A randomized controlled design reveals barriers to citizenship for low-income immigrants

Hainmueller, Jens; Lawrence, Duncan; Gest, Justin; Hotard, Michael; Koslowski, Rey; Laitin, David D.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1714254115

Cited by 42 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The standardization makes it easier to access the fee waiver and could thereby enable more low-income immigrants to naturalize who could not otherwise afford the application fee. This would be consistent with previous research showing that the current application fee is a barrier to naturalization (13,14).…”

Section: Economic Sciencessupporting

confidence: 93%

“…More broadly, our results are consistent with findings from the small, but growing, literature examining the returns to policy interventions designed to lower barriers to naturalization among low-income immigrants. Previous work has demonstrated that fee vouchers and an information nudge result in substantial increases in citizenship-application rates (14,15). Here, we find similar, albeit smaller, increases from a related federal intervention that improved access to the fee waiver through the introduction of a standardized form and clear rules for eligibility.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…However, there is a paucity of research on the implications of rising fees for suppressing applications by eligible, desirous, but financially strapped LPRs. Hainmueller et al (14) found that citizenship application rates among lowincome LPRs doubled when they were awarded a voucher that paid the application fee. Hotard et al (15) showed that the naturalization rate among very-low-income LPRs increased by 30% when they were informed of their eligibility for a federal fee waiver.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Standardizing the fee-waiver application increased naturalization rates of low-income immigrants

Yasenov

Hotard

Lawrence

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Citizenship can accelerate immigrant integration and result in benefits for both local communities and the foreign-born themselves. Yet the majority of naturalization-eligible immigrants in the United States do not apply for citizenship, and we lack systematic evidence on policies specifically designed to encourage take-up. In this study, we analyze the impact of the standardization of the fee-waiver process in 2010 by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). This reform allowed low-income immigrants eligible for citizenship to use a standardized form to have their application fee waived. We employ a difference-in-differences methodology, comparing naturalization behavior among eligible and ineligible immigrants before and after the policy change. We find that the fee-waiver reform increased the naturalization rate by 1.5 percentage points. This amounts to about 73,000 immigrants per year gaining citizenship who otherwise would not have applied. In contrast to previous research on the take-up of federal benefits programs, we find that the positive effect of the fee-waiver reform was concentrated among the subgroups of immigrants with lower incomes, language skills, and education levels, who typically face the steepest barriers to naturalization. Further evidence suggests that this pattern is driven by immigration service providers, who are well-positioned to help the most needy immigrants file their fee-waiver requests.

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Section: Economic Sciencessupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Standardizing the fee-waiver application increased naturalization rates of low-income immigrants

Yasenov

Hotard

Lawrence

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…These returns not only benefit immigrants themselves; they also can strengthen host communities by increasing tax revenues and lowering welfare spending. While our study advances understandings of the causal effects of citizenship, more work is necessary to identify its benefits in other contexts and to evaluate the impact of lowering barriers to citizenship, such as lengthy residency requirements or naturalization fees (34). Placebo test shows no significant differences in earnings between immigrants who barley won or lost their citizenship referendum in the last five years before the referendum (N=1,340).…”

Section: Fig 1 About Herementioning

confidence: 91%

The Effect of Citizenship on the Long-Term Earnings of Marginalized Immigrants: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Switzerland

Hainmueller

Hangartner

Ward

2019

Preprint

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We provide evidence that citizenship catalyzes the long-term economic integration of immigrants. Despite the relevance of citizenship policy to immigrant integration, we lack a reliable understanding of the economic consequences of acquiring citizenship. To overcome non-random selection into naturalization, we exploit the quasi-random assignment of citizenship in Swiss municipalities that held referendums to decide the outcome of individual naturalization applications. Our data combines individual-level referendum results with detailed social security records from the Swiss authorities. This allows us to compare the long-term earnings of otherwise similar immigrants who barely won or lost their referendum. We find that winning Swiss citizenship in the referendum increased annual earnings by an average of approximately 5,000 U.S. dollars over the subsequent 15 years. This effect is concentrated among more marginalized immigrants.

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“…A few scholars have been able to quantify the importance of specific promotional measures and practical obstacles like fees (e.g. Felix et al, 2008, Hainmueller and Hangartner, 2013, Pastor et al, 2013and Hainmueller et al, 2018.…”

Section: Determinants Of Nationality Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nationality Policies in the Books and in Practice: Comparing Immigrant Naturalisation across Europe

Huddleston

Falcke

2019

International Migration

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This article explores whether differences in the implementation of nationality laws explain gaps between nationality laws and nationality acquisition across Europe. Previous research confirms that nationality acquisition among the foreign‐born in Western European countries is largely determined by the inclusiveness of nationality policies and the characteristics of the immigrant population. Drawing on recent data on nationality procedures across Europe, this article argues that, regardless of the nationality laws in place, nationality procedures create major obstacles for different types of immigrants. This article uses data from the European Social Survey to conduct multi‐level analysis of nationality acquisition in 17 European countries among long‐settled foreign‐born adult arrivals, controlling for their individual, origin and destination country characteristics. The analysis finds that nationality procedures are as important as nationality laws for nationality acquisition among most immigrants living in Europe today, especially for immigrants who are most likely to benefit and apply: immigrants from developing countries.

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A randomized controlled design reveals barriers to citizenship for low-income immigrants

Cited by 42 publications

References 19 publications

Standardizing the fee-waiver application increased naturalization rates of low-income immigrants

Standardizing the fee-waiver application increased naturalization rates of low-income immigrants

The Effect of Citizenship on the Long-Term Earnings of Marginalized Immigrants: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Switzerland

Nationality Policies in the Books and in Practice: Comparing Immigrant Naturalisation across Europe

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