US Citizenship and Integration Program Posts Grant Opportunity

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted an announcement of $5 million grant funding on March 20, 2012. The grants will be available nationwide on a competitive bid basis. The grants help provide citizenship attainment services to U.S. permanent residents.

This grant is part of the US Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, established by USCIS in 2009. The grants fund various citizenship integration and preparation programs across the USA. 29,000 permanent residents have been assisted with $18.3 million in funding since the 2009 inception.

There is a May 7, 2012, deadline for receipt of grant applications from immigrant services organizations. These organizations must offer both naturalization and citizenship instruction services for potentially eligible US permanent residents.

USCIS plans to release the names of the receiving organizations in September 2012. The recipients are expected to total around 31.

Permanent residents could be eligible for Naturalization under the following conditions:

• Applicants are permanent residents for at least 5 years and meet all other eligibility criteria.
• Applicants have 3 years permanent residency and meet all other filing requirements for the spouse of a US citizen.
• A child may qualify if one parent is a US citizen, the child currently lives outside the US and all other eligibility standards are met.