Citizenship Trip

On Wednesday, March 26th Francisco Jose Durán became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America.

Let me give you a bit of history and then please take a look at the pictures from the trip...

March 25, 2001 Panchito and I were engaged in Venezuela. The following month his family traveled to Caracas, the capital, to petition for a tourist visa for the US. They had to have this tourist visa in order for us to get married in the States, which was our first choice. Thankfully, they were granted tourist visas in April and we all traveled back here for our wedding on August 11, 2001. We moved back to Venezuela and lived there about 15 months before it was politically and economically unsettling there for Americans. We decided to move to the United States. We arrived here on October 14, 2002 and petitioned the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service now USCIS or Department of Homeland Security) immediately for a change of status. We no longer wanted Panchito to be viewed as a tourist, but rather a resident. That took a LONG time and we eventually hired a lawyer to help us with the complicated process. Because we were doing all this during the time after 9-11, the USCIS was changing almost all of its documents and regulations and things were VERY confusing.

Finally, in June of 2003 he was granted a work permit. We filed more paperwork and in August of 2004 he received the green card. The green card allowed him to travel freely to and from the US as a permanent resident without jeopardizing his standing for citizenship.

In May of 2007 we were able to finally apply for naturalization. A certain amount of time must elapse after the green card is received in order to apply. If you are married to a citizen, 3.5 years is the magic number. You can apply 6 months prior to the 3.5 year anniversary. In June we traveled to Milwaukee for fingerprints. In January Panchito went to Minneapolis for his citizenship interview. (Proud to be an American... Almost) He was approved and we were waiting for the ceremony.

Tuesday afternoon we went with my parents to Milwaukee and spent the night in a hotel. We had a GREAT time and then Wednesday morning we went to the US Federal Courthouse on Wisconsin Street in downtown Milwaukee. It was VERY exciting. Panchito can maintain his Venezuelan citizenship according to the law in Venezuela and here in the States. Now Katrina and Panchito have dual citizenship. Poor Mama! She will only be an American! Oh well, I am proud to be an American.