There are many key steps and processes involved in applying for U.S. citizenship. What a person originally from another country does in regards to these things can have major impacts on how their efforts to receive such citizenship go. Skilled attorneys can advise individuals seeking U.S. citizenship on the issues at hand and their options throughout the various parts of the naturalization process.
One of the reasons good legal advice can be such a critical thing for a person to have when going through the naturalization process is that what the results of their particular case are can have major ramifications for their life. Being granted U.S. citizenship can have all kinds of significant impacts on a person.
For example, for one athlete, being granted U.S. citizenship recently moved him a step closer to being able to play for the U.S. men’s national soccer team.
The athlete in question is Kekuta Manneh. His is a 22-year-old soccer player who plays forward in Major League Soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Manneh is originally from Gambia. He came to the U.S. in his teenage years.
While he has been playing for a Canada-based MLS team over the past several years, he has maintained residence in the U.S. over this period.
Recently, Manneh was officially granted U.S. citizenship.
This citizenship allows Manneh to clear one of the hurdles for being able to play on the U.S. national team. However, he is not yet fully eligible to play for this team. He would require a FIFA waiver to have eligibility for the team.
One wonders what the future will hold when it comes to soccer and the U.S. national team for this new U.S. citizen.
Source: USA Today, “Kekuta Manneh gets U.S. citizenship, nears soccer eligibility,” Jan. 11, 2017