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For immigrants, becoming a US citizen is about much more than paperwork. It is about stability, opportunity, and finally having a full voice in the country you call home. While the naturalization process can feel intimidating at first, knowing the steps involved and getting expert assistance can make your experience more successful.

Những rào cản hiện tại trong việc xin quốc tịch 

Because of current White House administration policies that often seek to deter and persecute immigrants rather than helping them obtain citizenship, the naturalization process is now more challenging than it has been in previous years. Here are some of the current barriers to citizenship for immigrants in the United States.

Một quy trình dài, phức tạp và tốn kém.

Đối với phần lớn người nhập cư, con đường trở thành công dân bao gồm nhiều bước phức tạp, chẳng hạn như thiết lập tình trạng cư trú hợp pháp vĩnh viễn, đáp ứng các yêu cầu về điều kiện, và vượt qua quy trình nộp đơn, phỏng vấn và thi. Những bước này có thể tốn nhiều thời gian, phức tạp và thường tốn kém.

Đánh giá nghiêm ngặt hơn về “Phẩm chất đạo đức tốt”

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has implemented stricter policies for assessing “good moral character,” a key requirement for naturalization. This could lengthen processing times and give officers greater discretion in denying applications.

Yêu cầu khắt khe hơn cho kỳ thi quốc tịch

Recent changes to the civics test required for naturalization have increased the difficulty of the exam and expanded the number of questions applicants must answer, creating a higher bar to pass this core step in the citizenship process.

Các chính sách ảnh hưởng đến tình trạng pháp lý và quyền công dân

Những thay đổi rộng rãi trong chính sách nhập cư đã tạo ra những rào cản đối với việc cấp thẻ xanh, visa tạm thời và quyền truy cập vào quốc tịch Mỹ, bao gồm việc xử lý chậm hơn và kiểm tra kỹ lưỡng hơn về lý lịch của người nộp đơn.

Mỗi yếu tố trong số này đều góp phần tạo ra một con đường đầy thách thức và bất định hơn cho những người nhập cư đang tìm cách trở thành công dân Hoa Kỳ.

Những điều người nhập cư có thể làm

The US government provides clear guidance on the naturalization process, and many community organizations are available to help along the way, including trusted nonprofits such as Michigan Đoàn kết.

Cách nộp đơn xin quốc tịch Hoa Kỳ

Here’s the step-by-step process for applying to become a US citizen.

Bước 1: Đảm bảo bạn đủ điều kiện

Before you apply for citizenship, you must confirm that you meet the basic eligibility requirements for naturalization. Most applicants must:

• Phải từ 18 tuổi trở lên.
  
• Trở thành cư dân thường trú hợp pháp với Thẻ Xanh.
  
• Đã sinh sống tại Hoa Kỳ với tư cách là cư dân thường trú ít nhất năm năm, hoặc ba năm nếu kết hôn với công dân Hoa Kỳ.
  
• Có cư trú liên tục và hiện diện thực tế tại Hoa Kỳ.
  
• Thể hiện phẩm chất đạo đức tốt.
  
• Có khả năng đọc, viết và nói tiếng Anh cơ bản, với một số trường hợp ngoại lệ.
  
• Có kiến thức đầy đủ về lịch sử và chính phủ Hoa Kỳ.

Một số ứng viên có thể đủ điều kiện để được miễn trừ hoặc hỗ trợ, bao gồm người cao tuổi hoặc những người có một số khuyết tật.

Bước 2: Hoàn thành Mẫu N-400

The formal application for citizenship is Form N-400, or the Application for Naturalization. Applicants can file online or submit a paper application by mail.

Mẫu đơn yêu cầu cung cấp thông tin chi tiết về lịch sử cư trú, tình trạng việc làm, gia đình và các chuyến đi ra nước ngoài của bạn. Cơ quan Quản lý Nhập cư và Quốc tịch Hoa Kỳ (USCIS) nhấn mạnh tính chính xác và trung thực, vì những sai sót có thể gây trì hoãn quá trình xử lý hoặc dẫn đến các câu hỏi bổ sung sau này. Trước khi nộp đơn, bạn nên chuẩn bị các tài liệu hỗ trợ như bản sao Thẻ Xanh, hồ sơ thuế và các tài liệu liên quan đến hôn nhân hoặc ly hôn (nếu có).

Bước 3: Thanh toán phí đăng ký hoặc yêu cầu miễn phí.

Phí nộp đơn xin nhập tịch tiêu chuẩn là vài trăm đô la, mặc dù số tiền chính xác có thể thay đổi. Ví dụ, tính đến tháng 8 năm 2025, phí này là $760.

If paying the full fee poses a hardship, some applicants may qualify for a fee reduction or waiver based on income or participation in public assistance programs. 

Bước 4: Tham dự buổi hẹn lấy dấu vân tay

After the USCIS receives your application, you will be scheduled for a biometrics appointment. At this appointment, the USCIS collects fingerprints, photographs, and a signature for background and security checks. This step is routine and usually brief, but it is required before moving forward in the process.  Btw, the photo taken here will be used on your naturalization certificate.

Bước 5: Chuẩn bị cho buổi phỏng vấn và các bài kiểm tra

The naturalization interview is one of the most important steps, so it is important to prepare thoroughly. During the interview, a USCIS officer will review your application and ask questions to confirm your eligibility. You will also take two tests as part of your naturalization exam:

• Một bài kiểm tra tiếng Anh bao gồm kỹ năng nói (không có bài kiểm tra cụ thể, mà kỹ năng này được đánh giá trong quá trình phỏng vấn), kỹ năng đọc (3 lần đọc to một câu) và kỹ năng viết (3 lần viết một câu được đọc cho nghe).
  
• Một bài kiểm tra kiến thức công dân về lịch sử và chính phủ Hoa Kỳ (ứng viên phải trả lời đúng 12 trong số tối đa 20 câu hỏi; bài kiểm tra kết thúc khi câu hỏi thứ 12 được trả lời đúng).

If you do not pass one portion of the test the first time, the USCIS allows a second attempt, which reduces pressure for many applicants. Note: the officer conducting the interview does not make the final decision, only a recommendation.  Some officers will tell you what their recommendation is, others will say, “I cannot make a decision in your case today”.

People who are 50 years old+ AND who have been a lawful permanent resident for 20+ years at the time of filing are exempt from the English and literacy requirements (and do NOT take an equivalent in their own language). The same applies to people who are 55 years old and have been residents for 15 years. These people may also take an interpreter to the interview (family members are not recommended as they may be rejected by the USCIS officer on the basis of ethical conflict).

Also, people who have a chronic physical, mental or developmental disability can have their doctor or psychologist complete form N-648 explaining how they are incapable of learning English or the civics test.  This is very difficult to obtain, and does not apply to an applicant merely because they have high blood pressure or a broken leg.

Bước 6: Nhận quyết định và tuyên thệ

After the interview, the USCIS will issue a decision. If approved, the final step is attending a naturalization ceremony and taking the Oath of Allegiance, at which point immigrants officially become US citizens. Once the oath is complete, new citizens receive a Certificate of Naturalization and gain full rights, including voting and eligibility for certain federal jobs.

Cách nhận hỗ trợ 

While it is possible to apply for citizenship on your own, many immigrants choose to work with nonprofits that offer legal services, citizenship classes, and application support. These organizations help applicants understand requirements, avoid common mistakes, and feel confident walking into interviews and tests.

Michigan United là một ví dụ điển hình về sự hỗ trợ dựa trên cộng đồng. Thông qua các dịch vụ pháp lý và lớp học về công dân, tổ chức này giúp người nhập cư chuẩn bị hồ sơ, ôn thi kiến thức công dân và vượt qua quy trình nhập tịch một cách rõ ràng và tôn trọng. Đối với những người nhập cư mong muốn sự hướng dẫn đáng tin cậy và hỗ trợ phù hợp với văn hóa, các chương trình công dân phi lợi nhuận có thể biến quy trình phức tạp thành một hành trình dễ quản lý và đầy sức mạnh, hướng tới sự tham gia đầy đủ vào cuộc sống công dân Mỹ.

Nhận sự hỗ trợ để trở thành công dân Hoa Kỳ cùng Michigan United

Michigan Đoàn kết is a broad, statewide coalition working to reform our broken health care and immigration systems, protect our environment, end mass incarceration, and make essential services accessible to all. 

Our citizenship classes are at the heart of our mission. Our team is dedicated to helping immigrants obtain citizenship, affording them essential rights and protections enjoyed by US citizens.

Through our citizenship classes and English classes, we equip adult immigrants with the knowledge and skills necessary to pass the naturalization exam. By doing so, we aim to help them secure full US citizenship so they can access valuable rights and protections such as voting, federal job opportunities, retirement security, education options, and active participation in civic life.

Join us in our quest to create a more just and inclusive society for all. You can do this in whichever way works best for you. You can also join us as a Michigan United member or donate today!

Every year in April, people gather in Lansing, Michigan to make their voices heard at the state’s center of government. Capitol Day is a statewide event that brings Michigan residents together to speak directly with lawmakers, connect with community leaders, and advocate for policies that affect their daily lives. In 2026, Capitol Day is on April 29.

Capitol Day is more than just a rally or a meeting. It’s a hands-on experience in civic engagement that helps everyday people participate in shaping Michigan’s future.

Organized by Michigan United and partner organizations, the event will include a full day of activities at the Michigan state capitol building, typically running from morning through late afternoon. Participants travel from across the state to take part in the event, and organizers frequently provide transportation from major cities such as Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint, and Saginaw to ensure people from many communities can attend.

The goal is simple but powerful: to ensure that the voices of ordinary Michiganders are heard in the halls where their state laws and policies are made.

What Happens on Capitol Day

Capitol Day combines education, organizing, and direct advocacy. Throughout the day, Michigan voters learn about key policy issues and engage in activities designed to strengthen civic participation.

Typical elements of the event include:

• Meetings with state lawmakers. Participants have the opportunity to speak directly with legislators about the issues affecting their communities.

• Policy-related speeches and storytelling. Youth leaders, organizers, and community members share personal experiences that highlight why certain policies matter.

• A large public rally. The rally at the Capitol demonstrates unity and collective support for key causes.

• Networking and coalition-building. Residents from different parts of the state connect with each other and build relationships that strengthen future advocacy efforts.

These activities allow participants to see how their government works firsthand while actively participating in the democratic process.

Key Issues to Address on Capitol Day

While the specific agenda may vary from year to year, Capitol Day typically focuses on policies that impact economic opportunity, public health, and democratic participation.

Examples of issues frequently highlighted include:

• Progressive taxation and economic fairness
• Campaign finance reform
• Universal healthcare access
• Reproductive justice
• Voting rights protections

These topics reflect concerns that affect communities throughout Michigan. By raising these issues collectively, participants help to ensure that policymakers understand how government decisions affect everyday residents.

The Vital Role of Community Organizing in a Functional Democracy

Capitol Day is closely connected to the broader practice of community organizing. Community organizing involves bringing people together to identify shared problems, build collective power, and take action for change.

Rather than relying only on elected officials or institutions to solve problems, organizing encourages communities to take an active role in shaping policies that affect them. Grassroots advocacy can address issues such as housing affordability, access to healthcare, environmental protection, voting rights, and more.

Community organizing also helps develop new leaders. By participating in campaigns, meetings, and public demonstrations, residents learn how to communicate with their neighbors and policymakers to advocate effectively for their communities. Events like Capitol Day provide a powerful platform for these grassroots efforts, bringing together hundreds of people who share the goal of creating positive change across the state.

Why Civic Participation Matters In Michigan

Democracy works best when people actively participate in it. Civic engagement empowers residents to influence decisions that shape their schools, healthcare systems, workplaces, and communities.

Advocates emphasize that civic participation includes more than voting. It should involve attending public meetings, organizing neighbors, contacting elected officials, and participating in demonstrations or advocacy days like Capitol Day. These actions help ensure that government policies reflect the needs and experiences of the people they serve.

When residents participate in the policymaking process, they help strengthen democratic institutions and hold leaders accountable for the decisions they make.

Why Michiganders Should Register to Attend

Capitol Day provides a rare opportunity for residents to interact directly with the people who make state policy. Attending allows participants to:

• Speak directly with decision-makers. Conversations with lawmakers give residents the chance to share personal stories and community concerns.

• Build connections with advocates across the state. Meeting people from other cities and neighborhoods strengthens statewide collaboration.

• Learn how Michigan’s government works. Participants gain insight into the legislative process and how policy decisions are made.

• Demonstrate collective community power. Large gatherings show lawmakers that many residents care deeply about the issues being discussed.

Most importantly, attending Capitol Day reminds participants that democracy depends on active participation. Community organizing helps transform individual voices into collective influence capable of shaping policy and creating lasting change.

A Chance to Make Your Voice Heard

For many people, it can feel difficult to influence government decisions. Capitol Day offers a clear path for doing exactly that. By gathering in Lansing with neighbors, advocates, and community leaders, Michiganders can demonstrate that ordinary residents still have the power to shape their state’s future.

Registering to attend Capitol Day is not just about showing up for one event. It is about taking part in larger movement-building to ensure that Michigan’s policies reflect the needs, experiences, and hopes of the people who call the state home.

Join Michigan United on Capitol Day

Michigan United is a broad, statewide coalition working to reform our broken healthcare and immigration systems, protect our environment, end mass incarceration, and make essential services accessible to all. 

On Wednesday, April 29, we’re not just showing up in Lansing. We’re sending a message from the working class to the halls of corporate power: We see what you’re doing, and we’re fighting back.

Across the country and here in Michigan, the attacks are escalating — on our freedoms, our schools, our paychecks, our healthcare, and our very democracy. While billionaires and lobbyists write the rules, working people are left to pick up the pieces. That ends now.

Capitol Day 2026 is a statewide demonstration of people power. Michigan United, Reproductive Freedom for All Michigan, and a statewide coalition are bringing the fight to the Capitol with a full day of collective resistance from 9 am to 5 pm. Coalition members are: ACLU Michigan, Black Voters Matter, Fems for Democracy, Michigan Chamber of Reproductive Justice, The Michigan Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Michigan League for Public Policy, Michigan Voices, Our Own Wall Street, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, Project Uplift, and the Voting Access for All Coalition.

We’re demanding reproductive freedom, universal healthcare, corporate accountability, and a tax system that works for the people — not the rich.

Free transportation from Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint, and Saginaw will get you there. Register today!

Questions? Reach out to edillon@miunited.org. We’ll see you there!

The phrase “environmental justice” might sound like a strange, abstract concept, but for millions of people, it shows up in very real ways each day. It shapes the quality of the air we breathe, the water that comes out of our taps, and the safety of the neighborhoods we call home. Understanding environmental justice helps explain why some communities face greater environmental risks than others and why addressing those gaps is essential for public health, fairness, and long-term resilience.

What Is Environmental Justice?

Environmental justice refers to the principle that all people deserve equal protection from environmental harms as well as equal access to healthy, safe places to live, work, and play. It focuses on communities that have historically faced higher exposure to pollution and environmental hazards while also having less political and economic power to prevent or address those risks.

Environmental justice is not only about environmental conditions themselves but also about who benefits from environmental protection and who bears the burden of environmental damage. Decisions about where highways are built, where industrial facilities operate, and how waste is managed have long-lasting consequences for nearby residents, particularly when those residents have limited influence over policy decisions.

Understanding the Environmental Justice Movement and Why It Matters

The environmental justice movement emerged in response to these inequities. The movement gained national attention in the 1980s when communities of color began organizing against the disproportionate siting of toxic waste facilities in their neighborhoods. Since then, the movement has expanded to include environmental justice issues such as climate change, access to clean water, air quality, and safe housing.

Research from the University of Michigan emphasizes that environmental injustice often overlaps with economic and racial inequality. Communities facing environmental hazards are more likely to experience higher rates of asthma, heart disease, and other chronic health conditions as well as economic barriers that make relocation or remediation difficult.

Environmental justice is important because it recognizes that environmental protection concerns are also public health and civil rights concerns. When the most vulnerable communities are overburdened by pollution, the impacts can affect generations through long-term health consequences, reduced educational outcomes, and limited economic opportunity. Addressing environmental justice helps ensure that environmental benefits and protections are shared equitably across society.

Environmental Justice Challenges in Michigan

The state of Michigan offers a clear example of how environmental injustice can develop over time and why it remains a pressing concern. The state’s industrial history has left many communities dealing with persistent environmental hazards that disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color.

Toxic Industrial Pollution

Michigan has a long history of industrial activity, particularly in manufacturing and automotive production. Many socially and economically disadvantaged communities have been exposed to hazardous substances from factories, landfills, and legacy pollution sites. These exposures increase risks for respiratory illness, cancer, and other serious health problems.

Water Contamination and Infrastructure Failures

The notorious Flint water crisis remains one of the most widely recognized examples of environmental racism in the United States. Decisions made without community input led to lead-contaminated drinking water, exposing residents to severe health risks and long-term consequences that persist today. While the Flint crisis is often discussed as a single event, similar infrastructure challenges continue to affect other Michigan communities.

Waste and Hazardous Material Disposal

Michigan has been described as a dumping ground for waste from other states and even other countries. The Sierra Club of Michigan reports that communities are pushing back against proposals that would increase hazardous waste disposal and radioactive material storage, often in areas already burdened by pollution. These sites are frequently located near marginalized communities with limited political leverage.

Climate Change Impacts on Vulnerable Communities

Some Michigan cities have been labeled climate havens due to their access to fresh water and relatively mild weather. However, recent reporting highlights that these communities are still vulnerable to flooding, extreme heat, and infrastructure strain. Climate-related risks tend to hit lower-income neighborhoods harder due to older housing, aging power infrastructure, political corruption among utilities, limited green space, and fewer resources for adaptation.

Together, these issues illustrate how environmental harms are rarely isolated problems. They intersect with housing, transportation, public health, and economic inequality, reinforcing long-standing disparities across Michigan.

Supporting Environmental Justice Through Community Action

Improving environmental justice requires collective action at the local, state, and national levels. For Michiganders and for all Americans, getting involved with social justice organizations is one of the most effective ways to create meaningful change.

Michigan Đoàn kết works with communities across the state to address environmental injustice alongside broader issues such as housing, workers’ rights, and civic engagement. Through its initiatives, Michigan United supports grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, and community education. These work to reduce pollution, protect public health, and ensure that impacted residents have a voice in decision-making.

By engaging with nonprofits that center community leadership and systemic change, individuals can help push for cleaner air and water, stronger environmental protections, and a more equitable future. 

Achieve Environmental Justice for All With Michigan United

Michigan Đoàn kết is a broad, statewide coalition working to reform our broken health care and immigration systems, protect our environment, end mass incarceration, and make essential services accessible to all. To build that kind of power, we need to organize 3.5% of the state’s population, starting with you.

We’re at a critical moment in our nation’s history as we prepare to confront the troubling realities of the current White House administration. Working families are under attack — from Lansing to D.C. — and we’re fighting back. If you’re wondering what you can do, Michigan United is here for you. We have campaigns in place to protect Michiganders from all forms of injustice, which means you can make a difference in all the areas that matter to you, right here, all in one place.

As a member of Dự án 3.5, you’ll gain the listening, communication, and planning skills to become an effective advocate for the people in your neighborhood. This is your chance to become the leader you’ve always wanted to see. Join us in our quest to create a more just and inclusive society for all.

You can do this in whichever way works best for you. You can also join us as a Michigan United member or donate today!