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What is the process to becoming a U.S. citizen?

Currently the waiting list for some in the top countries applying for citizenship extends close to a decade.

Each year the U.S. welcomes around 750,000 citizens into the country. That may sound like a lot, but some say the process is like a lottery.

"You have to have a very specific basis, sometimes it's because a family member has petitioned for you, sometimes it could be an employer or if you're an asylee because you fled here," Laila Hlass, a law professor at Tulane University, said.

Hlass explained there are a number of ways to become a citizen.

The first is usually to get a permanent residence card, also known as a green card. With the card, a person can apply to be naturalized after five years or three if married to a U.S. citizen.

"But there's an actual backlog for certain countries," Hlass said.

The top five countries for naturalization are Mexico, India, Philippines, China, and Cuba. The backlog can go on for years.

But what happens when children are born here, but their parents have yet to secure residency?

"Children can't apply immediately for citizenship for their parents, you have to be 21 years old to apply."

Bertille Regnard is originally from France. She came over to help her husband run a tourism business and her experience has not been without bumps.

"So we arrived in 2007 we had a visa for maybe two or three years. And just at the expiration of the second visa we got the green card," Regnard said.

Regnard and her children were approved in 2009.

"I had the naturalization maybe nine months after, and my husband had nothing, so we asked what happened. They lost his files," she said.

That took months to sort out. In between, Regnard struggled to get a driver's license and her social security number.

"So it was a mess for a while," she said.

Now outside of work or marriage, there's the Refugee Act of 1980.

"So that people who are fleeing persecution could seek protection here in the United States. They have to prove a number of elements in order to get asylum here," Hlass said.

Naturalization laws have changed over the history of America. Hlass says there have not been any major changes in recent years, but President Donald Trump, who has campaigned on immigration reform ,could make it happen.

"The agency did just announce they are hoping to have the initiative to look at fraud and potentially to look at taking away certain people's citizenship," Hlass said.

Currently the waiting list for some in the top countries applying for citizenship extends close to a decade.

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