About the Office of Citizenship

The Office of Citizenship, within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security, was created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The mission of the Office of Citizenship is to foster immigrant integration and participation in American civic culture. The Office of Citizenship works to promote education and training on fundamental civic principles and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Strategic Goals:

• Goal 1: Develop educational products and information resources to foster immigrant integration and participation in American civic culture.

The Office of Citizenship develops civic education products and resources to assist immigrants through each step of their journey towards civic integration and citizenship. These materials help immigrants gain a deeper understanding of U.S. history and government and learn to identify with the basic civic values that unite us as Americans. Through unique partnerships, the Office uses innovative methods to widely disseminate educational products and civic integration information to immigrants and immigrant-serving organizations.

• Goal 2: Enhance training initiatives to promote an understanding of and appreciation for U.S. civic principles and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

The Office of Citizenship provides a variety of training resources to promote a deeper understanding of U.S. history, civics, and the naturalization process. To enhance the quality of civics and citizenship instruction for immigrants, the Office of Citizenship provides civics-based professional development opportunities for adult educators and volunteers. Because citizenship through naturalization is the ultimate privilege of our immigration system, the Office uses training opportunities to ensure the new naturalization test serves as an instrument of civic learning that imparts lasting knowledge and a respect for the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

• Goal 3: Provide federal leadership on immigrant civic integration issues.

The Office of Citizenship has a unique role within the federal government to promote civic integration and raise awareness of the importance of immigrant integration. The Office promotes and fosters dialogue on U.S. civic integration policy among all sectors of society as well as the international community. As the leading entity in the interagency Task Force on New Americans, the Office of Citizenship is promoting an Americanization movement for the twenty-first century in partnership with various professional and community sectors in the United States. The Office of Citizenship also coordinates with a variety of organizations and groups to encourage volunteerism among both U.S. citizens and new immigrants and to celebrate the positive contributions of immigrants and naturalized citizens. 

Related Files

• Helping Immigrants Become New Americans: Communities Discuss the Issues (644KB PDF)
  A report on community efforts to promote immigrant integration.