Most everyone knows that this past week my awesome husband became a US Citizen. This was a huge accomplishment for Ricardo and I’m sure many of the other naturalized citizens that attended. What many people don’t know is how difficult it is to become a US Citizen and how very different a legal immigrant’s rights are from ours. Ricardo came here nearly 12 years ago to attend college in Minnesota. He completed his Associates while learning English and then went on to complete his Bachelor’s Degree there as well. During that time he was here on an F-1 VISA which means he had to attend school full time (if not he could have been deported), only work when authorized, and pay for everything out of pocket. Our government does not help these students with Financial Aid at all! Ricardo completed his degree, got an H-1, or authorization to work VISA, and was allowed to stay in the US. Then he met me! We had to pay almost $1000 to apply for his Permanent Residence, get fingerprinted, submit all sorts of documentation including our marriage pictures, honeymoon pictures, and our marriage licenses to the Immigration Office, and then go through an interview to make sure it was legit. He had to do that again when his Permanent Resident Card expired this time with information about Alexander included. Finally after the allotted number of years passed he was able to apply for citizenship. We had to pay again and go through the same rigmarole as before only minus the interview with both of us but instead he had a to study very hard and take a US History test. He passed with flying colors and then was able to attend his ceremony this past week. This has been a long and arduous journey for him. Every time we travel he gets photographed, fingerprinted, and questioned at the airport. We had to worry if they ever decided to kick everyone out of the US that wasn’t a US citizen because he’d have to leave. Now, that’s all over. He’s a fortified US Man and can come and go as he pleases with no hurdles to jump. He can vote and never has to return to INS again for another fingerprinting or test! He said the best part of all of this is he has the power to chose if he wants to be Latino or American depending on his situation. HAHAHAHA! After we got done we ate lunch at his favorite resturant with Uncle Rick. He and Aunt Mary were kind enough to take time out of their day to watch the ceremony which was so nice! After we got home Melanie and I insisted that since Ricardo was a "real" American now he had to ride the lawnmower. The neat flag pic is compliments of Aunt Mel and Alexander. The pictures speak for themselves!
