Each year on Nov. 11, we honor those who have risked their lives to serve in the United States Armed Forces. Veterans Day is a federal holiday and is often celebrated with nationwide parades and events. This year, USCIS will celebrate Veterans Day by hosting nearly 40 naturalization ceremonies throughout the week.
USCIS will highlight service members, military spouses and veterans taking the Oath of Allegiance to become U.S. citizens. In all, USCIS will welcome more than 3,000 new citizens at these ceremonies.
On Nov. 10, USCIS held one special ceremony not only celebrating Veterans Day, but also the 239th anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps. The ceremony was held at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, and was presented by USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez.
Other special ceremonies this week will take place at historic locations such as the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida, and the Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
In addition, five recruits will become U.S. citizens at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego through the Naturalization at Basic Training Initiative. The program, developed with the Department of Defense, allows enlisted service members to complete the naturalization process through basic training.
Since September of 2002, USCIS has naturalized more than 102,000 service members, including individuals serving in Afghanistan, Germany, Iraq, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere.
For more information on naturalization through the military please visit: https://berardiimmigrationlaw.com/immigration-blog/u-s-citizenship-active-duty-military-personnel.
USCIS also added a digital aspect to this Veterans Day celebration. They invited the newly inducted citizens to post photos and experiences on their Facebook page and also on Twitter, using the hashtag #newUScitizen. You can access the USCIS Facebook page at https://Users/davidlewis/Sites/berardi/app/public.facebook.com/uscis and the Twitter page at https://twitter.com/USCIS.
If you have questions on obtaining U.S. citizenship, please contact Berardi Immigration Law to schedule a consultation with one of our attorney’s today!