JS>Unfortunately, Dave, there are those who become citizens not because th
JS>want to be Americans, but because it allows them to petition for the 
JS>remainder of their family that is back home.
 
       John I read carefully your posting and the impression given is
that when someone obtains citizenship this immediately means that all
sorts of family members will almost immediately arrive with visas.  We
both know this is an inaccurate impression.
       My wife and I were married four years before we were able to
navigate the maze of the INS and even obtain her residency.  That
required several thousand dollars in expenses including a trip to
Central America to clear though the State Department and numerous phone
calls to Tijuana to try and get our records forwarded to Tegucigalpa
after being sent to the former in error.
      Even then it took my wife yet another seven years to navigate the
maze required to obtain citizenship and then the INS lost the
paperwork on our son and she ended up taking the oath without him
leaving him a resident alien.  Had she waited for him it would have
taken who knows how many more years to even get back where we were.
      Then, we had to work two more years even to obtain a visa for he
mother to visit her grand kids.   The impression and the reality are
stark contrasts.
 
                                               Mike Angwin
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