Tomorrow will be a big day. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time – ever since I have been eligible to. Then we had a child, bought a house, had to fix up the house, bought a few cars, fixed the house some more….but now, I have set aside the money to get this done – literally once and for all. Tomorrow, I’m filing the paperwork to become a United States citizen. It is a big deal to me. I’ve lived in this country for nine years and they have by far been the best nine years of my life. I have an amazing wife, a wonderful son who’s super smart, funny and the center of our universe, and we’ve been able to buy a great house in a really nice neighborhood. Lots of hard work, saving our pennies and being responsible has made my American Dream a reality. Now, I’m ready for the final step. I was born in Denmark and lived there until a week after my 23rd birthday, after which I moved to the US and got married. Denmark is one of the few countries that do not allow you to have dual citizenship. My wife was born in Portugal, but is now a US citizen. Portugal still recognizes her as a citizen of that country as well. Not so with Denmark. Once I become an American, Denmark no longer considers me Danish and I’ll lose all rights as a citizen of Denmark – including the right to vote, right to health care and other things they offer to their citizens. I will not even be allowed to live there for more than a few months at a time, as I will no longer be a citizen of a country within the European Union. Long story short – once I do this, I can’t undo it, and so it’s a pretty big deal. However, I figure it’s pretty simple: If they don’t want me, I don’t want them. I live here, I plan to live here for the rest of my life no matter what, and I would like to be a completely integrated member of society, so that in addition to paying my taxes and being an active member of my local community (and some online communities!), I will be able to vote and have my opinion really count for the future of my local neighborhood and my new country. I’ll still feel a lot of love for Denmark as it’s a huge part of who I am, but my future is here and I absolutely love being here. A piece of paper cannot tell me who I am – I know that already. Getting my green card was one of the most exhilarating days of my life. Getting my citizenship will surely be another. Jacob
Congrats - I hope it all goes smoothly for you! I work with a bunch of Germans who have gone through the same thing, and it is amazing how much work it takes to do it up right!
Thanks guys Jason - it can take up to a year but often it happens quicker - my father in law's took only three months from the application was filed until he had his new passport in hand. The citizen part is the "easier" part - the one that's tougher to get is the green card when you first start the immigration process.
Outstanding Jacob! We need more people like you. before they ban you over there can you bring back a few bags of that awesome licorice candy (those little disks)?
Thank you, guys LOL yeah I plan on having one of my brothers go buy a lot of candy etc and ship it to me. Licorice, marzipan chocolate bars and so on. Great stuff!
Thanks so much everyone. I truly appreciate all the positive feedback and I look very much forward to becoming an American. I just went to the attorney's office this morning and got the paperwork for the test I have to take - About US history, the Constitution and other things. Time for some studying and brushing up.
Congrats!! I know I'm a bit biased, since I was born here, but since I have traveled the world, and have seen what is out there to see, there is NO better place to live and have a family then right here in the good ol' US of A!!
Now thats a BIG step Jacob, congrats on making your mind up! About that candy, make sure you visit SF next year and I´ll bring you what you need... Fredrik:worthy:
This morning I went to the FBI office/USCIS office in a nearby city to get my biometrics taken (fingerprints). Very quick process - maybe 30 mins from start to finish which is unbelievably fast for any appointment with immigration services. There were a lot of people there, doing the same thing. People from all regions of the world, from age 10 to age 60. Each of us got a little booklet as we passed by the clerk to get our paperwork stamped before waiting in line. The booklet is a study guide for the Naturalization test/interview I'll be going to in a few months. It was great - seeing all these different people having the same goal as me, and being from different countries throughout the world - hopefully soon we'll all be Americans.
Today was the big day. Got there at 9, left at 3. WITH MY CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOO!! I'm ecstatic - it's fantastic to finally have my citizenship diploma and it's AWESOME that ALL the people that got there today from all corners of the world, all left as Americans. It's amazing! Thanks all for all your great comments in this thread! Now it's time to party
