A Visa or a Citizenship--that is the Question!

It is a sad when one has to choose between finally getting the long awaited citizenship, or canceling thousands and dollars worth of travel plans.  I admit, part of the fault lies in my own procrastinating tendencies...but seriously?!?!

Okay, here's how the story began...


After years of procrastinating (and even renewing my green card!), I've finally decided to bite the bullet and apply for my US citizenship.  Now you might wonder, what exactly finally spurred my lazy ass into finally applying?  Well, several factors actually:

1. My mom gave me an e-copy of the application.  Yeah, I know.  Pretty lame of me.  But yeah, she electronically filled it out stuff like my name and alien registration number and when I've been out of the country.  All I had to do was check that all the data is right and print it out.
2. My mom gave me the money for the processing fee.  Okay, yeah I'm cheap.  I mean dude!  It's almost $700 to apply. Why do you think I chose to renew my green card like five years ago (for less than $100, mind you) instead of applying for the citizenship (at that time was over $500).  But yeah...Mom gave me the money for this.
3. I got tired of having to fill out visas.  This spring, James and I considered going to the UK to visit his grandparents and because I'm not a US citizen, I needed to apply for a visa.  I guess it didn't help that the country that I was a citizen for was pretty poor and known for immigrating illegally.  Still, a real hassle.  And now, while James and I are planning our honeymoon, we were thinking of making a quick stop to Tokyo and Singapore on the way to the Philippines.  Ugh...and guess what?  I need a visa to go to Japan!  Where's the love, dude?  I'm Asian!!

So, yeah those are my reasons.  And here's the timeline on how things went down:

• week of 27July2011 - sent via Priority mail my application and all accompanying docs, checks, pics.
• week of 04Aug2011 - saw Big Bro cash my check in my bank account and received something in the mail letting me know that they got my application and to please tell them if any of the information is incorrect
• week of 11Aug2011 - got my letter for a Biometrics appointment.  It's gonna be in Aug. 30.  Luckily, I don't have to go to Charlotte like I did several years ago for my green card renewal.
• 30Aug2011 - Biometrics appointment was about five miles from home.  I was there about 10 minutes early and left 10 minutes after my actually appointment time.  Wow!  It has gotten fast.  They fingerprinted me and took my photo and sent me home with a guide to help me with my civics exam.
• week of Sep - got my letter for the interview
• 17Oct2011 - INTERVIEW!! Passed :)

Anyway...November came by and went...and still no letter from the USCIS with my oath date.  I called the help line and even wondered whether I should schedule an INFOPASS appointment as I am definitely passed the time as to when I was supposed to receive notice about it.  When December finally came, I gave up waiting.  I figured at this time, there was no way I'm going to get any letter from the USCIS before I will have to travel for my honeymoon.

And so, I booked out tickets...and...

• 28Dec2011 - Got an email from USCIS telling me that they had sent me a letter that had the date and time for my oath taking.
• 03Jan2012 - finally got the letter!  The oath day they gave me was 27Jan2012 :(  

Super bummer.  I had to write them back to ask for a new date.  Why?  Because I'm going to the Philippines, Japan, and Singapore the first week of Feb.  I'm pretty sure I will be unable to get a U.S. passport in time for me to travel.  And so, I finally applied for a Japanese tourist visa.  Who knew those things were easy to get?  I sent my application on Thursday, they got it on Friday, and I got my passport with the Japanese visa in my hot little hands by Saturday!

• 13Jan2012 - received the letter from USCIS saying that they got my request for a new oath date and that they would contact me for a new one ...