Former Green card holder now Citizen as of a few days ago.
Submitted an online form 4 months ago, received an interview date two months ago, had my interview last week.
Interview was at 8:30am
Oath ceremony was at 9am
Registered to vote at 9.15am
Back at work at 10am!
Submitted passport application the day after.
Interview was straightforward and most of the time was double checking all the information I had previously submitted was accurate. Learning the answers to the civics test was fun.
I think there is a cliche of a stern interviewer who is looking for any excuse to say no, but this officer was kind and encouraging.
The oath ceremony was actually quite moving. I often see most displays of patriotism as some kind of pseudo mental illness but the patriotism shown by the officiant was actually rational, inclusive and inspiring.
All that to say, am lucky and pleased to have such a smooth journey to citizenship and am happy to be able to vote!
Wow, they really streamlined it. I wonder how they did that. I spent a decade in the US (Permanent Res), wife was American, had two kids, worked for a solid 10 years, payed an enormous amount of taxes, had two properties, no record, not even a parking ticket and it took about 12 months and that was pre 911.
I guess they must have changed the requirements since and hired 1000's of people to process everyone. Lucky you.
Ours was even faster. Submitted our naturalization application March 31. Had passport in hand by mid May. Interview and ceremony was between those dates.
>I often see most displays of patriotism as some kind of pseudo mental illness
Why is that? It just doesn't seem rational to me to see it that way, but if that is how you feel then that is how you feel. I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise, I already know I can't, but just some explanation would be valuable.
I remember my wife going through all stages of visas. Student visa, H1B, green card, then citizen. If you've never gone through it, it's complicated and involves a lot of waiting. Green card was the most complex out of all of them. We had less paperwork getting a mortgage and buying a house. It's very bureaucratic, and could use with some simplification. But once you're a citizen, it's smooth sailing.
It's a long process and people who have been vetted and through it don't deserve to be held up unless there is a good reason. I can understand if there is something amiss but to just put the entire thing on hold for "theater" is wrong.
Still from what I understand the US takes in more immigrants every year than any other country.
Worldwide, the United States is home to more international migrants than any other country, and more than the next four countries—Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Kingdom—combined
> Worldwide, the United States is home to more international migrants than any other country, and more than the next four countries—Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Kingdom—combined
That's a somewhat misleading way of presenting data.
It is true that in absolute terms, the US contains more immigrants than any other country on earth.
However, on a percentage of the population basis, the US is actually only around the OECD average in terms of numbers of immigrants: https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/foreign-born-populat... – in 2019, Luxembourg was 47.30% foreign-born, Australia 29.90%, Switzerland 29.70%, Israel 21.20%, Sweden 19.50%. At 13.60%, the US was around the middle.
The fact that the US comes first in absolute terms, is not because the US is unusually welcoming to immigrants, it is because (among developed countries) it is unusually populous – at 333 million people, it is over 2.5 times more populous than the 2nd most populous OECD member (Japan).
1) The US economy has no choice, it needs immigrants to keep the population from declining. This is why the southern border is what it is. We've trade an economic problem for an immigration problem.
2) In some - many? - cases these immigrants are a brain drain from their home country. That is, when "the best" come here instead of staying home to improve their on country, is that a net positive? We pat ourselves on the back but no one talks about how this hurts the from countries.
> the uptick in new citizens is due to efforts to reduce a backlog of applications that began during the Trump administration and exploded amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As much I like the points based system, I feel the family-based approach to which US pivoted to in 60s was the correct approach - you really cannot predict where the next einstein is going to be show up, and I always tell my wife we already lost her in Iran or Afghansitan
I think there is a lot of divisiveness towards illegal immigration in the United States and securing the border, but there is a lot of agreement that the mechanism for legal immigration here is also broken and should be fixed and that’s a totally different thing. It’s sad that the fix is about who they think these people will vote for though.
I never understood that lack of understanding by politicians on what people need - totally understandable in US where corporate lobbyists rule congress. Australia, Canada governance are mysteries to me.
On the residential homes - i assume it not a question of land/resources.
All else being equal immigration drives down wages by increasing the labor supply and drives up housing by increasing housing demand. Nevertheless sufficiently wealthy (if they actually onshore that wealth) and productive immigrants can be a net benefit for the receiving nation. Hence the point systems and such to select for them.
As it happens, the US powers that be are big fans of real estate appreciation and wage depression. They evidently don’t much care about selecting for high value immigrants either. Tech workers who pay big taxes and create bigger value get a way harder time of it than obvious public charges. It’s strange, but revealed preferences never lie.
The Australian and the USA's immigration system are substantially different in terms of underlying values. The Australian system assigns points based on skill and merit. The US has an emphasis on reuniting families, a lottery system, and difficulty through ambiguity. Anecdotally, my friend who immigrated from Silicon Valley to Australia was able to explain his process to me in about an hour. In contrast, I have had the USA system explained to me many times, and it still hasn't clicked. I can't help but to feel like this is by design.
As for our (USA's) housing crisis, the New York Times had a podcast about that just four days ago [1]. There are some notable parallels to what you have described. TL;DR: The 2008 recession pushed us from building 2.2 million houses a year to 600K, for the last 20ish years. The skilled laborers and tradesmen who used to build houses have closed shop. Now here we are years later and millions of houses short with no clear way to reboot the industry.
Social Security benefits will reduce _despite_ immigrants, not _because_ of them.
Americans voted in extremely good terms on SS (always good COLA adjustments, the age of SS retirement never adjusting for longer lifetimes or easier labor). It was never sustainable without consistent massive economic growth.
Based on the SSA’s own published findings, they will need to reduce benefits by 25% starting in 2034. Unless of course something changes to collect more taxes.
I’ve known many people that immigrated to the US. I grew up in a neighborhood that was 98% southeast Asian immigrants. The 1990’s and 2000’s were a better time in a lot of ways. But in 2024 with the recession still on and housing costing a fortune where are they going to go??? I mean especially considering the overwhelmingly high record numbers too. I mean this in the most practical and sincere way.
As an American with Southeast Asian immigrant parents, they will live in a way that most Americans would find intolerable. Whole families in a 1 bedroom, very long commutes, taking buses, and living apart from their children (CPS, I know).
To be clear, I did not grow up like this, but I know many that did.
[+] [-] ozzyoli|1 year ago|reply
Submitted an online form 4 months ago, received an interview date two months ago, had my interview last week.
Interview was at 8:30am Oath ceremony was at 9am Registered to vote at 9.15am Back at work at 10am!
Submitted passport application the day after.
Interview was straightforward and most of the time was double checking all the information I had previously submitted was accurate. Learning the answers to the civics test was fun.
I think there is a cliche of a stern interviewer who is looking for any excuse to say no, but this officer was kind and encouraging.
The oath ceremony was actually quite moving. I often see most displays of patriotism as some kind of pseudo mental illness but the patriotism shown by the officiant was actually rational, inclusive and inspiring.
All that to say, am lucky and pleased to have such a smooth journey to citizenship and am happy to be able to vote!
[+] [-] ChumpGPT|1 year ago|reply
I guess they must have changed the requirements since and hired 1000's of people to process everyone. Lucky you.
[+] [-] belgiandudette|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] godsinhisheaven|1 year ago|reply
Why is that? It just doesn't seem rational to me to see it that way, but if that is how you feel then that is how you feel. I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise, I already know I can't, but just some explanation would be valuable.
[+] [-] justin66|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Hydenty|1 year ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] jdlyga|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] irjustin|1 year ago|reply
Generally, yes, this is the way it should be. Path from visitor to citizen should involve way more checks than owning a home.
[+] [-] ChumpGPT|1 year ago|reply
Still from what I understand the US takes in more immigrants every year than any other country.
Worldwide, the United States is home to more international migrants than any other country, and more than the next four countries—Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Kingdom—combined
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested...
[+] [-] skissane|1 year ago|reply
That's a somewhat misleading way of presenting data.
It is true that in absolute terms, the US contains more immigrants than any other country on earth.
However, on a percentage of the population basis, the US is actually only around the OECD average in terms of numbers of immigrants: https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/foreign-born-populat... – in 2019, Luxembourg was 47.30% foreign-born, Australia 29.90%, Switzerland 29.70%, Israel 21.20%, Sweden 19.50%. At 13.60%, the US was around the middle.
The fact that the US comes first in absolute terms, is not because the US is unusually welcoming to immigrants, it is because (among developed countries) it is unusually populous – at 333 million people, it is over 2.5 times more populous than the 2nd most populous OECD member (Japan).
[+] [-] chiefalchemist|1 year ago|reply
1) The US economy has no choice, it needs immigrants to keep the population from declining. This is why the southern border is what it is. We've trade an economic problem for an immigration problem.
2) In some - many? - cases these immigrants are a brain drain from their home country. That is, when "the best" come here instead of staying home to improve their on country, is that a net positive? We pat ourselves on the back but no one talks about how this hurts the from countries.
[+] [-] dyauspitr|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] like_any_other|1 year ago|reply
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-09-26/with-an-el...
[+] [-] adamc|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] daft_pink|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] estebank|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] ashconnor|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] redandblack|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] mlinhares|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] redandblack|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|1 year ago|reply
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[+] [-] nektro|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] AtlasBarfed|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] foogazi|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] slim|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] tiahura|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] zachf|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] firecall|1 year ago|reply
However we just neglected to build anywhere for them to live...
We are in a cost-of-living crisis, a per-capita recession.
One of the reasons we are not in a full-blown recessions is the wealth that immigrants brought with them!
Building firms are going under, and we gutted the trade schools years ago. So the housing crisis isn't going to resolve anytime soon...
[+] [-] daft_pink|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] redandblack|1 year ago|reply
On the residential homes - i assume it not a question of land/resources.
[+] [-] User23|1 year ago|reply
As it happens, the US powers that be are big fans of real estate appreciation and wage depression. They evidently don’t much care about selecting for high value immigrants either. Tech workers who pay big taxes and create bigger value get a way harder time of it than obvious public charges. It’s strange, but revealed preferences never lie.
[+] [-] awkii|1 year ago|reply
As for our (USA's) housing crisis, the New York Times had a podcast about that just four days ago [1]. There are some notable parallels to what you have described. TL;DR: The 2008 recession pushed us from building 2.2 million houses a year to 600K, for the last 20ish years. The skilled laborers and tradesmen who used to build houses have closed shop. Now here we are years later and millions of houses short with no clear way to reboot the industry.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/podcasts/the-daily/housin...
[+] [-] searealist|1 year ago|reply
Then you proceed to list the ways things are worse. Maybe immigration is not good for you and you should not take it as an axiom?
[+] [-] rayiner|1 year ago|reply
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[+] [-] smrtinsert|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] johann8384|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] msandford|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] chasil|1 year ago|reply
Burning a bit of karma never hurts now and then.
[+] [-] jfengel|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] thephyber|1 year ago|reply
Americans voted in extremely good terms on SS (always good COLA adjustments, the age of SS retirement never adjusting for longer lifetimes or easier labor). It was never sustainable without consistent massive economic growth.
[+] [-] blackeyeblitzar|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] slowhadoken|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] phillypham|1 year ago|reply
To be clear, I did not grow up like this, but I know many that did.