Transcript:

Kleine Powell 

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Immigration Nation. The podcast I’m your host today, Klein and we are here with Fernando. He is based out of San Antonio and we are so excited to have him here. Today we’re discussing citizenship, US citizenship, what it is, who needs it, what are the requirements, everything that goes into it. It seems very entry level kind of a topic and we’re surprised we haven’t covered it yet. So we’re very excited to have him here today explaining all the INS and outs of it. So Fernando, if you could just tell us a little bit about yourself, about your law firm and what got you into immigration law? 

Fernando Gireud 

Yes. So my name is Fernando Gireud. Our law firm is called Gireud Hobbs PLC. We’re located here in San Antonio, TX. I have been practicing now immigration law for a little over 10 years, and our firm has been open for about 8 years. And our our fund does several things. We do immigration, we do criminal law. We do. Family law and personal injury. I primarily work on immigration, but I do work on other areas of practice. But at the end of the day, it’s something that I feel comfortable and I love the feeling of being able to help the client realize their ultimate goal and ultimate dream. 

Kleine Powell 

Let’s just jump right into it. Not everyone’s goal when they come to see you as a client is to necessarily become a U.S. citizen. But for those who are wanting to pursue citizenship. What are some different ways that they are able to enter the country? Really. 

Fernando Gireud 

1. Well, the first thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that citizenship has several steps to it. The very first step is finding a way to enter the country legally, as you said. So that can be in many forms. It can be through an employment visa. It could be through a family visa, it could be through. The role of humanitarian parole in certain instances, it could be fiance visas, but there are several ways to potentially enter the country, and even a tourist visa can function to eventually gain your citizenship. But a lot of times when people are coming into the country, their first goal and their first requirement that they will need is to get the residency. And so our firm helps that situation depending on if they’re already in the country or if they’re looking to enter the country. Usually it’s divided into two different sectors and one is the employment. Sector and 1 is a.

Kleine Powell 

Family based sector for the next question, what are some of the eligibility requirements to become a U.S. citizen and do they differ based on the type of visa that you have to enter the country? 

Fernando Gireud 

So as far as the eligibility requirements to be able to become a U.S. citizen, the first requirement is you have to be a resident, so you have to be lawful permanent resident before you are able to petition for your citizenship, and that has one of two paths typically. So if you are, if your spouse petitioned. 33 years after that, if you’re still married to your spouse, you’re eligible to petition for your citizenship, and at that point it usually takes about a year long to be able to get your citizen. But at the end of that you come out, you get a certificate of citizenship. You can now apply for your passport. You can continue doing everything that you were doing as a resident, but you no longer have to worry about renewing your residency every couple of years or every 10 years, depending on the situation. The other aspect of that. Is that when we’re talking about the citizenship requirements, there’s also a five year rule. So if you don’t qualify under your spouse for the three-year rule, anybody who is a resident can apply after five years. So that leaves that door open for a lot of people to apply. Now that’s requirement #1 you need to be a resident for a particular amount of years, whether it’s three years or five years requirement. #2 is a good. Moral character requirement. Over the previous five years, prior to applying for your citizenship, they want to show that you’ve been a person, a good moral character. Now. That could be a subjective term in the sense that it is not based on any particular set of circumstances. It’s based on criminal history. It’s based on paying your taxes in certain cases is based on child support. In certain cases, there’s multiple factors to it, but at the end of the day, what they’re looking is. To make sure that. You aren’t someone who’s causing trouble somewhere safe, right? And so that’s one of the biggest requirements. Now, that being said, in the typical case, someone who stayed out of trouble, someone who pays, you know, is a law abiding, taxpaying citizen. And I should say I’m sorry resident at that point, they’re able to apply and they can move forward on that. There’s also, depending on your age and the amount of time that you’ve been a resident, there’s civics and language exam, and that’s what it comes down to is that you’re given set of 100 questions. You only have to. You’re only asked on ten of those questions, and you have to answer six of them correctly. If you pass that and it’s the civics and government exam, the questions are very straightforward, and that’s done in 2-2 forms. #1 the entire interview usually is is done in English and so. You’re conversing with them. If you’re able to get through the interview that ends up being you passing that. Part of it. But there’s also reading and writing portion, so they ask you. They ask you to read something on the tablet. Usually you’re supposed to read that and answer. And then they also ask you to answer questions in English and writing them form. So it’s the language and civics exam, civics, government exam is all written in oral. And that’s what they have to pass. Finally, there’s continuous presence requirements, the physical presence. Is that 30 months that you have to be in the United States on a typical five year case, the continuous presence is you’re showing that you are a US resident for the last five years and that means that even though you may have taken trips outside of the United States and so forth. That you were still residing in the United States, your main house was in the United States. You’re paying taxes here in the United States and working in the United States. That’s what they’re looking at, but that’s. The. Typical on the on the five year plan and that’s what they’re looking at when they’re for the naturalization and getting your citizenship. But that’s what one of the requirements now. And you spoke earlier about. What it takes for the visas, right? And so one of the issues that people get confused on when they come into my office is they come in and they say, I want to be. Listen, my first question is, are you a resident already? And because you cannot become a citizen without being resident, and so usually when they’re coming in with visas or when they’re looking to obtain a visa to be able to become a resident, I have to go through the steps of that. And and as I previously mentioned, there’s several types of visas. But let’s talk about just the family based ones. So this is the instance where maybe husband or wife comes in and says I want a petition for my spouse and so if they’re already in the United States and they had a legal entry and they came in, whether through a work visa, tourist visa, or another type of visa, that generally qualifies, and then we start what’s called an adjustment. Status process, so we adjust their status from whatever reason. They had tourist visa, work visa, anything like that to that of a permanent resident and so that’s usually one of the steps we take and there the key requirement for an adjustment hearing United States is to make sure they had a lawful entry and that can mean either they entered with the visa or they were paroled into the country. And in some instances, they say I just got married in another country and I want to bring my my. Other husband or wife? In that instance, you go through a process called consular process where you do a petition for them, the I130 petition, and that’s the petition for an alien relative. And once that is approved, the documents are sent over to the US consulate in the country that they’re residing and they go through an interview process there and upon approval, they come in. With temporary residence, residency visa staff, but usually within 2-3 weeks, they have their waffle permanent resident card and are able to reside in the United States. But again, for citizenship you need to be a. 

Speaker 

Soon. 

Kleine Powell 

Right. Honestly, it sounds pretty straightforward when you put it that way. It seems like there’s a very straightforward path, but I’m sure the paths can vary, but for the most part it seems pretty bite sized when you break it down like that. So I’m sure your clients appreciate it when they hear all the different steps on the typical plan as well. So if you could just give. Like a quick range. 

Speaker 

Which? 

Kleine Powell 

Of how long it takes, I mean, I know we said like a typical five year plan, but is that the shortest amount of time? That it could take to. Like maybe 1520 years. 

Fernando Gireud 

So a lot of it is based on USCIS, so and they’re processing times and also the processing times in the US consulate. And if you’re doing a consulate process. So if you’re generally speaking about what an average time to become a US. This and from start to finish and then you go through the residency requirements and everything. The average time I would say for husband and wife for spousal visas would be about 5 years. Assuming they apply for everything on time and at the moment they’re supposed to and that they learn English because as we said English is 1. Of the requirements. There are exceptions which I can get to you in in a little bit regarding the English requirements. But generally speaking, if someone is really motivated to get their citizenship as soon as possible, it’s about a five year time and the reason why is the consular process takes anywhere between a year and a year and a half at what we’re seeing right now for the USCIS. And then once they’re resident, they can apply at the. That that. I’m sorry. The three-year mark and that usually takes about another year to process. So assuming everything goes fast, it’s about a five year process now. Sometimes things happen, for example, husband and wife get divorced and so forth. And at that point it pushes the timeline to the five year requirement and then at that point you’re looking around 7 years total to do. And so generally speaking, if someone’s motivated and wants to get everything as soon as possible and become citizen as soon as possible, learn English. Be able to pass the the the exams that they perform and everything you’re looking at about anywhere between five to seven years. Now in my case what I do see is that a lot of times the biggest hold up is the English language portion and so learning it to the comfortable aspect depending on where you live is what usually holds people up from taking or from applying for citizenship. But you know you get motivated. Equal and they will do everything. They just they they will learn English quickly. They’ll make sure they stay out of trouble and they’ll. Move forward pretty quickly so. 

Kleine Powell 

Yeah. Wow. So what are we looking at in terms of of financial commitment? For citizenship. 

Fernando Gireud 

Their minimum we’re looking around anywhere between 1000 to $2000 to start off the process and then down the line, you’re looking at an extra $1500 that you’re paying and that’s just in government fees could be various fees associated throughout if for whatever reason something happens and you need a waiver or anything like that. But those are the government. Now attorneys fees, they range, I mean there’s a very big range. So I’d be lying if I told you that I knew the range at that point, but it’s something that each attorney varies as to what they want to charge and they charge in various processes. And so attorneys work in different ways. 

Kleine Powell 

Yeah, I’m sure. 

Fernando Gireud 

Some have a payment plan, some charge everything up front, some divide it up into steps. For example, our firm divides it up into steps to make sure you clear each individual step first before. You are paying for the next. 1. And that usually gives our clients a sense of of comfort knowing that we, you know, we don’t charge them until we have completed each individual step in that in that particular circumstance. But those range. But like I said, just to start off, it could be $1000, but the whole process. Is you’re looking at about 5:00 to $6000 in total for just government fees? 

Kleine Powell 

Sure. Yeah. So do you have any client success stories you’d like to share with? 

Speaker 

Yes. 

Fernando Gireud 

Yeah. And and this was something I was thinking about a lot, but I think the one that I am most proud of, we had a client whose sister had gotten had come into United States, had gotten the advice of several attorneys as to how to proceed forward. Ultimately, there was always a question. Of of what happened when she was younger? You know, when she was younger, unfortunately, she ran into some trouble with immigration. She was under the age of 18, but in doing so, she kind of had an immigration record. And so it complicated her case. Nothing that. Worrying me. But the biggest complication in the case was that at one point this client had asked for a asked for a license and was able to get a license previously. Now that particular state she was in automatically registered people to vote, which you’re not allowed to do. As a resident, you’re not allowed to vote until. Citizen she caught wind of this very quickly and and and said I’m I’m not. You know, I don’t have any legal status so I can’t. And it was rescinded very quickly than that. And it wasn’t her choice. It wasn’t a check. The box. If you want to be able to vote or anything like that, but and so ultimately that was one of our saving races, but she had gone to several attorneys and all of them had said now we can’t do this. We can’t do this. This is going to be a big problem. And so we did the petition along with several waivers. You know, we had, we wanted to make sure that she was covered in all fronts and it was a conversation we had with her and where we said, look, we have the. Petition. For everything and ask for a waiver or these circumstances, or you’re always going to be living in that limbo without knowing that. And I I am proud of her because she took a big risk to move forward because the end game of that, if she had failed at that point, whether she possibly could have been an immigration proceedings and going through the whole removal and deportation. And that’s something that she didn’t want to. And she took a big risk and she trusted in us in that in that. And then we got. 

Speaker 

Oh. 

Fernando Gireud 

For a case that complicated, we got one of the fastest decisions I’ve ever heard and we got within four months, her lawful permanent residence status, and she gave me a call during the process I had given to her. Obviously she has her number, but she gave us a call and FaceTime us eventually. 

Speaker 

Wow. 

Fernando Gireud 

Where she was with her mom that she hadn’t seen in 20. 6. Years, and so that was a very touching story because she was able to go back. And they were crying and everything. Of course. I got tears in my eyes as well. You know, seeing this. But she had been told by several people. No, you can’t do this. No, you can’t do this. And after it, it was a process that took us a total of four years. And the reason it took us four years is that we were heavily researching heavily petitioning documents. Sending documents to all the states that she had lived in, trying to get a full record of everything being prepared for anything that came away because. Like I said, it was a complicated case to begin with, but ultimately it was within four months. We got the approval enough. I’ve gotten fast approvals before not based on the fact that. I. You know, once you submit a document, it’s USCIS’s choice how fast they want to prove it. But this one came faster than I expected and I was happy to see that. On something that I expected year and a half. To two years of. Approval. We got it within four months. So that tells me we did a good job of preparing everything and sent it off. And and she was extremely happy to do that. So her and her husband ultimately were able to get adjustment status, become residents. Now she’s this happened within the last year. So she’s four years away from from applying for citizenship, but she’s already looking forward to that. So. 

Kleine Powell 

Ohh wow, that’s such an incredible story. 

Fernando Gireud 

No, it was a great time and we were. Really happy about that situation. 

Kleine Powell 

I bet, yeah, I bet you were so happy when you got that FaceTime call. I probably would have. Cried too, if I. 

Fernando Gireud 

Was in the room just looking forward to the next step and and you know it’s it’s an open case because of the. 

Speaker 

Awesome. Thank you. 

Fernando Gireud 

Just the personal connection we have with her. And then on top of that, because of some of the prior issues, we’re just monitoring the the legal like the, I should say, the case law behind it to make sure that it stays cause her issues kind of a heavily contested issue and it depending on. 

Kleine Powell 

Hmm. 

Fernando Gireud 

I mean, honestly, it depends on what the judge had for lunch. That day, that can change. Completely. And so we’re always monitoring it to see if our ultimate end goal of her becoming a citizen is going to to materialize at. 

Speaker 

Yeah. 

Fernando Gireud 

That point so. 

Kleine Powell 

Right. And we know how finicky US immigration law can be. I mean, USCIS puts out new updates every single day, so that’s true. 

Fernando Gireud 

That’s that’s one of the challenges in immigration law that. Depending on the attorney general, depending on the administration, depending on the circuit you live in, it’s constantly changing and so that’s something we’re always looking into. 

Kleine Powell 

True. Is there anything else that you’d like to share with us before we log off? 

Fernando Gireud 

Yes. So some people I wanted to show this earlier. Uh, some people. Times we never are able to fulfill the language requirement, but there is some specialized rules. They’re called English language exemptions. They still have to do an exam, but they do it in the country. I’m not, not country. I’m sorry. In the language of their choosing, and that’s to start off. It’s if you’re age 50 and have been. The brother for 20 years, you can. Do you examine your language. If your age 55 and have been resident for 15 years, you can do it in the language of your choosing. And then there’s an exemption also for age 65, there’s an exam that’s a little bit. Simplified, I should say, and so that’s an age requirement more so than anything else, but they it’s a simplified exam and they’re able to still do it in the language of their choosing, but not every case requires a language, but a vast majority. Again, if they’re motivated and one with great. Most of the time, you’re going to require knowledge of the and being able to read, write and speak with the English language. 

Kleine Powell 

Right. But it’s great to know those exceptions just in case they ever come up. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re so glad to have you on the show. 

Fernando Gireud 

Yes, thank you very much. 

Narrator 

This podcast has been prepared for general information purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create and receipt of it is not consent. An attorney-client relationship.