ReWA’s Citizenship Clinic in Lake City last month was packed to capacity and served 43 people from 22 countries. Our Citizenship Program staff members, Oksana Bilobran, Annie Henderson, and Yennhi Le, as well as volunteers and staff from our clinic partner, International Rescue Committee, completed at least 23 naturalization applications.
Under the Trump Administration the backlog of citizenship applications processed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has increased dramatically with wait times up from 3 months to 12 months. ReWA’s immigration attorney, Oksana Bilobran, said any client who wants to vote in the 2020 election should start the citizenship application process as soon as possible. The next Citizenship Clinic will be April 13, hosted by Catholic Community Services at 100 23rd Ave, Seattle.