TAMPA, Fla. — The wait is over for Bay area residents whose US Citizenship was delayed because of COVID-19.
What You Need To Know
- Naturalization ceremonies in Tampa Wednesday
- Ceremonies had been delayed due to coronavirus
- Social distancing in place for small groups of new citizens
- US Citizen and Immigration Office Tampa
The immigration office in Tampa held small naturalization ceremonies on Wednesday.
Social distancing measures were in place, which drastically changed the look of the ceremonies, with fewer participants at each session.
The immigration office says since the COVID-19 shutdown, it has built-up a 1,400 person backlog for naturalization.
It will take the office six weeks to process those waiting for citizenship.
Officials are hoping to naturalize 250 people per week, for the next six weeks.
Sign up now for one of our newsletters that will show up in your inbox every weekday at 1 p.m. The newsletters highlight the most important stories of the day that you need to know for your area.