The USCIS Awards FY 2021 Citizenship and Integration Grants

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services have announced on September 20, 2021, an award of $10 million in grants to 40 organizations that prepare lawful permanent residents for naturalization. Additionally, these grants will also aim to promote prospective citizens’ by funding educational programs that are created to aid in the increase of English, United States History, and civics. These organizations are located in 25 states and will be receiving funding through September 2023.

If you have questions or concerns about this new grant and would like to learn more, our experienced New York immigration attorneys are dedicated to ensuring that you are provided the information you need. Contact Katona & Associates, PLLC today.

Who Are the Grant Recipients?

The grant recipients are public or private non-profit organizations with recent experience providing citizenship instruction and naturalization application assistance to lawful permanent residents. The Citizenship Instruction and Naturalization Application Services and the Refugee and Asylee Integration Services have funded these opportunities, allowing public or private nonprofit organizations to receive the grants. These organizations include community and faith-based groups, public libraries, and adult education and literacy organizations.

In FY 2021, the recipient organizations will aim to serve both traditional immigrant population centers and rising immigrant population centers in 25 states. Grant recipients will implement citizenship preparation services to approximately 25,000 lawful permanent residents who have come from more than 50 countries around the world. The grant recipients include:

• Eight out of the top 10 states with the greatest increase in their lawful permanent resident population between FY 2017 and 2019, including California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania; and
• Eight out of the top 10 states with the most naturalizations between FY 2016 and 2018, including California, New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington.
• Eight out of the top 10 metropolitan areas with the most naturalizations between FY 2017 and 2019, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta.

If you are unsure about how this may affect you and your immigration status, do not hesitate to reach out to our experienced New York immigration firm to learn more.

How Does the Review Process Work?

The USCIS has reviewed more than 95 eligible applications using two-member teams to assess each plan. The reviewers involved were required to score applications numerically using published evaluation criteria. The USCIS then ranked the applications based on their average scores. The USCIS internal review panel decided the final list of recipients based on the ranked order, as well as the published strategic program priorities found on page 18 of the notice of funding opportunity.

Contact Our Firm

Katona & Associates, PLLC is an experienced, highly dedicated New York City immigration law firm located in lower Manhattan. Our firm works with clients in all matters of immigration law, including employment immigration, family immigration, deportation defense, green cards, and citizenship. Contact us to discuss your case and get the help you need.