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  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2002
PR-030-02
www.nyc.gov


MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ENCOURAGES
ELIGIBLE IMMIGRANTS TO APPLY FOR CITIZENSHIP


Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today encouraged all eligible immigrants to apply for citizenship before the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) increases the naturalization application fee, which becomes effective on February 19, 2002. Federal guidelines require INS to review fees every two years to ensure that it is recovering the costs of providing immigration services. Currently INS charges adult citizenship applicants under 75 years of age $250 and $160 for minor applicants under the age of 18. Applications postmarked on or after February 19th will require that new fees be applied. The new fees will be $310 and $185 respectively.

"New York City gets its strength from the diversity of its immigrants who enrich our communities," said Mayor Bloomberg. "It is important that they are aware of the services we provide to assist them in the process of becoming naturalized citizens of this great nation."

The Mayor encouraged that immigrants use the free services that Citizenship NYC (CNYC) offers. CNYC is a New York City program created to help immigrants become naturalized citizens of the United States. For individuals who live in New York City, CNYC provides the following services free of charge:

CNYC staffers speak English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Haitian, Creole,
Polish, Korean, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Tagalog, Ukranian, Georgian, Uzbeki, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, Hebrew, Italian, French, Vietnamese, Khmer and Portuguese. As a naturalized citizen, you can vote, carry a US passport, pass on citizenship automatically to your minor children, obtain your family members' visas more rapidly, qualify for certain government and military positions, and share the same eligibility for public benefits as natural-born US citizens. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call CNYC's multi-lingual hotline Monday through Friday 9AM-5PM at 1-888-374-5100.


www.nyc.gov

Contact: Edward Skyler / Lark-Marie Anton
(212) 788-2958