Yippee - REALLY getting legal!

[Wingnut]

Well ... finally ... my green card arrived in the mail .... one small step closer to citizenship.
Funny how, under the direction of that Clinton fella, I was informed that my card should arrive within a year but, if it didn't, to come in and get my passport restamped .... and then, under the direction of the "rube" ... the INS actually starts to work and produces the card in just 4 months. Must be the post turtle thing, huh?
Gee ...w onder who I'll vote for when I get the vote .... or is that why the Clinton crowd didn't seem all that anxious for my oath (just my taxes)?
Now ... just another 2-1/2 years and I can test my civics knowledge ...
My boss asked why getting the green card excited me and I said "well, shoot, now I can legally go find another job, heh heh".

too bad that common sense ain't

 

[GlueGuy]

<font color=blue>under the direction of that Clinton fella</font color=blue>

Now you really think ol' Billy-boy was standing there in the way? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

The GlueGuy

 

[Alan L.]

I didn't know Canadians even needed green cards or passports.

Alan L., TX

 

[Knight9]

Don't need a passport to enter the US, but do need some sort of VISA or something to work and live there.

Kevin

 

[Wingnut]

heck no .... I think his policies are very self-evident and the serfs in the INS were following his requirements very well .... concentrate on making into citizens those minorities that form the basis of the democratic vote base.
Not that I'm a cynic or anything.
Heck, the fact that millions of hispanics were fast tracked to citizenship in the past few years in time for the 2000 election and my "automatic" green card (I'm married to a 4th gen. American) took 3+ years .... nah that doesn't mean anything ...


too bad that common sense ain't

 

[Wingnut]

Alan,
the company I work for transferred me here to Michigan 3-1/2 years ago. My original work permit ran out 6 months ago but I'd gotten an extension due to their slowness of getting me the green card. Canadians just need good identification to VISIT the US (although the Customs folks recommend passports as the best ID) ... but cannot work here without a work visa. Under the NAFTA agreement ... it was supposed to be easier but the reverse is actually true ... it's much harder for a Canadian to work in the US (while the reverse is not true ... most of the brass in the Canadian plants are US citizens and do not have to acquire landed immigrant status if they're planning on staying for long periods).
Since I am still 7 to 13 years from retirement ... I decided I might as well make it easier (than continually being forced to show that I'm not taking a job away from a US citizen) by becoming a citizen ... especially since my spouse is a 4th generation Texan/Cajun.
Before moving here, we had started the process of getting her landed immigrant status in Canada. Piece-of-cake ... expensive ... but easy ... just had to fill out the papaers and also sign an outh swearing I would support her for 10 years (trying to keep people off welfare? strange. Not a standard liberal tactic).
As soon as the paperwork came through making her legal ... I was transferred here ...
Supposedly, this should be easy. Being married to a US citizen means I am immediately allowed a green card (although you still have to prove - by staying together - it wasn't a "marriage-of-convenience). Then, 3 years after getting the card, I am eligible to take the citizenship exams. Well ... here it is 3-1/2 years after arriving in Michigan and my green card arrived in the mail this week ...
Somehow, I think my spouse will be a Canadian long before I become an American ...

too bad that common sense ain't

 

[jinman]

I think it's about time somebody told you congratulations and welcome. It's too darned easy to take things for granted, and the fact that you will exercise your civic right to vote makes you a first-class "good citizen" no matter where you hang your hat. Welcome aboard!/w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

JimI

 

[cowboydoc]

Yes I agree with Jim. Congrats and welcome. Hope you stay here. We need more of your kind in this country.

 

[Knight9]

<font color=blue>We need more of your kind in this country. </font color=blue>

What kind is that....Canadians?? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Kevin

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Wingnut,

Welcome to the US! As you have probably noted, our mail system works a little slower here than you are used to. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

SHF

 

[ERNIEB]

Wingnut, Well, see you Canadians need a river you can swim, or wade across./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I'm not sure how it helps, but it seems to work down here/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Ernie

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Wingnut,

Congratulations/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Can we call you a Yankee yet?/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Al

 

[jimmoore]

EARNIE, no little ankle deep river for the canadians! They come over "the falls" in a barrel./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

jim

 

[Wingnut]

as my "yeller rose" would say ... thank all y'all fer the kind wishes!

SHF ... as a fellow Michigander (or is it Michiganian ... seems to depend on which news program I wacth) ... I have bad news for you. The mail delivery here costs less and produces more than most other countries! Defineitly a world better than Canada. Unless it's a check (cheque for the Canadians) going to Maryland ... it seems to take several days to get mail anywhere in the US ... while I always had to allow a week to get to the city (45 miles away) or 2 weeks to get anywhere in Canada. Even now, if I'm sending mail back to Alberta ... I allow 2 weeks ... 'cause it will get to the Canadian mail system in Winnipeg in 2 days and then ..... can you say "black hole"
Oh ... and I get DELIVERY here to my place outside of town. Heck ... in Canada, delivery (if available) is 5 days a week ... oops .. subtract the 2,866 federal holidays that the posties get ... and there's no delivery in the country ... or even in new parts of the towns and cities. They put up "superboxes" and deliver there and you go and pick up. Tremendous savings to the government in gasoline!
Opps ... stanting to sound like a "yank", huh Kevin?

too bad that common sense ain't

 

[Knight9]

Peter,

Alas, it looks like we have "lost you" to the Stars & Stripes! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Once that Green card arrives and you start singing the praises of the American mail system....there's no turning back! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Kevin

 

[Alan L.]

Congratulations. I am also a U.S. Citizen even though I have never been away from the Republic of Texas very often at all.

Alan L., TX

 

[Wingnut]

heck Kevin ... I fell in love with the US postal service the first day was here .... and UPS and FEDEX deliver to my house!!! In the country!!! Wow!!!
But ... after all the talk about taxes ... and the newspaper reports here about eminent domain seizures ... I'm sure that once I retire and have to survive on a pension ... lower land costs, lower taxes, lower drug prices (no, the legal ones, guys!) and lower food costs ... oh and insurance, license plates, drivers license fees and ... well just about anything that costs money ... will bring me rushing back to Canada. Which is why ... while I'm working on my US citizenship ... we're still working on my wife's Canadian citizenship.
heh heh heh
In the meantime ... although I was a little tongue-in-cheek above ... my salary manages to outweigh my essentials costs ... and besides ... there's nothing like the Michigan Militia in Alberta ... bwahahahahaha.
Sorry ... I'll calm down. Let me know when they elect a sane government in Ottawa that'll see reason on gun laws, please.

too bad that common sense ain't