This past Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, USCIS made two important announcements that will positively impact prospective citizens.

USCIS Announces Grant Recipients

On September 17, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced nearly $8 million in grants for immigrant-serving organizations, a significant increase in funding over the previous year.

One of the recipients was the YWCA Tulsa, which has been assisting immigrants for over 25 years and received a grant for its “Project Citizenship”. The YWCA has already helped hundreds of permanent residents in Oklahoma successfully prepare to become U.S. citizens, and will use the grant to expand its efforts.

A second recipient was Montgomery College, a community college system in Montgomery County, Maryland which has programs to assist immigrants as they prepare to become U.S. citizens. Montgomery College will use its grant to expand citizenship education services and increase civic engagement and naturalization rates.

The recipients mentioned above are just two of the seventy-five organizations from 27 states and the District of Columbia who will receive a total of $7.8 million in federal grant funding to promote citizenship education and immigrant integration in communities across the country. Taken together, these grants will boost efforts nationwide to help aspiring citizens reach their goal and become vested, participating members of American society.

The New USCIS Citizenship Resource Center Online

In addition to the grant program announcement, USCIS officially launched the Citizenship Resource Center - an online center offering citizenship resources for learners, teachers, and organizations.


This new website is designed to help users better understand the naturalization process and gain the necessary skills to be successful during the naturalization interview and test.

The Citizenship Resource Center will include podcasts and interactive learning activities for applicants, links to an expanded America’s Literacy Directory with a new online citizenship class zip code-based search function, and lesson plans and teaching tools for citizenship instructors.

Our Efforts Continue

USCIS efforts to support those wishing to naturalize will continue to expand over the coming year. In that regard, we welcome any suggestions or ideas on how we can better serve immigrants on the path to U.S. citizenship in the comments section.

Labels: Citizenship