FAITH, N.C. — The town of Faith is celebrating a major milestone for an employee who recently became a U.S. citizen. This comes after years of waiting and lengthy paperwork.
Natasha Cornelius is a native of Croatia. Reflecting on January 24, 2025, while standing among dozens of new Americans from all over the world, she said, “There were people from Europe, Italy, Bulgaria, Germany. I was the only one representing Croatia.”
Cornelius described the different qualifications that open the door for immigrants to gain legal citizenship in the United States, and said the road to citizenship isn’t a one size fits all.
“You have only a few ways to get into the country, and even those few ways like lottery, or getting married, or getting a job, but even if you get a job doesn’t mean you will be able to stay," Cornelius said.
For Cornelius, marriage allowed her to attain permanent residency, also known as a Green Card, which allows a person to live and work in the country where it’s attained. Cornelius said having permanent residency is necessary to fulfill the requirements needed to officially apply for citizenship in the United States.
Cornelius is a clerk for the town the Faith. She said her husband, son, co-workers and the mayor of Faith, Randall Barger, attended her citizenship ceremony.
“To apply through a marriage, you need to be married three years with a year and a half residency in U.S.,” Cornelius said.
In August of 2024, Cornelius said she submitted her application for citizenship and was surprised to receive communication from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to begin the interview process five months later.
“I thought it would take at least a year, maybe six to eight months," Cornelius said.
Over the course of those five months of waiting, concerns surrounding immigration in the United States heightened as President Donald Trump transitioned back into the White House. Cornelius said Trump's stance on immigration and the influx of those who are in the United States illegally never concerned her.
“All of my paperwork was in, and I was legally here from day one. So, I was never stressed, not even one second,” Cornelius said.
Deportation and immigration reform isn’t unfamiliar to Cornelius, who describes seeing mass deportation efforts in parts of Europe.
“Nowadays they put borders between countries because they have so many issues with immigrants in Europe. And they do send them back,” Cornelius said.
Overall, she said the United States isn’t alone in their fight to secure borders, but she encourages those who want to be a U.S. citizen to trust the process.
“Citizenship or legal stay, you must go through administration in every single country in the world. It’s not just the U.S. It’s every country in the world," Cornelius said.
