hello! yoshi

So now that I’m an American Citizen, what changes? People might be wondering or asking what changes now that I’m officially an American. To be honest with you, there isn’t really much that changes. I still pay taxes, that might be the biggest one. For those of you who think that Permanent Residents (what I used to be) don’t have to pay taxes, you’ve got it totally wrong. The illegal aliens don’t pay taxes. That’s why they’re illegal.

I get to vote. That’s a major change too. I couldn’t vote before and honestly, I didn’t really care, but lately, it just seems like perhaps I really should vote. I realize of course that I’m only one vote, but really, it could make a difference if everyone who didn’t vote actually did vote.

I can now work in a federal job. While this might not really appeal to everyone, I had applied for a federal job in the past and was rejected for the sole reason that I was not a citizen. I’m pretty sure it was because I would be working with computers and some areas required at least “Secret” (as opposed to Top Secret) clearance. Well, you can’t get any clearance if you’re not a citizen. So there you have it.

Other than that, there’s nothing else changing in my life. Perhaps now I will get the job of my dreams working for the FBI or something. That might be exciting. Most likely not though. Oh, I do have to go to the Social Security office to let them know I’m a citizen now. I’m not sure if it has to do with Social Security payouts. Who knows, I just have to let them know about it.

Also, I’d like to say for the record, for those of you who say that the test is very hard: Yes, it’s pretty tough, only because some of those questions are crazy, but I personally think they try to make it as easy as possible on you. Not to say it’s easy for a terrorist to become a citizen, because it’s not. But I’m pretty sure when you apply they do a very thorough background check on you. That’s the real hard part. Don’t lie about any legal things going on with your life. Especially if you were out of country or arrested for whatever reason. But the test is pretty easy if you study. This all changes in October 2008 though. The citizenship test is a real test! I looked at the questions and they’re pretty damn hard! I’m glad I got my citizenship now!

Are there any changes that I missed by becoming an American Citizen?

When you read this, I should be in Seattle, at USCIS, taking my vows to become a US Citizen. Finally! I will officially be an Naturalized American. Not sure why they call it Naturalized, but who cares, it just means that I will be able to vote and be eligible to take a federal job. Oh, consequently, I can also become a police officer. Not that I wish to become one, it’s a bit too much for me. I could see myself stressing out on that job. seriously.

But now that I will be an American, I will be going to register to vote, as well as getting a new passport. You know, just in case I decide to travel out of the country, like going to Japan or something. Also, I just realized, I can now stand jury duty. Wow, I’m so not enthused about that.

Big day today, the plan for dinner is chili cheese dogs, tater tots, and apple pie. How much more American can you get than that?

So, yesterday, I received my notification from the USCIS that I am now scheduled to go to an Oath Ceremony on 4/30/08 at 2pm. That’s right people, finally I will become naturalized and become a US citizen. About time, right? You’d think that serving in the US Military would automatically make me a citizen, but nope, it just isn’t true. They certainly make it easier to become a citizen now if you are active duty, but it’s not instant. That’s probably a good thing too.

You might recall my past posts about taking the citizenship test and how “hard” it is. Well, the studying paid off, because now it’s going to be official. Of course, the test wasn’t really all that hard. It will be changing in October of this year, so right now is the time to get citizenship while it’s easy (and cheap!).

The first thing I’m going to do with my citizenship is to register to vote and get a new passport. My old Japanese passport will be no good anymore, but I think I’ll keep it as a souvenir. Gotta have some history with the homeland, right? Kinda funny because, I still pay taxes and do everything a citizen does, I just can’t vote and get a federal job. Go figure. I will be able to soon though! Kick ass!

This is exactly how the interview process went for me, except the questions were different, (of course, right) and I didn’t have an assistant or a camera crew there with me. Oh, and I’m nowhere near as funny as Craig Ferguson.

Yes, it’s my final answer, and I’m locking it in.

So I drove up to Seattle (well, not really, just the outskirts just past Federal Way), to go to the USCIS to get my Interview for US Citizenship. My appointment was at 10:30, and I got there about 9:45, because they said to be there 30 minutes before the interview. I don’t like to be late.

So I check in, walk up the stairs, and there’s a tons of chairs to sit down at, with tons of people. Must have been about 50 people. (I could be exaggerating here.) I was very happy at that moment I brought my book, because I’m sure I was to read a lot of it. As I sit down, open my book, I read about 4 lines and my name is called. Ok, that’s service. They already knew I was here because they scanned my letter downstairs. Wow. This is fast. So I go in the door and expect to find another secondary waiting area. You know, like some doctor’s offices.

No. The gentleman guides to me to his office.

His office people. I didn’t even wait for 5 minutes before I got to start the interview. Mind you at this point it’s about 10:00 now. My appointment is at 10:30. I’m thinking, “is there something wrong? this is too fast!” But no, he starts asking me preliminary questions, you know the typical “have you ever been to jail” questions. Then I get the written/reading/speaking exam. You’re kidding me right?

I don’t remember the sentence I had to read but it was easy. I mean like “see jane run, see spot run” kind of thing. He told me to write down, “I go to work every day,” or something to that effect. Done. That’s it. seriously.

The civics questions were a bit harder, and I was sure that he was going to ask me which amendments affected voting. Nope. One question I had was “Where does the President reside?” This was easy folks. Any American should be able answer these. So at this point it was 10:15, and I had to fill in another form because I was in the military and they needed to get confirmation of that. Ok, no problem. Filled that sucker out and then now I just have to take 2 passport photos and send it back to them. (I forgot to get photos done.)

So now, after I send in my walgreens passport photos, I just have to wait for them to approve my application, and they’ll contact me with the date to get sworn in as a citizen. Exciting, isn’t it? I’m so excited. The gentleman said, “if you’re approved…” but I could see in his eyes there was no doubt. He just had to say that just in case.

He told me the form I just filled out had to go to St. Louis, MO to get approved and they’ll contact me. I laughed and said, “Wow, how ironic, I moved from St. Louis, it’s too bad I still don’t live there.” Implying of course the paperwork might go faster and said, “Of course, that won’t make it faster would it? LOL” and he laughed too. Of course, he was rushing me out the door.

So yeah, hopefully I’ll be a US citizen soon. About time, since I’m more of an American than a lot of friends I know.

[EDIT] Oh, I forgot to mention that they said the interview would be 2 hours. Yeah ok, you mean it could take up to 2 hours I’m thinking. Since for me, it took about 1/2 hour. (look at those fractions in use! and someone wants to get rid of them? come on!)

Ok, so by the time you read this, I will presently be at the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Service) waiting on my interviewer. I studied up on the civics, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to pass the reading/writing/speaking English portion of the interview. I mean, I do write pretty well, right? I hope that this blog is not full of 1010102938545 grammatical mistakes. Or misspellings, because improper spelling and grammar annoy the hell out of me. Sometimes.

So wish me luck, hopefully I’m doing well. If not, then wow, I don’t even know what they’d do.

When an immigrant goes to apply for US Citizenship (like myself), the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) administers a naturalization test. This test covers such things as current events (current president, governer, senator and so on) and basic government and civics.

I understand that they will be redesigning the test. This new test will apparently be in use after October 1, 2008. From the USCIS website: “The revised test, with an emphasis on the fundamental concepts of American democracy and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, will help encourage citizenship applicants to learn and identify with the basic values we all share as Americans.”

That’s cool because some of the questions on the current test are pretty elementary. Although I will have to admit there are probably quite a few people out there who wouldn’t know certain questions. Here’s some examples (and yes, I will supply the answers) from the current test:

Questions:

1. How many stars are there in our flag?
2. How many stripes are there in the flag?
3. How many branches are there in our government? And what are they?
4. How many senators are there in Congress?
5. Can you name all the senators in your state?
6. For how long do we elect each senator?
7. Can you name thirteen original states?
8. Who said, “give me liberty or give me death!”

Ok ok, that’s enough. They give you 100 example questions, from which they will take some of and ask you in your interview. You do a written and oral test, because they want to make sure you can read/write english and speak it well enough as well.

I’ll be going in next Monday to do this interview. They also say I should “dress appropriately” so I’m thinking jeans are out, but honestly, what’s appropriate? I went there for my fingerprinting in jeans and a t-shirt. *shrug*

Here are the answers:

1. 50 (for all the states)
2. 13 (for the original colonies)
3. Three. The Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary.
4. 100
5. This of course would depend on where you live. But for me, it’s Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. (I have the hardest time remembering Patty Murray. I have no idea why.
6. 6 years
7. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia
8. Patrick Henry

How many did you get right?