Federal citizenship preparation grants now available

2012 Citizenship and Integration Grant Program

By Laura Patching, Acting Chief, USCIS Office of Citizenship

Today we are pleased to announce $5 million in competitive grant funding to expand high quality citizenship preparation services for permanent residents.

Since the creation of the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program in FY 2009, USCIS has awarded a total of $18.3 million through 111 grants to immigrant-serving organizations. These organizations have provided citizenship preparation services to more than 29,000 permanent residents in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

We are inspired by the stories behind the numbers. These programs have a tremendous impact on immigrants who may not have other means to achieve their dream of becoming a citizen. On a recent visit with a grant recipient, our team watched an Ethiopian refugee in her 70s, who according to the instructor had struggled to learn the basics of the English alphabet, write a practice sentence on the board for her class. This student later became a proud citizen of the United States.

In FY 2012, we will continue to support organizations nationwide whose hard work make such success stories possible. This year we will offer one competitive funding opportunity for direct providers of citizenship preparation services. The application package, which is due May 7, 2012, is now available at http://www.grants.gov/. To learn more about the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, please visit www.uscis.gov/grants. We encourage all eligible applicants to apply.