This year was like any other year during the Fourth of July holiday when it came to accepting people into The United States as naturalized citizens. From Thursday, June 29 through Tuesday, July 4, about 15,000 people were sworn in at more than 65 places around the United States, according to the United States Citizen and Immigration Services. The new citizens came from about 50 different countries, such as Canada, Colombia, Iran, Nepal and other places.

Special citizenship-induction ceremonies

Special citizenship-induction ceremonies were held in various places across the country, including national parks, public libraries, gymnasium, stadiums, college campuses, museums, convention centers, aircraft carriers and baseball fields.

About 100 people received citizenship at Mount Vernon, the home of the first President of the United States. A ceremony was held in Monticello, Virginia, the home of Thomas Jefferson.

Some of the other ceremonies were also held at historic sites such as Saratoga National Historic Park in New York state. About 89 people became naturalized citizens at Virginia Historical Society in Richmond, Virginia. Over 500 people gathered at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts on Tuesday and were sworn in.

Qualifications

The process to become a citizen of the United States are not easy. It is a long journey, and it proves that those who become citizens really want to because of the challenge.

In order for immigrants to become United States Citizens, there are certain qualifications that must be met. In most cases, they must have been permanent residents or have had green cards for at least five years. The residency rule is only three years if the citizenship is through marriage. Immigrants must be able to read, write, speak English, and pass an extremely hard citizenship test.

The citizenship test is said to be difficult, but more than 97 percent of applicants pass it. According to a 2012 study, only about two-thirds of Americans could pass the test.

When taking the test to become a citizen, applicants had to answer at least 60 percent of the questions correctly. In other words, they had to answer 6 out of the 10 questions.

The 10 questions were randomly selected from a list of at least 100 questions they were required to study before taking the exam.

Congratulations are in order for all 15,000 new citizens of the United States.
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