJ4]For naturalization, this just means their applications are approved/they become US citizens, so this can probably be simplified!

 [AR5]I pulled this language from the document?

 [AR6]

 [SJ7]The workshop will run longer than this, we just only let new applicants come in between 10 and 12 (not sure if you need to clarify that or not)

 [SJ8]“Hogar” is not an acronym, it means “home” in Spanish

 [SJ9]It’s in the aggregate, not necessarily 2.5 years straight, so I think just saying half is a little less potentially misleading

 [AR10]I got this directly from the document?

 [SJ11] [SJ11](this is really required whether or not there is a formal court order specifying “child support”)