New Grant Opportunity Introduced by USCIS

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Tuesday, March 20, the availability of a competitive grant opportunity designed to promote immigrant civic integration and prepare permanent residents for citizenship. This year’s program will offer approximately $5 million in funding for citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country.

Through this grant opportunity, USCIS seeks to expand the availability of high-quality citizenship preparation services. Organizations selected to receive funding will offer both citizenship instruction and naturalization application services to permanent residents. USCIS expects to announce an estimated 31 award recipients in September 2012.

Since the creation of the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program in fiscal year (FY) 2009, USCIS has awarded a total of $18.3 million through 111 grants to immigrant-serving organizations, which have provided citizenship preparation services to more than 28,000 permanent residents in 30 states and the District of Columbia.

To apply for this funding opportunity, visit www.grants.gov. Applications are due by May 7, 2012. USCIS encourages applicants to visit www.grants.gov in advance of this deadline in order to obtain registration information needed to complete the application process.