Tomorrow is the day!

[Lee VD]

Rachel (Ruiqing) has her citizenship interview tomorrow in Seattle. She has studied like crazy with copious notes (even looked up pronunciations on each of the Indian tribes!). The boys and I have tested her hard and she constantly scores 100% so no worries on the testing part. We have incorporated the boys into family quizzing sessions so they learn too. Her English should be just fine with 6 years of total immersion on top of her having a good mastery when I met her.

 

From what I have read, for this location at least, if she has an early enough interview (she does), she can do a same day oath ceremony so we are hoping for that. Passport application is ready to drop off later in the afternoon!

 

The only real risk: CCP... She is ready to answer to it just as she did for K-1 and GC... can only hope they come to the same conclusion...

Edited October 26, 2015 by Lee VD (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

Be very careful, there is a distinction of joining as a condition of employment vs joining based on ideology, this is what the interviewer is trying to determine, they can ask a question and based on answer can trip a person up.

 

See: http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/46102-citizenship-denied-advice-please/

[Greg.D.]

Heck, each former CCP member they can get to become a U.S. Citizen is a PR coupe. (According to me, not based on any research).

 

There was a funny Modern Family episode last year where Gloria went for her interview and, after weeks of hard study, they asked her only a couple of can't miss questions. Worth watching.

 

Good luck!

[Lee VD]

Interview complete and she passed with flying colors. She got the first 6 questions right so the test was ended as a pass.

 

For the CCP question, the interviewer was nice and even led her to try and answer in a way that was favorable to her but she was not sure if he was trying to trick her or not. He said "...so you joined for economic reasons..." and she said "no, for education reasons" but he said "...but that is essentially for your economic benefit...". So, she caught on and it worked out. She was honest in her letter that she joined to provide a better career development path. She didn't mention specifically that joining was not a specific condition of her employment or career track (but prepared to truthfully answer that), so we knew that was a potential issue by the wording of the law.

 

Unfortunately, she was told there is no oath ceremony today (it's a Tuesday) so she was scheduled for Fri. Nov 6th, about 10 days from now. Puts a little more pressure on getting her passport before our next trip on Dec. 7th but we will be expediting it.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Lee VD (see edit history)

[Greg.D.]

Congratulations! (To her). The only thing left is the oath and passport - what will you guys do without these multi-step form/app/fee/wait projects that have been the fabric of your life for the last 5 years?

Edited October 27, 2015 by Greg.D. (see edit history)

[Lee VD]

Oath ceremony went OK but it was very full, something like 80 people... It took a couple hours end to end! There was a new officer who ran the ceremony so it was a little halting...

We submitted the passport form the same day at the office near home. Now we have to get ready to get the Chinese visas for me and her. That I need to turn in in Houston since I work there. Now to go back to the thread on that!

Also need to notify SSA and DHS (for Global Entry).

Almost done!!! We are mostly sick of having had to get visas for every country we visit!

Edited November 20, 2015 by Lee VD (see edit history)

[Lee VD]

It looks like it had been 3 years since I was last on CFL. Just a little update... we just had our 8 year anniversary and everything is still going as well as in the early days! I read some of the sad stories here but for me, everything has been wonderful. She is so supportive, helpful, and affectionate (in all ways ), she is every man's dream. I guess I really lucked out somehow. I give her a good life and she really appreciates it. She is not working outside the house but keeping a great home and doing her frugal shopping. She drives the car I bought her so is as independent as she wants to be. Unbelievable she essentially gave up her PhD to be with me. My mother is a bit disappointed in that... she just got her PhD herself a few years ago! We have been enjoying travel, particularly to Europe, once or twice a year. I do travel almost constantly for work but I am home on the weekends. This gives us each some alone time which helps our hearts stay fond of each other! I hope many others have been as luck as we have been and to those just starting the journey, best of luck! Make sure to invest the time to really get to know each other BEFORE doing the filing.