Fifteen years ago, Odelia Fuentes left her native Oaxaca, Mexico, for a better life in the United States.

"When I arrived here, I was an illegal (immigrant), my husband was a legal resident," she said in Spanish.

These days Fuentes is illegal no more, she said, and on Sunday morning at a Catholic Charities citizenship fair held in St. Helena she got a step closer to becoming a U.S. citizen.

Fuentes, a 31-year-old resident of Santa Rosa, was among the 30 individuals at the fair who filled out citizenship applications with the help of volunteers. The fair was held at St. Helena Catholic School's hall on Oak Street and drew people from all walks of life.

Husband and wife, Antonio and Maria Chavez, jubilantly filled out their applications with the help of volunteers Bisrat Debasi and Trudy Bouligny. As part of the application process, Debasi asked Antonio Chavez if he'd defend the country from its enemies.

"I'm going to be a citizen, of course," said Chavez, 40, a Lake County truck driver. "This country gave me everything, I have to give back."

Chavez, a native of Guanajuato, Mexico, and his wife, Maria, a native of Michoacan, Mexico, moved to Lake County 10 years ago and have lived there as legal residents since their arrival. A changing political landscape, as well as pending immigration legislation, fueled the Chavezes' desire to become citizens, they said.

"Everything is changing," Maria said. "I think in the future, the residents will not have the same rights as citizens. The best thing is for me to be a citizen. And I want to have the right to vote."

Santa Rosa resident Monica Villagomez, 21, said she hopes to go to college some day and becoming a citizen will help her do that.

"I want to study and get benefits," she said.

Once she gains her citizenship, Villagomez said she plans to apply for scholarships to help cover the costs of college. Sunday's citizenship fair is the second of its kind that Catholic Charities has held in St. Helena -- according to Mary Lowe, naturalization supervisor -- and comes at a time when the citizenship application fee is set to go up.

As early as next month, the application fee will go from $400, to $675, Lowe said. She also said that many immigration-related fees will be going up in the coming months.

Filling out the application is just the first part of the naturalization process, which can take many months and includes investigations of the applicant's history. Before applying, the potential citizens filled out a questionnaire with yes-and-no statements such as "Ever been arrested, detained or questioned by the police or the Immigration Service" and "Made any trips outside the U.S. lasting more than six months since you got your green card."

The form explains, "When someone applies for citizenship, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (currently known as Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has a chance to look at their whole immigration and criminal history. If the INS finds certain bad information, they could even try to deport a person. If any of the statements below are true of you, you need to talk with an immigration expert before you file our naturalization application."

According to volunteer Diana Dorame, executive director of Legal Aid Napa Valley, it could take four months or more for applicants to get an citizenship appointment. But for many of the applicants, the wait is small in comparison to the many years they've waited to become U.S. citizens.

For more information contact Catholic Charities at (707) 578 6000.