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PHOENIX - The number of immigrants applying for citizenship in Phoenix has doubled in the past year, and approvals of those applicants also are on the rise.

Nearly 16,000 legal immigrants applied for citizenship from Oct. 1, 2006, to July 31, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

That's twice as many as the nearly 8,000 who applied during the same period the year before. And during the past fiscal year, approvals of those applications rose from 5,607 to 7,319.

Immigration officials say the increase can be due to a hike in the application fee that took effect July 30, a new citizenship test on the horizon and the presidential election, which historically coincides with more naturalization requests.

But immigrant-rights activists say the rise in applications is a sign that efforts to boost Hispanic voting power are working.

"It's a spectacular increase," said Alfredo Gutierrez, a vocal member of the Hispanic community and a former state lawmaker. "This is the result of a concerted, organized effort. These things don't happen by accident."

He and members of a coalition of immigrant groups held citizenship fairs for more than a year as part of a national campaign encouraging eligible legal immigrants to apply for citizenship.

Gutierrez also said workers made sure to inform people about the impending application fee increase, which jumped to $675 from $400.

In June, the month before the fee increase took effect, 4,430 people applied for naturalization in Phoenix, a 356 percent increase from the 972 immigrants who applied during the same month last year, according to immigration statistics.

Hispanics make up about a third of the population in Maricopa County. About 12 percent of registered voters in the county have Hispanic surnames, and they accounted for 8 percent of votes cast in the 2006 general election, according to the county's elections office.