Land of the Free

Got an envelope in the mail today from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration service.  Apparently they have found Joshua's paperwork to be in order and have declared him a real-deal US citizen.

So for the next 4+ years Joshua will actually be a dual citizen of both the USA and China (his Chinese passport expires 5 years after the date-of-issue).  Good for him.

So this got me thinking a little bit.  I work with some people that are in the USA as refugees essentially.  They came here seeking political asylum because it was no longer safe for them to continue living in their home country.  They came to the US approximately 11 years ago and have yet to get their US citizenship for two reasons (that I'm aware of):

1. It's a very expensive process.
2. It's a very time-consuming process.  If you try to save money by doing most of the paperwork yourself, it'll take you even longer.

In a way, this makes me feel almost a little guilty that Joshua got his citizenship so effortlessly (for him) when others have to struggle so much to become a legitimate citizen of the USA.  Especially when there are so many people the enter our country and reside here illegally.

All that aside, it's nice to know that immigration has done their part and our son is a citizen of the same country as us...