Citizenship Day, which will be held this year on May 2 at the Reggie Lewis State Track Athletic Center in Roxbury, is an annual event where aspiring citizens can get help with their citizenship applications for free…
Since arriving in the United States in 2016 from Hong Kong, Shu Sing Paul Wong (shown above with his wife) had one dream: to become a citizen. That ambition became a reality after he attended Boston’s Citizenship Day last year.
“I felt so excited, full of excitement and happiness,” he said in an interview, a wide grin on his face. “Finally, I’m a US citizen, I have the right to vote, and I have the right to sit in the court for my duties.”
Citizenship Day, which will be held this year on May 2 at the Reggie Lewis State Track Athletic Center in Roxbury, is an annual event where aspiring citizens can get help with their citizenship applications for free. It is the result of a partnership between the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement and Project Citizenship, a Boston nonprofit that provides those application services.
Some 200 volunteer law students, attorneys and community members come together every year to work at the event, which was first held in 2014.
More than 2,000 people who have become citizens received assistance on Citizenship Days since then, said Hannah Avila, legal access project manager at the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement in Boston.
Wong, his wife, and their daughter applied for citizenship in January 2025. He learned about Citizenship Day through a relative who saw an advertisement on a bus, and later attended the event, where he received help in filling out the application.
A professional learning specialist at UMass Boston’s Institute for Early Education, Wong moved to Boston in July 2016 to take care of his parents and to look out for his daughter, who wanted to attend college in the United States.
She took her oath as a citizen in January, and when he was sworn in at the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in February, his dream had come true. He shared the news with his co-workers and his family in Hong Kong and Boston, and celebrated with an extravagant dinner.
A month later, his wife made it three in a row when she became a US citizen.
The process can be “harrowing,” said Gail Breslow, executive director of Project Citizenship, as it requires a 14-part form and several additional documents. It can also be expensive — US Citizenship and Immigration Services charges a filing fee that can reach more than $700.
At Citizenship Day, volunteers at different stations guide applicants through the citizenship process and assist with paperwork, then recheck the forms with an attorney. At the final step, people get their questions answered and are guided through the next steps. The entire process may take two to three hours and those who have an appointment are prioritized, with walk-ins accommodated later.
“Many of the folks that come to this event are eligible for a fee waiver, ” the city’s Avila said. Volunteers assist with the filing fee waiver process that in some cases eliminates the free or sets it at half price, she said.
“People begin to relax as they realize that it’s a welcoming space,” Breslow said. “It’s a warm space. Everybody is there to help everybody else” – and there are snacks, water and crayons for children who may get impatient.
At Citizenship Day last year, Wong was delighted to be paired with a staffer who spoke Mandarin and Cantonese, his native languages. He noted that there were interpreters fluent in different languages on hand to assist applicants from other countries. Last year’s event drew people from more than 50 countries of origin.
Wong said he was motivated to become a citizen to have a “stronger identity” and serve the community, and by the increasing political uncertainty around immigration. Being a citizen offered a more “psychological and physical” sense of safety than what he had while being a green card holder, he said.
Avila noted that with the political unrest around the country, “there’s never been a better time than now to become a citizen. People are afraid to apply for something, even if they’re eligible for it,” she said, “because we’re all seeing what’s happening in the news, and there’s really scary things occurring. Citizenship offers so many benefits and so many protections,” she added, shielding people from deportation, allowing them to travel freely and be civically engaged.
Said Breslow: “There is understandably a lot of hesitation about subjecting yourself to government scrutiny right now.” She encouraged people to apply for citizenship sooner rather than later, as there is “no guarantee that things are not going to get worse or more stringent.”
For his part, Wong echoes Avila ans Breslow: Apply as “early as you can,” and to utilize Citizenship Day.
“As a green card holder from Hong Kong, China, I know there are many immigrants from Asian countries,” he said. “I hope that my journey, my story, can inspire them through Citizenship Day to do their best to become US citizens, and to enjoy the rights and duties of being a US citizen.”
To make an appointment for Citizenship Day on May 2, call Project Citizenship at 617-694-5949.
This story is the product of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism.