Thursday, July 11All That Matters

My father, 67. Finally a US citizen after 17 years of processes and paperwork

by Fw7toWin


My father, 67. Finally a US citizen after 17 years of processes and paperwork



View Reddit by Fw7toWin – View Source

47 Comments

  • SEspider

    Congrats and MUCH respect to him for going about it the legal way. It should not take 17 yrs to become a citizen. Our system is soooooooo screwed up!

    Reply
  • Fw7toWin

    Oh wow. Thank you guys! ❤️

    I showed him all the comments and he is so overwhelmed with the show of love. This is why I love Reddit.

    Thank you also for the awards.

    For context, Mum still waiting, same amount of time. Sis doesn’t even have green card yet and she is 16 years in, so maybe another 10 years until she gets hers. That’s 26 years! Yep, it will probably be TWENTY SIX years by the time she gets hers.

    Reply
  • buggy1788

    Why don’t people just become citizens the RIGHT WAY it’s not that hard …….. well here it is it is actually very long process and hard as well so don’t ever look down on someone who was born into a diff country then you were

    Reply
  • Oahkery

    But all illegal immigrants should “jUsT dO It tHE riGhT wAy.” Congrats to him, though.

    ![gif](giphy|SUnnfaSxhfLvf8H7XB|downsized)

    Reply
  • que_he_hecho

    Many congratulations for completing the immigration marathon! Welcome!

    ​

    The American public needs to understand how f—ed up our immigration system is and the indictment of our system is evidenced by it taking 17 years to get citizenship.

    An adult on certain types of visas can bring his/her non-citizen kids as dependents. The kids can be raised and educated here, put through college and prepared to contribute to society.

    Then, if their parent’s green card isn’t approved before the kid turns 21, we deport the kid. Go back to a country you haven’t lived in since your were 4 years old. WTF!?

    It can take a decade or more for that green card to be approved, if it ever is. How many professionals would accept a job in the States if they knew their 11 year old child would be deported when he turns 21 because USCIS still hasn’t approved the parent’s green card?

    Reply
  • topothebellcurve

    One of us! One of us!
    Congrats!

    I was just talking to my wife about these posts in reddit, and got it takes so long. She’s got her green card through our marriage, and it took less than a year. She was saying that after three years, she could apply for citizenship, and it doesn’t take long after application if you have it all setup with appropriate paperwork. (I.e. months)

    I told her about these posts and she didn’t know why it would take so long. So I did some quick googling, and it looked like she was correct, unless I’m missing something…

    Why did it take so long in y’alls case?

    Reply
  • LordsOfSkulls

    i can relate. It took me over 20 years to get my Citizenship. From young age of 10, and i became citizen when i was 30 years old.

    Its a feeling, no one other than immigrants can describe. The road for many us is very hard, and full of barriers to jump over. Everyone has unique story how their road took them into becoming a citizen.

    So happy for your dad. I am hoping one day soon i be able to celebrate my mother’s citizenship.

    Reply
  • commonsensical1

    It should not take 17 years to be able to figure out if a man can pay taxes and be a functioning person of society but our government is broken and shitty. Really the worst part about this place is the government. When you have everyone from everywhere you can’t agree on anything it seems. I apologize for the government it should have only taken maybe 1-2 years in my eyes, welcome.

    Reply
  • rahvan

    I take it this was a family visa green card route, and most likely not in the immediate preference category. Most likely had a brother/parent/cousin apply for family reunification for him. After that is approved, 5 more years as Green card holder to citizenship.

    Reply
  • unstuckbilly

    As a League of Women Voters volunteer, please make sure to get your dad registered to vote ASAP and ensure that he knows how to vote every November.

    Reply
  • pr05wift

    If you think America’s immigration system is messed up wait till you learn about the immigration system of other countries. I shall not name those countries but there are places where you can legally live and work your entire life but still have to return after retirement. Some countries have an aging population that is hurting their economy but will still refuse to take immigrants.

    We might be living in the 21 century but a lot of countries still have a broken mindset.

    Reply
  • ThiccumNuggets

    It’s ridiculous that it took *17 years*, but I’m happy that he finally got it! Major kudos to sticking out the horseshit system we have here, I would’ve said “fuck it” a long time ago.

    Reply
  • BTETW

    I am next bro! i am going to the states in 2025, i am getting my green card. My sister is a us citizen. she is from Taiwan, so am i, but after going through university. and good grades good work, the company of my sister decided to turn her into American!. Just want to let you guys know i am from Taiwan and in 2025 i am about to go the states with my green card! I am defently goiing to get my own very first US passport!

    Reply
  • SlickRick568

    Congratulations to your father, as well as you and your family! I am sure you are all very proud of him. My father just recently gained citizenship himself after being in the U.S. for over 25 years…. I wish this system wasn’t so broken 😞

    Reply
  • not-gandalf-bot

    It’s just insane that it takes that long. My grandfather arrived on a boat from Latvia and was a citizen within a few minutes.

    Reply
  • zerbey

    Congrats to your Dad! People who complain about immigration don’t understand that doing it the legal way can be a very long and expensive process for certain groups, 17 years is actually quite fast compared to some I’ve heard. 20-30 years isn’t uncommon.

    Reply

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