With a unanimous vote, the Ogden City Council has made its PATH (Participate, Apply, Test, Help) to Citizenship program a permanent, annual program.
The program helps legal residents, or green card holders, become naturalized citizens. Grant funding from Salt Lake County supported the program’s pilot last spring. Seventeen of the 18 participants have become citizens so far, according to Linda Lartigue, community engagement administrator for Ogden City.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services estimates there are around 66,000 lawful permanent residents eligible to naturalize in Utah. In Weber County, there are approximately 3,300 according to the USC Equity Research Institute.
To be eligible for naturalization, a resident must meet requirements for age, length of time living in the U.S., moral character and knowledge of English and U.S. civics.
Fernando Morales, 211 director for the United Way of Northern Utah, helped create the PATH pilot program as a one-stop shop for naturalization. He also chairs the Ogden Community Engagement and Opportunity Commission and is a USCIS citizenship ambassador.
“There were citizenship programs in the area, but a person who needed to become a citizen needed to go at least to three or four different places in order to complete the process,” he said.
The cost of the application, which can be as high as $760, can also be a deterrent.
The PATH program builds on citizenship classes offered by the Weber County Library. My Hometown Ogden offers tutoring and child literacy programs during classes, Catholic Community Services provides legal help, and United Way of Northern Utah connects participants with additional services.
A local foundation has donated $20,000 for the 2025 program, according to Lartigue. It will cover application fees for up to 20 participants and legal help for up to 30, along with the costs of a graduation ceremony and sending a city staff member and a community partner to the Welcoming America conference.
Claudia Gutierrez Sanchez, interim director of the Utah Center for Global Talent & New Americans under the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, said naturalization benefits individuals and their communities. Beyond eligibility to vote and run for office, citizenship can also open doors to new jobs and higher pay.
“Naturalization has [been] shown to raise the earning potentials of immigrants,” Gutierrez Sanchez said. “In local communities, state communities, that can raise additional revenue.”
With a U.S. passport, citizens can receive support from U.S. consulates while abroad and qualify for Social Security benefits.
“Citizenship also allows U.S. citizens to sponsor certain family members for immigration to the U.S., which then in turn reunites families of lawful permanent residents.”
Other impacts are less measurable.
“Citizenship gives you a different sense of belonging to your community,” she added.
But the path to citizenship can be long and complex.
“There are [a] limited number of immigration attorneys to help you with this process,” Gutierrez Sanchez said. Legal representation is not required for naturalization, but expert advice can help applicants complete forms.
Beyond legal guidance, there are only a few community-based organizations that offer guidance or support, she said. That’s especially true outside of Salt Lake County, which is why she hopes to see more programs like PATH in other parts of the state.
Through the Utah Citizenship Initiative, her office will offer hybrid classes for citizenship preparation in Logan and Moab. They plan to offer courses in Provo and the Cedar City area later this year.
In addition to preparation for the citizenship test, the PATH program offers lessons on what it’s like to be a U.S. citizen. Morales said a judge spoke to the group about jury duty, and elections officials talked about working the polls.
“[When] you become a U.S. citizen, you have all these great opportunities. And [with] some things you don't know where to start, even if you're willing to.”
Morales said the vote to make the program permanent shows Ogden city government supports its diverse population, even in a time of political polarization around immigration. To him, the program can change lives.
“Once you become a U.S. citizen,” he said, “you [have] completed the last step of becoming part of this community.”
Lartigue expects applications to be open later in January.
Disclosure: The Weber County Library is a supporter of KUER.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
