Event eases path to citizenship

LACEY – Costa Rican national Jesse Allaria of Mossyrock, who has lived in Washington as a legal permanent resident for 12 years, wants to become a U.S. citizen so she can vote and travel more freely between the United States and Costa Rica.

“I’m ready to be an American,” she said.

Allaria, 42, was one of about 57 people who took the first steps toward becoming a U.S. citizen Saturday by participating in Citizenship Day at the Lacey Senior Center.

The first-time Lacey event was jointly organized by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, an immigration-rights organization called OneAmerica and a state program known as Washington New Americans, said Maria Manza, a communications assistant for Seattle-based OneAmerica. Also contributing were the Korean Women’s Association and more than 30 volunteers, some of whom dispensed legal advice. Others were on hand to translate for people who spoke Korean, Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese.

Washington is home to 170,000 legal permanent residents who are eligible for U.S. citizenship, Manza said.

Citizenship Day was created four years ago by the American Immigration Lawyers Association as a way to help immigrants through a process that can be confusing and expensive, immigration attorney Paul Soreff said. For example, the citizenship application, also known as form N-400, comes with seven pages of instructions for a 10-page application, he said. And although there is a $675-per-person filing fee to apply for citizenship, it can cost up to $2,000 for a private attorney to guide a client through the naturalization process, Soreff said. Attorneys volunteered their time Saturday, he said.

Another challenge facing applicants, who might have limited English skills, are the detailed questions about past work and home addresses and time spent out of the country, he said. Soreff said a big part of their job Saturday was helping people recall their past.

Allaria spent four hours working on her application packet, she said. She said she wasn’t so lucky about 18 months ago, when she responded to an advertisement from a person claiming to be a paralegal who charged her $500 and never completed or mailed in the application. Immigration scams are a common problem, Manza said.

At the end of the day, most people seeking citizenship left with an application packet that was ready to be mailed in, plus copies of their paperwork and information on upcoming steps, Soreff said. Some were told that they were not ready to apply, he said.

“They were going to get something from today,” Soreff said.

Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403

rboone@theolympian.com