First lady Melania Trump’s parents are officially U.S. citizens.
Viktor and Amalija Knavs’ attorney said the couple took their citizenship oath Thursday in New York City.
“The application, the process, the interview, was no different than anybody else’s, other than security arrangements to facilitate today,” their lawyer, Michael Wildes, said outside the courthouse.
Before being sworn in as citizens, the first lady’s parents were living in the U.S. as permanent residents. They raised Mrs. Trump in Slovenia. The then-model moved to New York in 1996 and met her future husband two years later.
Questions were raised earlier this year about the Knavs’ immigration status as President Trump strongly criticized “chain migration.” Wildes has previously declined to comment on how the Knavs’ obtained their green card status.
In order to obtain citizenship, legal permanent residents are required to live in the U.S. continuously and hold their green cards for at least five years.
The first lady’s spokeswoman declined to comment on the news, saying the Knavs deserve to have privacy because they are not part of the Trump administration.
“They would appreciate their privacy, and we just thank everybody for their attention to this very important dialogue that we’re having on immigration,” Wildes said. “This is an example of it going right.”
