Twenty people from 12 countries became new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony on Friday afternoon, May 8, in the Lebanon County Municipal Building’s Courtroom No. 1.
The new U.S. citizens and their countries of origin are:
Volodymyr Alekseyevich Demydovych of Ukraine; Ruby Jean Escosora Donovan of the Philippines; Said Boudrari and Maryam El Korti of Morocco; Tam Thi Linh Hoang of Vietnam; Carmen Celeste Bruno Espinal, Willian Alejandro Jackson Mateo, Ramona Altagracia Rosario, Richard Alexander Batista, Maria De Los Angeles Sanchez, Jose Gabriel Garcia Galva, and Maria Elizabeth Bonilla Grullon of the Dominican Republic; Miguel Vigil Arvizu of Mexico; Roseline Kwamboka Matundura of Kenya; Jeroline Kerdia Nuah of Liberia; Sherouk Tarek Abdelrahman and Moustafa Hassan Ibrahim Awad of Egypt; Naman Anilkumar Patel of India; Jorge Gryb of Argentina; and Carlos Luis Canales of El Salvador.
“My father raised me to believe that nothing worthwhile in life is easy, and I think that’s a truism,” said Judge Bradford H. Charles of the Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas. “According to the Pew Research Foundation, there are 53.3 million people in America who were born in foreign countries. … Less than 40% of those foreign-born people are naturalized citizens.”
Judge Bradford H. Charles speaks at a naturalization ceremony on Friday, May 8, 2026.
Charles’ curiosity about these statistics led him to learn more about the process of becoming a naturalized citizen. He found that in order to be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship, a person has to be a lawful resident of the U.S. for five years (or, if married to a U.S. citizen, three years); a person has to be of good moral character meaning they could not have committed any crime during their time in the U.S.; and a person has to learn to read, write, and understand the English language.
If a person meets these requirements in the first five years as a lawful resident of the U.S., they have to file Form N-400. This 14-page form asks a person about all medical issues; all addresses in the past five years and everyone who has lived with them at the addresses; all names of their spouses, including divorce decrees or death certificates as applicable; all names, ages, and addresses of their children, including confirmation that they do not owe any child support to anyone; all names and addresses of their employers in the past five years; and all destinations and time spent outside the U.S. in the past five years.
Then, a person has to sign a verification that confirms that they have never not paid their taxes, been a member of a party that opposes constitutional government, been charged with damaging or destroying property, been charged with injuring someone else, used a firearm against someone else, been in jail, visited a prostitute, used illegal drugs, or assisted someone else in entering or staying in the U.S. unlawfully. Then, a person has to pay $760 to file the form.
After that, a person has a biometrics appointment at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office to provide their fingerprints, multiple photographs, and multiple signatures. Then, the U.S. government investigates the credibility of the person’s filed Form N-400 using their biometrics in national and international databases.
“If those biometrics reveal that you have told any untruths in your application, you’re done. It’s over. You can’t become a citizen,” said Charles.
Subsequently, a person takes two tests at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office — an English language test and a civics test. A person has to score at least 70% on the civics test and has a second chance to pass the test.
Charles said the final requirement is participation in a naturalization ceremony. “Ladies, gentlemen, you did what was hard. You did it the right way. I salute all of you.”
Maggie Lui, supervisory immigration services officer, presented a petition for naturalization and a motion. President Judge John C. Tylwalk of the Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas granted the motion and administered the oath.
Following the oath, the 20 new U.S. citizens were introduced and presented certificates by Charles, Tylwalk, and Samuel A. Kline, senior judge of the county Court of Common Pleas.
The naturalization ceremony, which was attended by relatives, friends, and public officials — including state Rep. Russ Diamond; state Rep. John Schlegel; Lebanon County Commissioners Jo Ellen Litz, Mike Kuhn, and Bob Phillips; and Clerk of Courts Barb Smith — concluded with a recital of the Pledge of Allegiance and a singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
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