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THE story of my path to American Citizenship begins today, Wednesday, May 12, 2010. I am still waiting for a substantial tax return – well, substantial in my world, and I am planning to use part of that payment to apply for American Citizenship. According to the information I found the last time I looked into the process the application will cost me roughly $700. They – the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in short USCIS – don’t accept credit cards, only money orders. That’s where the tax return comes in handy.

Since the year 2002 I am a permanent,  legal resident with an official alien registration number. As such I was hoping to fall under the responsibility of the Men in Black, but no such luck. In layman’s terms I own a so-called “Green Card,” even though the card is not green at all. In turn, living in the United States of America and owning a permanent resident status for more than three years while married to a green-eyed Irish-American Red-Head entitles me to apply for citizenship.

As a matter of fact, there is no rational explanation why I want to become an American Citizen. Theoretically, I can remain a legal alien for the rest of my natural life, but there are a number of not so rational reasons, and I will detail them in another chapter. For now let’s just say that I owe it to my family, my American-born wife and my American-born son. Add to that a profound love I feel for this country, and that includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. I believe, American Citizenship is a privilege. I also believe that the American spirit is like a virus – in the best sense of the word – that brings out the best in every decent human being.

I was born and raised in Germany. Let me explain what that means by distorting a Mark Twain quote: A German (Originally, an Englishman; same difference, though) is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven’t been done before.

Note: This is a work in progress. More info will be added soon.

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