{"id":1791,"date":"2023-12-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eaganimmigration.com\/overcoming-obstacles-to-u-s-citizenship-with-eagans-esl-courses\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T20:54:17","slug":"overcoming-obstacles-to-u-s-citizenship-with-eagans-esl-courses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eaganimmigration.com\/en\/overcoming-obstacles-to-u-s-citizenship-with-eagans-esl-courses\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming Obstacles to U.S. Citizenship with Eagan\u2019s ESL Courses"},"content":{"rendered":"By Alicia Atteberry<\/strong>\n\nPicture this: Every day, you leave your home and look into the distance at a tall mountain. You desperately want to climb the mountain, but it takes years for you to figure out how to even get started. One day, you make up your mind to do it and begin preparing. You do research and talk to other people who have climbed the mountain \u2013 even experts on the mountain itself. You spend days of your time and stretch your budget to its limit preparing.\n\nFinally, you set out. You know it will be a steep climb and there are many peaks to conquer, but you feel that you are ready. You reach checkpoint after checkpoint, celebrating each victory. It\u2019s been a long time coming, and you\u2019re proud of yourself for each step you take on your way up. Finally, you are so close to the top you can taste it. You see others already there, celebrating and waiting for you. Then you see the path between you and the peak, and you feel your heart sinks into your stomach. The old, creaking bridge you would have to cross is so much scarier than you thought it would be. You lose faith. You\u2019re nearly to the top of the mountain, but you give up and turn around.\n\nFor many, that final peak on the mountain is U.S. citizenship. There are\u00a0currently\u00a0 millions of immigrants<\/a> in the United States who are already eligible for U.S. citizenship, but many of them don\u2019t pursue it. Why? The obstacles to becoming a U.S. citizen can be overwhelming. For those who are already struggling to find their path to legal status, these hurdles can make citizenship feel completely out of reach. \u00a0It takes months or years to get legal status. Then, naturalization, the legal process through which one becomes a citizen, presents many new challenges. It can be expensive and takes additional years to achieve. Many also feel conflicted about swearing allegiance to a new country or having to give up their citizenship in their native land.\n\nFor many, the tests on civics and English language are that creaking bridge on the mountain that they can\u2019t get up the courage to cross. The tests can be intimidating and discourage many from pursuing their dreams of citizenship. Millions of permanent residents choose to instead go through the tedious process of continuing to renew their status indefinitely. However, there are many benefits to making the final push to become a citizen:\n