Naturalization is what American immigration law, in all its archaic grandeur, calls becoming a citizen of the United States. The old naturalization application had some funny parts to it. USCIS created a new application. It is twice as long as the old one. I was afraid it would be less funny. Fortunately, it is more funny. One of the funniest questions on the old form was at Page 6, Part 10.A., Question 5: Do you have any title of nobility…

Immigration law, as immigration lawyers (and their clients) say often, is quite complex. There are a lot of hoops people have to jump though to get a benefit. Forms on top of forms asking the same things over and over. Fees on top of fees. Petitions, applications, security checks, medical exams, interviews, investigations, verifications. With all the stuff that is deemed necessary, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State should, one would think, want to eliminate pointless…

One of the questions applicants for citizenship can be asked as part of the civics test which is part of the process of naturalization is, “What is the rule of law?” (Question 12). The possible answers are: Everyone must follow the law. Leaders must obey the law. Government must obey the law. No one is above the law. Despite criticism of the answers, the question points to what we believe is a basic tenet in our society – that we are…

USCIS does a good job with most of what it does. Most of what it does is routine. It does it in a almost comically inefficient way, but it does it better than it has in a long time. Why comically inefficient? Take the case of an adjustment of status for a married couple, which is applying for permanent residence in the United States based on marriage. To accomplish this and the associated benefits, when I help a couple accomplish…