More green card holders are becoming US citizens

Having a green card has certain benefits for immigrants who live in the U.S. They can travel in and out of the country more easily. They can get a Social Security card. And they can help their spouse and children immigrate.

But in recent years, increasing numbers of green-card holders have decided to take the next step and become naturalized U.S. citizens. Last year, 843,593 immigrants took the oath—the highest number in 11 years—according to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Immigration Statistics.

The process takes up to a year, costs $725 and requires applicants to pass a citizenship test, among other hurdles. But it also affords newly minted citizens additional benefits, including the right to vote.

This year, more than 23 million naturalized citizens were eligible to vote in the presidential election—making up roughly 10% of the nation’s electorate, the highest share since 1970—according to the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C.

Periodic increases in naturalizations might have to do with anticipated changes in fees or the implementation of new laws, according to Irene Bloemraad, a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who contributed to a 2015 National Academies of Sciences report on the integration of immigrants.

In the past, naturalization petitions rose after passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which legalized many unauthorized foreign born, Dr. Bloemraad said, and after the Immigration Act of 1990, which increased statutory limits on the number of legal immigrants admitted.

This year, the cost of becoming a naturalized citizen was expected to nearly double in October—which might have motivated some green-card holders to get their citizenship—but the proposed increase was delayed after immigrant-rights organizations sued.

It’s also not unusual for naturalization increases to occur near a presidential election, Dr. Bloemraad said, pointing to “huge spikes” around the 1996, 2000 and 2008 elections.

There was no jump in 2016, she said, and this year, in the midst of a pandemic that caused immigration offices to temporarily close for several months, the number of naturalizations is down.

Still, approximately 625,000 green-card holders have become citizens this year as of Nov. 1, according Dan Hetlage, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Here’s the story of one of those immigrants, shared in a letter to The Wall Street Journal.

“On Oct. 7, I entered the USCIS building at 7:30 a.m. a French immigrant and came out a couple hours later an American citizen,” said Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy, a freelance journalist who has lived in the U.S. for 21 years. “While answering the questions I had carefully studied for my test and while being asked about my background, I was inundated by memories of my time in this country and what it meant to me to become a citizen.”

Mrs. Bizouati-Kennedy said she thought about historical figures like Abraham Lincoln (Question 75 in USCIS study guide: “What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?”); recently deceased civil-rights icons like Rep. John Lewis (Question 21: “The House of Representatives has how many voting members?”); and citizens like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. (Question 9: “What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?”)

But she also thought about family, friends and her own history.

“I thought of my first days here, with my then 5½-year-old son, dropping him to his first day of school, my heart breaking for him, as he was not speaking a word of English beyond ‘hello’ and ‘thank you.’”

Within months, she said, he was correcting her accent.

“I thought of my beautiful son, years later, attending one of the best public high schools in New York City thanks to his hard work, involved in so many different activities. I thought of him so proud, singing the National Anthem with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus in front of President Obama at the 10th year anniversary of 9/11 in New York City.”

She also remembered her son’s wish to become a naturalized citizen as she answered questions he never would. In 2012, just before turning 18 years old, Keanu, her son, died suddenly.

“I cried when the immigration officer asked me about him. I carried him, his voice, his smile and his soul with me during these two hours. I became American for us two.”

Mrs. Bizouati-Kennedy said she also thought about the concerts, parties and museums she had attended over the years; her favorite bodega and the Yemeni owners who knew what she wanted before she asked; the book she recently co-wrote; and Brooklyn, where she spent 17 years before moving to Florida with her husband, Paul, an American she married three years ago.

“I thought about all of this. These little moments, these big moments, these important, beautiful, heartbreaking moments, which make a life and make you belong to a country.”

After receiving her certificate of naturalization and awash in memories, she stepped outside the immigration office “elated, flooded with emotions, wearing my mask and waving the little American flag given to me.”

Then, in the parking lot, on a website she could access with her cellphone, she did something only a citizen can do.

She registered to vote.

Write to Jo Craven McGinty at Jo.McGinty@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

Approximately 625,000 green-card holders have become citizens this year as of Nov. 1. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that 265,384 green-card holders have become citizens this year as of Nov. 1. (Corrected on Nov. 13, 2020)