The INS notes that it is pleased with reaction it has received to its proposed new N-400 naturalization application. The new form is based on input from over 130 field employees, community-based organization representatives and naturalization applicants themselves. The new form is intended to be user-friendly and the INS expects to see a decrease in the number of incomplete applications returned to applicants and the amount of time that INS employees spend correcting mistakes. The new form will also focus on having a better set of instructions. The INS expects the new form to be ready for use by next summer.

The INS is trying to address the problem of naturalization cases being continued late in the application process because the file lacks all of the necessary documents. The INS has recently tested a file review program where files are reviewed for completeness earlier in the process and applicants are given 60 days to mail documents to the Service Centers. The program led to a 50% decrease in the number of cases continued as a result of missing documents.

- More than 9,000 new citizens were sworn in at two mass ceremonies in Los Angeles last month. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, more than 125 countries were represented.

- Arturo Sandoval, a famed Cuban jazz trumpet player, was sworn in as a US citizen after a three year battle with the INS over Sandoval's previous membership in the Cuban Communist Party. Sandoval has won three Grammy Awards and has been in the US since he defected at the US Embassy in Rome in 1990. The INS originally invoked a statute denying citizenship to persons who were members of the communist party within 10 years of applying for citizenship. Sandoval claims he only applied for communist party membership a few months in advance or defecting so as not to draw the suspicion of Cuban authorities.

- On December 17, as the full Congress began the impeachment debate, and the US and Great Britain began a military strike against Iraq, 360 people, from 76 countries became American citizens in Baltimore, MD.