Our journey

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Eric Akers
  • 426th Air Base Squadron
STAVANGER, Norway --  We began our journey down the road of paperwork and bureaucracy mostly to save us time at the end of our tour in Norway, when we knew Chamila would have to get an immigrant visa. It was just one of those formalities that would be weighing on us as our tour in Stavanger ended.

After talking to the Oslo embassy, they informed us that we would have to wait until about 9 months prior to our departure. Not really satisfied with this answer I spoke to the regional USCIS representative in London, who informed me that we didn't in fact have to wait and because of new rules in place for military and dependents we wouldn't have to wait for citizenship either, if we chose to go that route. That wasn't really something we had thought about, but it was good information to have.

So we started researching the requirements and getting our paperwork together to submit. Probably the most difficult items to obtain were the police reports from every country Chamila had lived in for the last 15 years; Sri Lanka, Qatar, and England. You would think it would be a pretty straight forward process, but many of the contacts provided were probably old or never existed in the first place.

After sending an email to every government office I could find an email address for and making a multitude of phone calls, we were finally able to find out where her paperwork had landed in Qatar.

Fortunately Chamila still had friends in Qatar who were able to go to the office and pay the $5 dollar fee (which wasn't mentioned) and pick up the report and post it to us. So with the exception of the x-rays and medical exam, we had put everything together for submission to the US Embassy in Oslo.

Sometime after we started this process Chamila's sister Prasadi, came to live in London. When she asked about going to see her, I told her she'd have to get a visa first, but Ryan and I could go, no problem, and the same was true for most of the other countries in Europe. This was kind of a deciding factor for us...if we were going through the trouble of getting the Immigrant Visa, why not go for citizenship at the same time. We
discussed it pretty extensively, since 'ease of travel' really isn't a good reason to become an American. She said she was ready for the responsibility that comes with being an American and wanted to go through with this. So upon returning from her Immigrant Visa interview, I submitted our paperwork to the USCIS office in Nebraska...then the waiting began.

After a month of waiting we received a large envelope in the mail. I was excited. "Here it is! Her appointment! WOW, the government is really efficient!" I was mistaken. The USCIS had returned our paperwork, stating that it was missing the copy of the Immigrant Visa. So I got back on the phone with London, making sure I was correct in my submission, which I was. Next I got on the phone with the Military Help Line which the USCIS has. They informed me that the paperwork shouldn't have been returned, so I sent it back to them. Mind you, we are on a schedule if we're going to be able to coordinate everything and only make one trip to the US to do it. We need the USCIS appointment sometime in September or earlier, since Chamila's Immigrant Visa has to be validated in the US prior to the 4th of September.

Having waited nearly 4 months, with virtually no word at all, I took the 'squeaky wheel gets the grease' approach and started calling the help line weekly to get a status on our case. In early August we finally got word that our case had been submitted to the district office in Des Moines, Iowa and that an appointment had been established for the 8th of September. The news we had been waiting for was finally here!

Chamila and Ryan flew to the US on the 11th of August while I remained in Norway. Grandpa picked them up at the Minneapolis airport and took them to Rudd, Iowa, their new 'temporary' home for the next six to eight weeks.

Nobody really knew how long all this would take. However, in true Midwestern fashion, a lady from the USCIS office in Des Moines contacted Chamila shortly after they arrived in the states and told her, basically, that she could have an appointment any time she wanted. So we made an appointment for the 24th of August and I scrambled to get to Des Moines on the 23rd. Both of us were a little anxious about our appointment the next day, and decided a trip to the zoo might be in order to relax us and Ryan at the same time.

Monday came and we woke up refreshed and sure that everything was in order. My father had been quizzing her on the questions for the test and knew she was ready for that part. Now all we hoped for was that the stars were aligned and, God willing, we would walk out of that office as three US citizens instead of two.

Chamila's name was called. I wanted to go with her just to make sure everything went OK, but the nice lady said, "This won't take long. You can wait out here." I wasn't worried.
Chamila returned in about 45 minutes. There were no problems with anything.

Paperwork...good.

Knowledge test...good.

Reading test...good.

Writing test...good.

Next they deliberated on whether or not they could actually give her the oath since we hadn't actually received her Permanent Immigrant Visa card yet. After much discussion, research, and a promise (good ol' Midwest) that once it arrived in the mail, we would in fact return it, the director and his assistant came out and spoke to us. Both thanked me for my service (which I thought was really nice). It was after 4 p.m. and there were only a few people left in the building.

Before I knew it the director was moving the podium and the flag and telling Chamila to raise her right hand. After seeing in the news all the people that have taken the Oath of Allegiance at Disney Land or the White House Lawn, I guess our ceremony seemed a little low key. But the gravity of the occasion was no less, I assure you.

Other than the birth of Ryan, I'm not sure if I've ever been a witness to anything quite so special and with as much magnitude in my life. I was so proud of my wife at that moment; I knew this wasn't an easy decision for her to make.

It's been a long time since I've said the Pledge of Allegiance and I've never taken the Oath of Allegiance, but I think we all should, just as a reminder. And if you ever get a
chance to witness someone becoming an American citizen, I truly recommend it. Now Chamila hasn't changed. She was great as a Sri Lankan the same way she is as an American, and I love her just the same. Hearing her say those words and join 'my club', well that was just very special to me.