For David Flanagan, the seeds of becoming a United States citizen were planted when he was in college in his native Ireland. There he developed a friendship with Deborah, a fellow student in one of his classes. That friendship blossomed over time and the pair began an overseas relationship before they decided to marry.
The Galway, Ireland, native, who has lived in the United States for 10 years, said their marriage did not automatically grant him citizenship in his new country. It would have been the same had they chosen to make Ireland their home; his wife, a U.S. citizen from Texas, would have had to go through a citizenship process there.
Flanagan, 39 of East Texas, said the couple chose to live in the U.S. primarily because of the abundance of career opportunities.
That decision started a long and costly process for Flanagan. The citizenship application involves various fees for each filing in a step-by-step process. You must live in the U.S. legally — with the proper documentation — for three years before you can even apply for citizenship, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The entire nationalization process is said to average 18 to 24 months. Filing for the paper application, the N-400, is $760 with a $50 price break if you file online.
For people such as Flanagan and hundreds of thousands of other immigrants, opportunities in the U.S. are believed to outweigh the time and cost of citizenship.
“Ireland has a good economy, but it’s very much centralized around Dublin, whereas here, we knew that cost of living was better and that career opportunities were a lot more abundant,” he said. “Even now, all of my family is back in Ireland and it’s a lot more difficult for them financially over there because everything is so much more expensive.”
The process of becoming a U.S. citizen “time-wise and money-wise” was difficult, Flanagan said. He estimated the costs at between $5,000 and $7,000.
Flanagan said you can’t apply for everything all at once. There are specific steps and time periods to apply for them.
He started with a K-1 Visa when Deborah was in Texas and he was in Galway. Flanagan said from when they started the process until he became a U.S. citizen took almost six years. The couple, who now live in Slocum, Texas, have an 8-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son who both have dual citizenship, Irish and American.
Flanagan said he got his K-1, a non-immigrant visa that allows a foreign-citizen fiance to travel to the U.S. to marry a U.S. citizen sponsor. Then came his work permit, two-year Green Card and then his 10-year Green Card before he could apply to become a citizen.
Before he could get his K-1 Green Card, he had to go to the U.S. Embassy in Dublin and show proof he and Deborah were a couple, including photos taken when they became engaged in East Texas.
“It was a lengthy process and it was expensive as well,” he said. “It was between $5,000 and $7,000 from start to finish on all the paperwork. Basically, every time we did something new, it was costing between $900 and $1,100. So when we went to process the K-1, then the work permit, then the two-year Green Card, every time we would have to pay that fee again.”
He didn’t want to use an attorney. Instead, he got advice from people the couple knew who had been through the process.
According to Flanagan, the citizenship test he took included civics and U.S. government questions. While he was introduced to some U.S. history during his schooling in Ireland, it was a broad overview of how U.S. history was part of world history, which gave him some basic knowledge of the information. However, Flanagan said he did have to study for the citizenship test.
Once he arrived in the U.S., Flanagan said he had 90 days to apply for a temporary Green Card to last the rest of the process until he became a citizen.
Flanagan, a dual-credit math teacher at Elkhart Independent School District in Elkhart, Texas,, said living in the U.S. was a big adjustment for him, including the different foods, cultural differences, broader freedoms of choice and the geographical challenges of living in rural Texas — especially after growing up in a country where residents typically walk or bike to get from place to place and only use their cars when there is inclement weather.
An individual does not necessarily need a lawyer to complete the naturalization process to citizenship, however, they can help with questions, concerns or problems.
One undocumented immigrant from Palestine, Texas, who has lived in the U.S. for almost 40 years, has turned to an attorney to help him navigate the process of becoming a legal citizen.
Another process
Santos Miranda, 65, said he has worked in this country since he swam across the Rio Grande in 1986. He said he has never had any type of government assistance, pays U.S. taxes and insurance, and owned cars and a home — all in his own name. He said he does not have a Green Card or work permit of any kind but does have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. Miranda has a passport through the Mexican Consulate.
He said he came to the U.S. from Mexico City as a young man in 1986, walking for miles and hopping on trains after swimming across the border. He said the hardships, beyond the travel, included hunger and thirst — sometimes he ate trash and drank dirty livestock water — and danger from other individuals and animals, such as snakes, he encountered in his travels.
Miranda said he chose to come to the U.S. because of the financial opportunities available.
“In Mexico, you work all day for $5, which is approximately a quarter here in the U.S.,” he said. “Five dollars here in the U.S. is around $100 in Mexico.”
He said in Mexico, you don’t clock in hours, but instead get paid per day of work.
Miranda said he visited Arkansas and Louisiana before finding his way to Palestine, Texas.
There he began working on asphalt crews, making $40 a day in cash initially. Over the years, he has worked for several companies and has done landscaping and concrete work to support himself and his daughter. He also helped his mother in Mexico with property taxes until she passed away.
Miranda was deported in 1994 after being arrested for what he said was a family violence incident. He said he made his way back to the U.S. in 1995. He followed the same treacherous path as the first time, swimming across the Rio Grande and walking for miles.
Miranda said he married a U.S. citizen in 1997 and was able to get a driver’s license and some type of “status pending paperwork” — but not a Green Card.
The couple had one daughter together, Janette, who was born in 1996 with a handicap. He said he needed to be in the U.S. to make money to care for her.
Over the years, Miranda said, he has learned to read, write and speak English.
He estimates he has paid more than $10,000 in filings and attorney fees in his efforts to become a citizen. Miranda said attorneys estimate it could be another six years before he is able to apply for his citizenship.
Despite having an immigration attorney, Miranda still fears being deported again while he works to become a U.S. citizen.
Miranda said that although he doesn’t want to leave, he has considered going back to Mexico to wait until he’s able to apply for naturalization again.