Renewal

I'm happy to report, I have actually finished my passport renewal application thing and it's been done, for like, almost a week. They changed the requirements since last time I renewed... now they no longer as you to find a person of "reputable professions" such as doctors and lawyers to guarantee that you're who you say you are, instead, they require another Canadian with a valid passport (or one that has expired less than 12months ago) to be your guarantor. I prefer the new system. It makes a bit more sense, in terms of security. I mean, it would have been sooo freak'n easy for someone to just pose as some "doctor" and sign the back of your photo. They might as well say you need to pinky swear that you are telling the truth

Anyway, my passport doesn't expire until next May, and I don't plan on being out of the country in the next couple of months, but I have to get it now because, well, I think I'm going to actually go for a... wait for it.... a green card.

Yes. After 11 years in the U. S of A, six of which I have been considered a resident alien, I have finally decided to go for it. I love my job enough that I am okay with staying put for most likely 2 years... I mean, I have been at my new job for almost a year already.

It might seem a no-brainer decision for some people, but actually there were a lot of practical and well, honestly, sentimental reasons why it's taken me so long to decide whether to go for it or not. US Immigration is not exactly a simple straightforward thing to deal with. To get your employer to sponsor you for a green card, you are bascially shackled to them til you get your green card, and then perhaps longer (depending on your negotiations). That can take anywhere between 1.5yrs to 3 or more years. My previous employer EA, was rather notorious about taking their sweet ass time to get your application processed. EA paid for all your lawyer fees, but the downside is that well, you don't get to really inquire much about the process, since you're entirely in their debt, so to speak. Now that I'm at a small company, they actually explain to me the intricate timing and process, which I much prefer, even though it means they only pay for half the fees, thus I would have to pay something like $4300 to take the "alien" out of my status. I like knowing why things take long, or not, even if it means I have to pay for it. For example, there are filing time frames. It makes sense for me to start my process now, so by the time my H1-B expires in Januaray 2010, I should already have gotten my labor certification, and they won't have to deal with more extra BS. Blah blah blah.

As for sentimental reasons, well, there are plenty. Practical reasons of employment aside, getting a green card is one's first step in becoming American. That ties into various webs of feelings about who I am, how I relate to America, etc etc that is too much to get into right now. I have tried to explain to others, and often failing, to convey why it is such a sentimentally deep issue. Perhaps it's because most people don't choose to have a country. You are born into one, and for all better or worst, it is part of you, and you can be proud of it or have fun ridiculing it because well, it's part of you. When you are a person born without a country, and you have a chance to choose, it becomes a much more... responsible thing. Especially if a wonderful country has already gratiously adopted you as one of their own, in a strange way, getting a green card almost feels a tad like... cheating. And for what? Because the new country's ideals suit you better? No... at least that reason would have more... I suppose, civic integrity. The reason why I want a green card, is so I can continue to live like a Yuppy in San Francisco, eat fabulously expensive cheeses, locally made salumis, have cheap Amazon deliveries, and the ability to oh, I dunno, have a two month long vacation in between jobs if I so choose, and all the while keeping my high Canadian horse and go "oh you silly Americans and your Sarah Palin and your stupid shit politics and your lack of universal healthcare and your ridiculous warS".

I dunno. I suppose once I apply for a green card, I am also effectively saying, okay, I intent to permanently associate with all the above mentioned unsavory parts of American-ness. I know having a green card is no citizenship... but nonetheless, it is a first step towards switching all those "your"s to "my"s; a first step to taking responsibility for all the bad, as I enjoy all the good that is an American Life.