Immigrant Advocacy Group Offers Free Citizenship Clinic In Brockton

BROCKTON, Mass. (AP) — Dozens of trained volunteers are set to help qualified immigrants fill all the paperwork required to become U.S. citizens during a free citizenship clinic in Brockton.

The event scheduled for Sept. 22 at the Brockton High School is part of the "Become a Citizen Now! Massachusetts" program. The national initiative seeks to help legal immigrants become U.S. citizens.

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition says trained immigration specialists and interpreters will guide applicants through the 10-page application form for naturalization.

Massachusetts has the seventh-largest population of legal immigrants in the country, with about 320,000 people holding green cards given to legal permanent U.S. residents in 2010. Some 180,000 immigrants were eligible for citizenship but had not done applied for naturalization.

It typically takes just over five months to acquire citizenship.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.