TIME-INTERVALS IN NATURALIZATION
Generally speaking, judging by the 26,284 petitions examined, each of which must show the date of arrival and declaration of intention, the immigrant is in this country in the average case anywhere from 5.4 to 12.7 years before he files his declaration of intention to seek citizenship. (See [Table XXI].)
The evidence on this point was strikingly uniform in all the courts save one. The lowest average shown was 5.4 years in Cincinnati; the highest average but two was 8.6 in the State Superior Court at Worcester, Massachusetts. The extreme exceptions were 9.4 years in the Superior Court for Middlesex County, at Middletown, Connecticut, and 12.7 years in the Androscoggin Supreme Judicial Court at Auburn, Maine. The latter court in naturalization matters deals largely with French-Canadians; of all the 385 Canadian petitioners falling under this analysis, this one court passed upon 61.5 per cent.
TABLE XXI
The Average Time Elapsing Between Arrival and Declaration of Intention; Between Declaration and Petition, and Between Petition and Naturalization as Shown by 26,284 Certificates, 1913–14
| Courts | Average Interval Between Arrival and Declaration (Years) | Average Interval Between Declaration and Petition (Years) | Average Interval Between Petition and Certificate (Months) |
| New York Co. Supm. Ct. | 6.7 | 4.7 | 5.1 |
| U. S. Dist. Ct., Southern Dist. New York, N. Y. C. | 7.2 | 4.3 | 3.9 |
| U. S. Dist. Ct., Eastern Dist. New York, Brooklyn | 7.1 | 5.2 | 4.1 |
| Bronx Co. Supm. Ct., N. Y. C. | 7.7 | 3.9 | 5.0 |
| Queens Co. Supm. Ct., Jamaica, L. I. | 7.4 | 6.5 | 4.6 |
| Westchester Co. Supm. Ct., White Plains, N. Y. | 6.9 | 5.2 | 5.8 |
| Nassau Co. Supm. Ct., Mineola, L. I. | 7.0 | 4.9 | 4.7 |
| Passaic Co. Ct. Com. Pls., Paterson, N. J. | 6.3 | 5.2 | 4.1 |
| Fairfield Co. Supr. Ct., Bridgeport, Conn. | 7.7 | 4.8 | 5.3 |
| Knox Co. Circt. Ct., Galesburg, Ill. | 7.7 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
| Johnson Co. Dist. Ct., Iowa City, Iowa | 6.1 | 3.5 | 4.6 |
| Androscoggin Co. Supm. Jud. Ct., Auburn, Me. | 12.7 | 3.0 | 4.2 |
| Tompkins Co. Supm. Ct., Ithaca, N. Y. | 8.0 | 3.5 | 6.4 |
| Middlesex Co. Ct. Com Pls., New Brunswick, N. J. | 6.6 | 4.6 | 5.2 |
| U. S. Dist. Ct. Northern Dist., Cleveland, Ohio | 5.4 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Cuyahoga Co. Ct. Com. Pls., Cleveland, Ohio | 6.7 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Multnomah Co. Circt. Ct., Portland, Ore. | 7.2 | 11.1 | 5.1 |
| Monroe Co. Supm. Ct., Rochester, N. Y. | 6.3 | 5.5 | 4.6 |
| U. S. Dist. Ct. Western Dist. Washington, Seattle | 6.1 | 7.1 | 4.8 |
| King Co. Supm. Ct., Seattle, Wash. | 6.0 | 8.8 | 11.1 |
| Chemung Co. Supm. Ct., Elmira, N. Y. | 7.0 | 4.8 | 12.7 |
| Summit Co. Ct. Com. Pls., Akron, Ohio | 6.2 | 4.2 | 5.7 |
| Northampton Co. Ct. Com. Pls., Easton, Pa. | 7.5 | 4.2 | 5.5 |
| Worcester Co. Supr. Ct., Worcester, Mass. | 8.6 | 4.1 | 5.4 |
| Middlesex Co. Supr. Ct., Middletown, Conn. | 9.4 | 3.7 | 5.3 |
| Rensselaer Co. Supm. Ct., Troy, N. Y. | 6.2 | 4.1 | 7.7 |
| U. S. Dist. Ct. Southern Dist. O., Cincinnati | 5.7 | 5.4 | 5.1 |
| New London Co. Supr. Ct., Norwich, Conn. | 8.5 | 4.2 | 6.8 |
| Average | 6.8 | 5.1 | 4.9 |
Having filed his declaration of intention after an average residence in this country shown in all courts as 6.8 years—nearly two years more than the five years’ minimum residence required for the completion of citizenship—our average immigrant waits more than five years longer before he files his final petition for naturalization—although under the law he need have waited only two. The range, however, was wide, between an average of 3.0 years in the Supreme Court of Androscoggin County, Auburn, Maine, and 11.1 years in the Circuit Court at Portland, Oregon. The whole average shown in all the courts studied was 5.1 years. These are very surprising figures for those who have been complaining that we have hurried aliens into citizenship.
Once the applicant has his petition filed, the process becomes more expeditious. The figures collated for the year 1913–14 show an average interval between petition and certificate of naturalization of 4.9 months; the range is between 3.9 months in the United States District Court in Manhattan, and 12.7 months in the State Supreme Court at Elmira, New York. From the point of view of delay, three months must always be subtracted, since the law requires, in any event, an interval of at least ninety days after the petition is filed before it can be considered by the court.