Citizenship Corner

Are you looking for information on the naturalization process for becoming a United States citizen?

The Niagara Falls Library, the internet, and the greater Niagara Falls community all offer some wonderful resources to help you prepare for both the civics test and the English language tests as part of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization process. Check out the links below! 

N-400 Form

Did you know that you can submit your N-400 form online with U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services? Visit their signup page to create an account. Then you can click the File Online button on their N-400 page to fill out and send in this form online. This page also has a copy of the form you can download and print out, an instruction page on how to fill out the N-400 form, and a summary of the documents and fees. 

Studying for the Test: Internet Resources

• ​U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services Study Materials Page. This page has materials for studying for both the English and civics tests. Be sure to click through the arrows at the bottom, as there are many pages of materials, including printable flash cards, audio recordings of questions and answers, important civics documents like the Declaration of Independence, and practice tests.
• USCIS Civics Study Tool on the Apple App Store. This is the official application of the Department of Homeland Security for studying for the civics portion of the citizenship test.
• USALearns.org This website offers free citizenship and English lessons through a series of videos on their website, with videos in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Tagalog.
• CrashCourse YouTube Channel: The CrashCourse YouTube channel has put together a very comprehensive collection of videos on both U.S. History and U.S. Government and Politics. They are aimed at high school students, so they speak fast and cover a lot of material, but they are well-made and engaging. (Tip: You can change how fast or slow a YouTube video plays back with the Settings button. On a computer, it is on the lower left corner of the video, and looks like a gear. On a mobile device, there is a button in the upper right hand corner of the video with three dots. On either one, use the setting called Playback Speed to change the speed of the video.)
• EnglishClub English Vocabulary Quizzes. Dozens of quizzes for practicing all levels of English language learning for both vocabulary and grammar. 
• VOA (Voice of America) Learning English. This Youtube channel provides English lessons, pronunciation help, explanations of common English idioms, and English lessons designed to help English Language Learners understand news broadcasts.
• Go Natural English. This Youtube channel provides English pronunciation help, culture lessons, and other help for intermediate and advanced English language learners.
• BBC Skillswise: This collection of videos and worksheets from the BBC offers some great practice for English grammar.
• ESL Gold: This site offers a lot of study tips, ideas and resources for English language learners on ways to practice and improve your understanding of English.
• English-Grammar-Lessons.com: A collection of English grammar lessons and quizzes to help you practice English grammar and idioms.
• Dave's ESL Cafe: A website for ESL learners and teachers to connect. Dave also provides a collection of lessons and resources for learning and practicing different English grammar lessons.
• ManyThings.org: This website's tagline is that it has interesting things for ESL students. It has a huge collection of English lessons, daily quizzes and games to practice, and a large collection of audio recordings with the text for reading along, including fictional stories, biographies, idiom lessons and over 240 American history lessons. 
• Ultimate Guide to Free Reading and Literacy Resources: A huge collection of free resources to help children and teens become better readers. The site has sections with links to general reading websites, read-alongs and virtual storytimes, fun reading games, writing your own stories,  and more. 

Studying for the Test: Library Resources

Please note: older test study materials may have out-of-date information. They are helpful for studying the format of the test, but you should check the Test Updates page on the USCIS website for the most up-to-date information for test answers.

Civics and citizenship toolkit [kit] : a collection of educational resources for immigrants by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Citizenship made simple : an easy-to-read guide to the U.S. citizenship process by Barbara Brooks Kimmel and Alan M. Lubiner

Becoming a U.S. citizen : a guide to the law, exam & interview by IIona M. Bray, J.D

Intermediate English grammar for ESL learners by Robin Torres-Gouzerh

McGraw-Hill Education essential ESL dictionary for learners of English by the editors of McGraw-Hill Education

English made easy. Vol. 2 : learning English through pictures by Jonathan Crichton and Pieter Koster

McGraw-Hill's U.S. citizenship test with DVD by Karen Hilgeman et. al.

For the people-- : U.S. citizenship education and naturalization information : an English as a second language text

U.S. Immigration Made Easy by Ilona M. Bray

Advanced English grammar for ESL learners by Mark Lester

Easy English step-by-step for ESL learners by Danielle Pelletier

Barron's How to prepare for the U.S. citizenship test

A simple guide to U.S. immigration and citizenship by Luis Cortés Jr. ; in collaboration with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)

English vocabulary for beginning ESL learners by Jean Yates

Writing better English for ESL learners by Ed Swick

Getting ahead in the U.S. [sound recording] by Living Language

Studying for the Test: Community Resources

With COVID-19 still present in the United States, please call or check these agencies' websites for the most up-to-date information on what services are currently available.

• Niagara Falls School District Community Education Center: English as a Second Language classes They offer morning and afternoon classes for learning English.
• Orleans/Niagara County BOCES ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes. They offer English classes at several locations in Niagara and Orleans counties to help learn and practice English skills. Additionally, they sometimes run citizenship classes designed to help people study for the citizenship portion of their naturalization test. This information is also available on WNYLiteracy.com, which is another website used by the Orleans/Niagara County BOCES program. 
• Literacy Buffalo Niagara Tutoring This program pairs English language learners with volunteer tutors to help work on English skills. They also offer assistance for English speakers who are improving their reading skills as well as those who are trying to earn their high school general equivalency diploma, or GED.