Are Residents of Puerto Rico Citizens of the United States of America?

"Are residents of Puerto Rico citizens of the United States of America?"  asked our caller.  The Newton Falls Public Library staff member was happy to begin the search for this patron's request.

Oxford Reference Online, one of the online databases available to library patrons through our shared Clevnet system, was one of the first places our staff member searched by using the words "Puerto Rico citizenship." One of the suggested links was for the online book The Oxford Companion to United States History  by Paul S. Boyer.  Boyer stated "the Jones Act (1917) . . . extended U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans . . . In 1950 the island won the right to draft and enact its own constitution. The constitution, which became law in 1952, established the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. . ."

Now informed that citizens of Puerto Rico are also citizens of the United States of America, our staff member was curious if there are other places outside of our fifty states where this also applied.  The website answers.usa.gov lists our territorial and associated state governments as America Samoa, Guam, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Midway Atoll, North Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands. It also states that the House of  "Representatives has five Delegates(representing the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa,and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), and one Resident Commissioner (representing Puerto Rico)."  "You are a U.S. citizen if you have a birth certificate issued by a U.S. state or territory."

How Do I Go About Applying for U.S. Citizenship?

“How do I go about applying for U.S. citizenship?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff was happy to assist this individual with their search. 

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s website, www.uscis.gov, has everything our patron needs to begin this process. There are two ways to become a citizen of the United States:

• The first is to become a citizen at birth, either having been born in the United States or certain territories or outlying possessions of the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; or having  a parent or parents who were citizens at the time of your birth (if you were born abroad) and meet other requirements

• The second is to become a citizen after birth.  For this you must either apply for “derived” or “acquired” citizenship through parents or apply for naturalization

Most naturalization applicants are required to take tests on English and Civics (U.S. history and government). The USCIS website has all the forms needed by an individual applying for citizenship, as well as videos, other resources, and study guides for those taking the naturalization tests.

Whether or not they are interested in becoming citizens, someone new to this country may find the following library resources useful: the audio book English for New Americans and the library database mángo languages. By going to the library’s website, www.newtonfalls.org, and selecting Ohio Web Library, library users have the option to click on mángo languages. This resource has 15 English courses for foreign language speakers.

Do You Have to be a Citizen of Canada to Receive Public Health Benefits?

“Do you have to be a citizen of Canada to receive health benefits or can you just be a resident?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff knows that many individuals are unable to afford health insurance. We are sure that many people will find the answer to this question to be interesting.

Searching online, we typed in the question: “Do you need to be a Canadian citizen to have health care?” Eliminating the websites which discussed the pros and cons of socialized medicine, we found the site for Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The page Live in Canada links to About being a permanent resident of Canada. Permanent residents and their dependents are able to receive most of the social benefits that Canadian citizens receive, including health care coverage. There is also information about immigrating and applying for permanent status. If our patron would choose to move there, they would have to live in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period to keep their status as a permanent resident.

The public health insurance in Canada is paid for through taxes. It is different in each province and territory and, depending on your coverage you may also require temporary private health insurance. This will also be necessary while waiting on your permanent resident status to be approved. “You must buy this private insurance within five days of arriving in your province or territory or insurance companies may not provide coverage for you. Refugee claimants who cannot afford private health insurance and refugee claimants living in provinces that have a three-month waiting period can receive emergency and essential health services at no cost”. Some of the public plans do not cover dental expenses, private hospital rooms, prescription drugs, ambulance services and prescription eyeglasses.

We were surprised to find that the Canadian health care system seems to be a combination of public and private coverage.