The Certificate of Arrival

All aliens who came to the United States after June 29th, 1906, must secure a Certificate of Arrival. This is the second step. Those who came before this time do not require such a certificate. The application has spaces to show the time, the place, and the manner of arrival in the United States and may be secured free of charge from the Clerk of Court, or, from some agency in the community in which the alien lives which is interested in naturalization. After this request for a Certificate of Arrival is made out, it must be sent to the Bureau of Naturalization, Washington, D. C., and returned with the Certificate of Arrival to the Clerk of the Court to whom the alien has applied for citizenship. The applicant is then notified that his Certificate of Arrival has been received and is instructed to proceed at once with the third step.

Petition for Naturalization The third step is the filing of a Petition for Naturalization, commonly called "Application for Second Papers." This important step is called a petition because the individual is requesting the United States of America to make him one of its citizens.

This Application for Second Papers must be made out at least two years after and not more than seven years after the alien's Declaration of Intention. If he waits more than seven years he must make out a new Declaration or "First Paper " before making application for his second papers as his original Declaration of Intention is of no value.

Within ninety days after the filing of the Petition for Naturalization, the petitioner and his witnesses will be examined by a NATURALIZATION EXAMINER. After the ninety days, if this preliminary ex

amination has proven satisfactory, the alien and his witnesses will be examined a second time, but this time IN OPEN COURT BEFORE THE JUDGE. If the

Court is satisfied that the applicant has met all the requirements of the naturalization law, then the alien will be asked to take the OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.

Two Witnesses

Every alien, in order to make the petition (Petition for Naturalization), must have resided in the United States at least five consecutive years, and at least one year in the State in which the petition is made. He must appear at the office of the Clerk of the Court to file his petition. Two citizens of the United States who have personally known him for five years in the United States, the last of which must be in the State in which he makes his petition, must come with him as witnesses, and be willing to testify to his good and law abiding character and to his respect and love for America and American ideals and institutions.

If the alien has not lived for five years in the state he may bring two witnesses who have known him all of the time he has lived in the State, and secure written statements from two other citizens who knew him while he lived in any other state. The petitioner must also take with him his first papers (the Declaration of Intention), and his notice from the Bureau of Naturalization that his Certificate of Arrival has been sent to the Court.

The Examination

Not less than ninety days after the filing of this petition (Petitition for Naturalization), the applicant must take the fourth and last step in becoming an American citizen. Now he must appear in open court. During the ninety days and before taking this final step, the Federal Government, through its naturalization examiners, conducts a thorough investigation of the

statements made by the petitioner and his witnesses. A naturalization examiner will

question the alien regarding his knowledge of the Government and history of the United States, also about the government of the state and city in which he lives.

Final Papers

The petitioner, after appearing before the examiners, then presents himself in open court. He is examined again by the Judge and if found acceptable, is allowed to take the Oath of Allegiance to the United States. After taking the oath, the new citizen is given a Certificate of Naturalization usually called "Second Papers," which shows him to be an American citizen.

The Oath of Allegiance The oath which the petitioner takes is:

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"I HEREBY DECLARE ON OATH, THAT I ABSOLUTELY AND ENTIRELY RENOUNCE AND ABJURE ALL ALLEGIANCE AND FIDELITY ΤΟ ANY FOREIGN PRINCE, POTENTATE, STATE OR SOVEREIGNTY, AND PARTICULARLY ΤΟ (NAME OF SOVEREIGN OF COUNTRY), OF WHOM I HAVE HERETOFORE BEEN A SUBJECT; THAT I WILL SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC, AND THAT I WILL BEAR TRUE FAITH AND ALLEGIANCE TO THE SAME."

Comply With Law

It is to the interest of an alien desiring citizenship that he comply to the fullest extent with the plain requirements of the naturalization law before filing his petition. Courts may cancel certificates of naturalization when received through fraud, or even under misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the law.

False statements on the part of an alien desiring citizenship, or on the part of his witnesses, are felonies under the Federal. Statutes and are severely punished by fine and imprisonment.

Citizenship Classes

In many parts of the United States, citizenship classes have been organized to meet the needs of aliens taking out their naturalization papers, and these classes should be used by the declarants, and petitioners and their wives wherever possible. The Bureau of Naturalization at Washington is also ready to assist aliens to solve their difficulties in becoming American citizens.

Many fall by the wayside before completing all the necessary steps. During the years from 1907 to 1922, over 3,700,000 Declarations of Intention were filed. Only 1,885,620, or about onehalf, made petitions for their second papers during the same time, and of these, only 1,608,437 secured their final Certificates of Citizenship.

Soldiers and Sailors Honorably discharged soldiers and sailors of foreign birth who served during the World War are exempt from some of these naturalization steps. A veteran

may take his discharge from our army or navy to a naturalization examiner, be identified by two American citizens, and then file his petition for naturalization in the naturalization court most convenient to him. That court will hear his petition immediately, and he can secure, without further trouble, his naturalization certificate as an American citizen.

The Bureau of Naturalization at Washington is ready to advise any foreign born American soldier or sailor regarding his citizenship status.

Citizenship Difficulties

Naturalized citizens, and children of naturalized alienssometimes even the children born in this country of foreign parents, often are faced with serious and confusing citizenship difficulties when they leave this country. One difficulty arises over the fact that some countries-most European and Latin-American countries-claim as their citizens all children born abroad of their own nationals.