It’s complicated
I am finally applying for US Citizenship. I have been living here for nearly 7 years now (What? 7?!). I have my green card, and I could legally live here the rest of my life as a permanent resident and be just fine. But this year, especially with the election coming up, I just feel like, okay, it’s time for me to take that next step. I believe I can keep my Canadian citizenship and be dual, which is nice.
So this means filling out yet another immigration form (although thankfully nothing in quadruplicate this time!) and pay yet another $85 for “biometrics” (fingerprinting) – for the fourth time. (Don’t they keep these things on file? I was under the impression that fingerprints don’t change.) But all in all it’s a pretty simple form, and then I’ll get an interview and have to swear an oath. The only hard part on the form was when they asked for every single date I have left the US since I moved here. Exact travel dates and number of days outside of the US each trip. Now that certainly caused me to scramble and search all of my records everywhere for receipts and journals and oi. Wish I had known about that 7 years ago, I would have written it all down!
The other part of the form that gave me pause was of course the “LIST ALL CHILDREN” part. It even specified “ALL children, even missing or dead.” I hesitated and sighed and muttered to myself. Den looked over and what I was doing and said, “You know how you have to answer that.” Yes. I know. Devin was not born. He is not, was not, a person under the law. He had no death certificate. He is not officially dead; he officially never existed. He was a pregnancy loss, not a dead child. And that bugs me. It doesn’t upset me, and I clearly understand how I need to answer this very official form, but for everything else they want every single detail – they want to know not just if you were charged with a crime, but if you were ever detained or questioned, they want details, they want explanations. But my dead child is not a person.
Not to mention I’m currently pregnant with 3 months left. By the time they receive this form, approve it, and schedule an interview I could well have another child that is not on that form. But what can you do. This child isn’t yet a person, either.
Keeping your Canadian citizenship should be a non-problem; the US and UK got a bit more reasonable about that sort of thing in our lifetimes. I’m actually trying to encourage my brother-in-law to get HIS Canadian citizenship/passport; his mother is Canadian, so he’s appropriately eligible. Alas, he doesn’t see what the benefit is…
Anyhoos, hope the process goes smoothly!
My husband is thinking about becoming a citizen, too, also because of the election (although I have my doubts he’ll get his act together). He’s been here 8 years. I’m glad you mentioned that about listing all the dates he’s been outside the US. They don’t even stamp your passport when you go to Canada – how on earth could we get all those dates together!? Aaah!
Yes I know!! They don’t stamp anything! I thankfully booked most of my flights through one website so I found most of them that way… the rest was hunting for anything I might have written in my blog or other forum back in 2007 and such. What a mess!
*makes note to record everything like a maniac when I leave the US*
I’m sorry that Devin isn’t considered a person to them, because he very obviously was a person.
I recently did my citizenship too – it took me YEARS before I actually applied due to that one question (every time you have been out of the US). I put it off forever as this was such a HUGE task! I travel all the time!
Finally I did it and I am now a citizen. I have been here 9 years. Wow time does fly.
Hi i’m Heather! I have a question for you! Please email me :)
HeatherVonSJ[at]gmail[dot]com