Just an additional but of info:
My wife was born and raised in Oak Ridge, TN. Sometimes when I post that pic, due to us having first met in Germany, people think we both became US Citizens on that day
The Process of becoming a citizen: It really was quite taxing, I must admit; but we never had any fears, because from the start, we knew our intentions were honest, and knowing that does help a great deal, and I must say, INS (now USCIS) process was not "easy", but every step from applying for marriage, green card, conditional permmanent resident, then permanent resident and then finally US citizen - EVERY step went without a hitch, not a single problem, and we did it ALL ourselves, preparing all the documents in every step, NEVER even thought about lawyers.
(and those days it was almost ALL paper - USCIS had not started offering a lot of online applications; towards the end of the process a few steps were online based)
Being able to speak the language well, working hard and getting an education and give back to the country as much as you can, and KNOWING that your cause is honest, gives one a great deal of confidence, and the officers that interview you can somehow "smell" it. My final interview for approving citizenship lasted a whole 10 minutes; The officer had already gone through my whole US file, from the moment I entered the country, and he said, I really don't have anything to ask you anymore. (Just wanted to see tax papers, had a word with my wife before entering the interview room, and just checked basic ID stuff, and the tests for English and US history, etc. That was it.
I felt SO strange about people who had been living in the states for decades but who failed the simple English test. That blows my mind - my English is not 100% perfect, but [censored] if you want to live in a country and become a citizen how can you NOT know it at least at a basic level? How can you FEEL American? (I know i don't agree with some things in the US, but I do feel very American among my new family, friends, and work colleagues, and everywhere I go... How would I feel that if I couldn't speak basic English at least??)
And my cousin, almost 30 yrs in the US, and well established and is a big shot engineer - but still green card, NOT a citizen! No US passport. - IDK why, but I just can't understand...