NEW YORK – Back on Nov. 12, Seattle Sounders winger Steve Zakuani announced his plan to play for the Congolese national team and indicated via Twitter that the long wait for US citizenship is what fueled the 21-year-old’s decision.
“I've accepted an invite from the Congo national team for a game in Paris next week,” said Zakuani, who received his green card on Monday. “If [US] citizenship could have been fast-tracked, probably would have gone with US but happy with my decision … can't wait to represent Africa!”
The problem is that there is no fast track for American citizenship. It’s a myth, according to a US Soccer spokesperson.
“There is no expedited processing for citizenship applications aside from exceptions for military personnel,” said US Soccer spokesperson Neil Buethe. “There is no fast track.”
Many US national team fans cite the David Regis situation back in May 1998, when he earned his first cap three days after becoming a naturalized citizen. It also came less than a month before the 1998 France World Cup.
“Regis had a wife who was a US citizen and qualified for naturalization under a separate provision of the regulation," Buethe said. “The general rule is that an individual can apply for US citizenship holding resident status for at least five years or holding residence status for at least three years if married to a US citizen.”
The five-year wait for Zakuani would have meant eligibility for an American passport in December 2015, just before his 26th birthday. But Zakuani was not about to wait it out.
He earned his first cap for Congo on Nov. 17, starting in a 3-1 loss to Mali in a match held just outside Paris.
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