Path To U.S. Citizenship
A lawful permanent resident can apply for United States citizenship, or naturalization, after five years of residency. This period is shortened to three years if married to a U.S. citizen. Lawful Permanent Residents may submit their applications for naturalization as early as 90 days before meeting the residency requirement. Citizens are entitled to more rights (and obligations) than permanent residents (who are still classified as aliens in this respect). Lawful Permanent Residents generally do not have the right to vote, the right to be elected in federal and state elections, the ability to bring family members to the United States (permanent residents are allowed to sponsor certain family members, but this is often not practical due to long approval delays), or eligibility for federal government jobs. Male permanent residents between the ages of 18 and 26 are subject to registering in the Selective Service System. Permanent residents who reside in the United States must pay taxes on their worldwide income, like U.S. citizens.
Read more about this topic: Permanent Residence (United States)
Famous quotes containing the words path to, path and/or citizenship:
“Childhood is an adventure both for children and for their parents. There should be freedom to explore and joy in discovery. The important discoveries for both parents and children seldom come at the points where the path is smooth and straight. It is the curves in that path to adventure that make the trip interesting and worthwhile.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“It is the way unseen, the certain route,
Where ever bound, yet thou art ever free;
The path of Him, whose perfect law of love
Bids spheres and atoms in just order move.”
—Jones Very (1831–1880)
“I would wish that the women of our country could embrace ... [the responsibilities] of citizenship as peculiarly their own. If they could apply their higher sense of service and responsibility, their freshness of enthusiasm, their capacity for organization to this problem, it would become, as it should become, an issue of profound patriotism. The whole plane of political life would be lifted.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)