We have a new United States citizen. This guy did it right despite some government stupidity:
When I met Miss D. in 2009, she encouraged me to pursue the matter, and after we married, I did so – only to run into a bureaucratic roadblock. You see, the USCIS (which handles citizenship applications) wanted five years worth of tax returns, to prove I was paying my fair share towards our nation. However, because my income had been workers-compensation-related for several years (and thus not taxable), I hadn’t met the minimum taxable income threshold that requires one to submit a tax return. This did not satisfy USCIS, unfortunately – no tax returns, no citizenship!
I therefore approached the IRS and asked to file amended tax returns for the appropriate period, only to be told that this would be a waste of that agency’s time and resources (because I still wouldn’t owe any tax, after all), and therefore I should not do so.
See? Government idiocy. He waited five more years, filing the appropriate tax returns.
Becoming a US citizen will be a very solemn, moving moment for me. I take the oath of allegiance very seriously. I’ve already sworn part of it when taking the oath of federal law enforcement office as a prison chaplain, well over a decade ago. The citizenship ceremony will add to that an abjuration of any and all previous loyalties. In that sense, it’ll be a final, formal, legal and official severing of my ties to South Africa, where I’d spent almost two-thirds of my life so far.
An immigrant who did it right. A successful author whose books look interesting and are now on my ‘to buy and read’ list. Welcome, Peter Grant!
