You Screwed Me Again...Costanza!

The title of my blog post is one of Thomas' favorite lines from Seinfeld, and is certainly fitting for the blow we were dealt today.

Six years ago, about a week after we were married, we got in the car early one morning and drove up to the Immigration office in Salt Lake so Thomas could apply for a green card. We walked into a room and sat there for eight hours with a whole bunch of people...none who were Canadians and I'll just leave it at that. :)

Now, six years and over $1500 later we are one step...well, now we're two steps away from Thomas receiving his U.S. citizenship.

About this time last year, Thomas FINALLY reached the point in the application process where he could apply for naturalization. We sent in the money and paperwork and received notice that we would hear back in about 248 days.

The 248 days passed and we followed up in June, wondering what was going on. We were assured that everything was fine and they were back logged, and we should hear for sure by August or September.

Today a sweet little letter came in the mail from the Immigration office. We were so excited to open it, knowing for sure that there would be a date listed for the final interview.

Instead the letter started out with:

"This notice informs you that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has deemed your application for naturalization abandoned and denied."

Yes, my friends, the news doesn't get any worse than this. Our excitement quickly turned to shock, then anger, and then frustration. We rolled up our sleeves and went to work.

Apparently, Immigration Services sent a letter last September requesting Thomas report for fingerprinting. Only problem is we never got that letter. Trust me, I would remember getting it and would not forget to set up such an important appointment.

I am most bugged that no further attempts were made to re-contact us, or at least, when we followed up with the Immigration Office during the last few months they COULD HAVE let us in on this little problem.

So, where does this leave us you ask?

Well, the first step is to appeal their decision. The paperwork is going to be sent out tomorrow.

We have contacted our Senate and Representative offices already and dropped paperwork off at each office this afternoon.

Now all we can do is pray that this will all work out swiftly and promptly. This is critical because Thomas wants to do his Internship with the Air Force, and in order to even talk with a recruiter he has to be a Citizen. And in order to do the Internship, he has to start talking with the recruiter this fall.

So, we're only asking for a miracle to happen in the next few months. Hopefully with the right connetcions we can get this turned around quickly so Thomas can meet the internship application deadline.

One of George Costanza's enduring characteristics is that the poor guy always seems to get the raw end of the deal. Sometimes I feel like that happens to us too! Oh well, I guess that builds character, right?

Wish us well, keep the incompetent people who run the immigration office in your prayers, and if you happen to have any connections into the US Immigration Office or the Seattle Field Office...you're my new best friend.