BajaNomad - the newest U.S. Citizen

the newest U.S. Citizen

woody with a view - 5-21-2008 at 01:18 PM

that honor belongs to my wife. today at golden hall in san diego.

now she won't be as worried as i drag her down most every dirt road in baja with her soon-to-be-new-US passport. she used to be wary of traveling on her Peruvian passport.

we're going to the post office today to get our passport apps in the expedited, pay double line!!!!

i told her she will be subject to kidnappings for ransom, etc...while on the toll road.
:lol:

DENNIS - 5-21-2008 at 01:20 PM

Congrats to your wife, Woody. I'm proud of her. Yankee Doodle.

Diver - 5-21-2008 at 01:32 PM

Bummer, now she will want her own checking account and Costco card, maybe a cot to go in the tent and her own porta potty for camping !! :lol:

lingililingili - 5-21-2008 at 02:11 PM

Congratulations!

Capt. George - 5-21-2008 at 02:14 PM

eeegads woody, I'm a citizen now, where's my Bon-Bons!!!

great, congrats.

Paulina - 5-21-2008 at 02:16 PM

Woohooo, time to celebrate!

P<*)))><

oldlady - 5-21-2008 at 02:25 PM

Congratulations to your wife, Woody....smart gal, she picked a community property state!

Iflyfish - 5-21-2008 at 03:09 PM

Good one! Congrats.

Iflyfish

BajaSerg - 5-21-2008 at 03:38 PM

Congratulations! :bounce:

ELINVESTIG8R - 5-21-2008 at 04:32 PM

Felicidades to Woody's wife. You estadounidense!

Fantastic , Congratulations

Keri - 5-21-2008 at 04:47 PM

to you and your esposa,k :yes:

tripledigitken - 5-21-2008 at 04:50 PM

That's fantastic news.
Close some bars on Newport tonight.

Ken

Tomas Tierra - 5-21-2008 at 04:56 PM

Norte Americano Ahora!!!

Felicidades Bia!!!!!

thanks all!

woody with a view - 5-21-2008 at 04:58 PM

we made an appearance at "shades". now we're gonna grill some salmon and "anticuchos", to go with the vino y pacificos.....

thanks, again!

David K - 5-21-2008 at 05:09 PM

Viva America! Viva Sra. Woody!!

OOPS!

Pompano - 5-21-2008 at 05:12 PM

CONGRATULATIONS!!

P.S. thank DavidK

I have GOT to start wearing my glasses fulltime. Thought we had a baby here.

[Edited on 5-22-2008 by Pompano]

David K - 5-21-2008 at 05:29 PM

No problem Roger! Thanks for your great posts!!!

Gadget - 5-21-2008 at 05:55 PM

Thats cool. Now all the more reason to head south.
Gotta use:
New board
New wetty
New tires
New tent
New lure
New 12 pack
New passport
and so on
:biggrin:

fdt - 5-21-2008 at 09:33 PM

Congratulations Mrs. Woody.

Sharksbaja - 5-21-2008 at 09:41 PM

Not an easy task I hear. Congrats to Mrs. Woody in OB.

Bruce R Leech - 5-22-2008 at 07:08 AM

Congrats to you and your wife, Woody.

congratulations to your wife!

flyfishinPam - 5-22-2008 at 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody in ob
that honor belongs to my wife. today at golden hall in san diego.

now she won't be as worried as i drag her down most every dirt road in baja with her soon-to-be-new-US passport. she used to be wary of traveling on her Peruvian passport.

we're going to the post office today to get our passport apps in the expedited, pay double line!!!!

i told her she will be subject to kidnappings for ransom, etc...while on the toll road.
:lol:

I can certainly understand becoming a citizen on one's new country especially when one has a husband and children in their new country.

I am curious as I am going through the process to become a Mexican citizen,

What is required to become an American citizen?
roughly how long does it take and roughly how much cost is involved?

I think citizens of a country usually don't know what citizenship to their own conutry requires because they don't have to go through these processes unless a person that is close to them is goes through it.

[Edited on 5-22-2008 by flyfishinPam]

woody with a view - 5-22-2008 at 08:54 AM

we post marked and paid extra for certified mail as the application must be marked by a certain date (almost a year ago) before the cost to apply doubled. our cost was $400.00 nonrefundable. my wife has been in country 35 years on a resident alien "green card". after applying and finally having her interview in jan of this year she was told the final determination would be made by someone higher up (read: brushes with the law 12 and 20 years ago) and we'd get the letter in 3-4 weeks.

well, 3 months passed and hopes dimmed with each trip to the mailbox. finally, about 3 weeks ago we received "the letter" from DHS. my wife wouldn't open it so it was up to me and, all praise to Neptune!!!!!

"You are hereby notified to appear for a Naturalization Oath Ceremony on:
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
crt: US DISTRICT COURT FOR THE US
202 C STREET -ROOM GOLDENHALL'
SAN DIEGO, CA 92101
SAN DIEGO CONCOURSE BUILDING, NONE, NONE
Please report promptly at 7:30AM"

suffice to say she was a blubbering mess most of the day!!!!

about 4 hours for the ceremony and that's it!

flyfishinPam - 5-22-2008 at 09:03 AM

That seems much easier than Mexico's requiement for citizenship. Cheaper and more efficieient too. I assume there is a minimum time to be residing in the USA legally before one can apply and your wife could have applied earlier. So from start to finish is looks like it took about a year and three months? No test?

woody with a view - 5-22-2008 at 09:18 AM

3 years to apply.
50 questions of which she was asked 4-5 randomly.
questions like who are your state senators? what do the stars on the flag represent? what are the 3 branches of gov't.

pretty simple stuff considering any ripe mango can memrize 50 questions and answers....

flyfishinPam - 5-22-2008 at 09:22 AM

Ok a legal foreign resident has to live in the USA for three years before applying for citizenship. cost is about $400 non-refundable and they have to memorize fifty questions and answers of which they will be asked 4-5 randomly. Sounds like a piece of cake. I ask this becuse I am curious, does that test have to be given and taken in English only or are there options to take in in other languages?

woody with a view - 5-22-2008 at 09:28 AM

now it's $7-800. the booklet you download from the internet is in english. you have to show a proficiency in english but that could mean being able to read the street signs to show up for your appointments....

my wife was interviewed in english but there were others who had a third person go with them inside to interview (interpretor?) and i wasn't allowed to.

BAJACAT - 5-22-2008 at 11:39 AM

Congrats for your wife Woody, I became a US citizen on MAY 21 of 2001,and Im proud to say IM and MEXICAN-AMERICAN

bajalera - 5-22-2008 at 06:44 PM

Congrats to your wife and you, too, Woody!

update

woody with a view - 6-27-2008 at 02:15 PM

today we each applied for new u.s. passports and border crossing cards. +/- $123 each and a 3-4 week wait for the passports and the ship date for the border crossing cards is "july or august"!!!

up-update

woody with a view - 7-11-2008 at 03:33 PM

applied for them on 6-27 and received both of our passports 7-9-08. date of issue was july 2nd. so it took 5 days to issue new passports and another week to ship and receive them, all on the standard price (no rush delivery).

god, this country ROCKS!!!!!!!

now we're just waiting for our "border crossing cards".

David K - 7-11-2008 at 04:45 PM

Congrats Woody!