There is no doubt that the opportunity of choosing where to live nowadays is greater than ever. There are many factors that make us choose the particular place we live such as career perspectives, the climate, the environment, access to varied entertainment or the distance to our immediate family and relatives. Additionally, it is not only a change of city which is taken into consideration but more and more often it is a change of country. Not only do people want to change the place they live, but a growing number of people want to gain citizenship.
Of course, there are a lot of important requirements concerning obtaining another nationality. For instance, when it comes to the USA, you can visit a special website 'U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (https://www.uscis.gov) where you can find the information about the naturalization process. There are some significant advantages of American citizenship. The first one is you are able to get a passport so that you can travel. You will also be allowed to vote in elections and even run for office. If you have a family, it will be easier for them to emigrate and for your children born abroad to obtain citizenship.
In order to become a U.S. citizen you need to be 18 years old at the time of filling in the application form. A further requirment is the ability to write, read and speak English and to have a basic understanding of the history of the government. You should also be a person of good moral character, who simultaneously obeys the rules and ideas of the U.S. Constitution.
The first step in the naturalization process is filling in the N-400 application form. The second prerequisite is that you have to be living in the United States as a legitimate permanent resident for 5 years, or 3 years if your spouse is a U.S. citizen. You are obliged to stay (physically) in the USA for at least 30 months out of the 5 years immediately predating the day of filling in the application form. You also need to take English and the U.S. Civics exams, and at the end take the Oath of Allegiance to the United States.
As you can see, you have to put a lot of effort into it but if you do, you gain many opportunities when you make such significant change to your life.
