Making Citizenship Possible –
On Saturday, May 16, 2015, The San Francisco Pathways to Citizenship Initiative held a Mega Naturalization Workshop, in which members of our law firm participated.
The San Francisco Pathways to Citizenship Initiative (SF pathways) is a three-year public, private partnership between the City’s Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA), six philanthropic organizations, and seven expert community based naturalization service providers who develop new approaches, methodologies, and service delivery models to promote citizenship and civic participation among San Francisco’s citizenship-eligible immigrants. Service providers offer legal advice, application assistance, language services, fee waiver application assistance, and other services.
The goals of the Initiative include: informing immigrants about citizenship; fraud prevention; outreach; fostering teamwork among local government, business, education and immigrant communities; promoting active engagement among newly naturalized citizens; and encouraging meaningful participation to the communities’ overall success and prosperity.
Our staff participated as preliminary intake assistants and N-400 form fillers. The outpour of volunteers was phenomenal. Over 600 volunteers participated and assisted the waves of applicants who filled the civic auditorium in San Francisco.
The Mayor of San Francisco spoke at the event, among other local community leaders.
The event was very well organized and assisted many people looking to become citizens. Unfortunately, many applicants seeking help had their cases mistreated before by a bad attorney or unlicensed form-fillers who do not understand the law. The problem of fraud and scams still runs rampant. Be very cautious of unlicensed “notarios” when seeking immigration help. It is not worth their fees if it ruins your case. And, remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is a scam.
For further information about the event: https://sfpathways2citizenship.wordpress.com/