What cooptire says about his employee is very common. The process, delays, treatment and other factors are so cumbersome and outright prejudiced that too many people get discouraged from applying. A previous girlfriend from Mexico came to the US legally, learned English, learned US history, paid all her fee which kept going up and did all the requistes for citizenship. She got jacked around by INS, they lost appointments, lost records and generally acted like assholes. After repeated trips to El Paso, nearest INS office, 180 miles, finally got her citizenship, about 8 years after applying. I don't blame people for not wanting to put up with the prejudice, delays and overall treatment they get from INS. If they complain, guess where your application goes.