More than 300,000 immigrants may not become US citizens in time for presidential election

PHOENIX – Alex Beric, a 44-year-old immigrant from England, applied for naturalisation in May 2019.

He was hoping to become a United States citizen in time to vote in the presidential election this November.

But now he is one of more than 300,000 immigrants at risk of not becoming citizens in time to cast ballots after the federal agency in charge of processing naturalisation applications suspended in-person interviews and oath ceremonies this spring amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"It would be fairly disappointing," said Beric, who came to the US in 2004 and lives in Gilbert. 

"My wife and I have made our life here. We have no intention to return to England, so it would be nice to take part in local and federal elections."

US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that processes immigration benefits, notified Beric in early March that his naturalisation interview, which is done in-person, had been scheduled for April 21.

Shortly after, Beric said he received another notification that his naturalisation interview would be rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

More than three months later, Beric, a software product manager, is still waiting for his naturalisation interview to be rescheduled.

Meanwhile, time is running out. The deadline in Arizona to register to vote in the November 3 general election is October 8, according to the Arizona Secretary of State's Office.

A big budget shortfall only got worse with the pandemic

In March, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced all in-person naturalisation interviews had been suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, said Randy Capps, director of research for US programmes at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit research organization.

The agency also suspended naturalisation oath ceremonies, the final step immigrants go through to become US citizens after passing their naturalisation interview, Capps said.

USCIS resumed oath ceremonies in June and is conducting in-person naturalisation interviews, an agency spokesperson said.

Voter registration deadlines vary by state.

In most states, the deadline is in October.

A handful of states allow voters to register in person on Election Day.

About 315,000 immigrants may not be able to vote in the November election because their citizenship applications won't be completed in time, according to an analysis of previous USCIS data by Boundless Immigration, a technology company that helps immigrants navigate the system.

Source: USA Today

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