About Project Citizenship
Our History
Project Citizenship began as the Greater Boston Citizenship Initiative, a collaboration of community partners in Massachusetts seeking to increase naturalization rates in Massachusetts.
The initiative was created by a committed group of community‑based and direct‑service organizations working together to expand access to citizenship. It strengthened community knowledge about the naturalization process and ensures that eligible legal permanent residents (LPRs) had the support, services, and resources they needed to navigate and overcome barriers to becoming U.S. citizens.
Project Citizenship helps eligible immigrants access the support they need to overcome barriers to naturalization.
The Challenge
More than 268,000 lawful permanent residents in Massachusetts are eligible to become U.S. citizens but have not yet completed the naturalization process. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, only about 10% of eligible residents in Massachusetts became citizens each year over the past decade.
For many immigrants, barriers such as cost, language access, misinformation, and the complexity of the application process can make citizenship feel out of reach. Yet becoming a U.S. citizen opens the door to important opportunities and protections, including access to certain jobs, scholarships, and public benefits.
Citizenship also helps build stronger, more connected communities. Naturalized citizens are participating in civic life and voting in increasing numbers, helping create a more representative and engaged democracy.
Our Mission
Project Citizenship’s mission is to increase the naturalization rate in New England, with a focus on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. We do this by providing free assistance to eligible permanent residents in New England.
Though we serve all eligible immigrants, our work centers on low-income individuals (70%), people applying through a disability waiver (15%), seniors over 65 (15%), those previously denied, and those with complex legal cases.
Our Services
Project Citizenship’s core services include providing immigrants with online or phone screenings to assess their citizenship eligibility, one-on-one application preparation at citizenship workshops, personalized legal review and advice, and case tracking through the Oath of Allegiance.
Project Citizenship also provides technical assistance on complex cases and collaborates with immigrant‑serving agencies, schools, and local governments to host 30+ annual citizenship workshops, coordinate referrals, and expand access to naturalization services.
Our Model
Project Citizenship’s services are fueled by volunteers and partnerships with local law firms, government and community organizations, and foundations.
Our unique service model leverages the pro bono services of 700+ legal volunteers annually, many of them licensed attorneys from Boston’s leading law firms and corporate law departments. These volunteers assist pre-screened immigrants complete and review their citizenship applications at citizenship workshops.
Following support from trained volunteers, Project Citizenship’s legal team carefully reviews all applications, enabling us to maintain an approval rate of 95%.
Project Citizenship and its partner organizations offer regular citizenship workshops in Eastern Massachusetts, with aims of expanding into Central Massachusetts, Northern Rhode Island, and Southern New Hampshire.
Boston Citizenship Day
Of our 30+ annual workshops, Boston Citizenship Day is the largest. In fact, it is the largest annual citizenship workshop in New England, drawing 300+ citizenship applicants and 250+ community volunteers, law students, and pro bono attorneys.
Boston Citizenship Day is an annual event hosted by Project Citizenship and the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement. Since the first Citizenship Day in 2014, thousands of applicants have applied for citizenship at this annual event.