http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout...t-a-u-s-citizen

I'll leave the comments to you.

After what this man has done, how can he NOT be considered a US Citizen? Someone in the government needs to step up and make this right. NOW!

+1, this is apalling... I hope that they pencil pushers fix this, this man deserves his citizenship.

I read the article before I came to the Yard. I am horrified by what this man is going through. Why is it that illegal aliens can come and go in the US, milk the system, etc. but this man is denied what is owed to him...........US citizenship. To top it off someone tried to dissuade him in his quest for the proper documents. Amazing, truly amazing.

I get really upset at the resident aliens who REFUSE to get citizenship out of nothing but stupid pride. I know people who spent their entire lives enjoying the benefits of living here and died as Mexican citizens. My parents came here "illegally" but paid the thousands in "penalties" after having paid taxes the entire time to finally become citizens in '87. It was one of their proudest and happiest moments. It's unfortunate that decades of red tape and a broken system allow for unappreciative people to gain instant citizenship but our veterans have to struggle. My cousin did two tours in Iraq and still hasn't been able to get his citizenship.

Art, if you lived in another country, would you give up your US citizenship to get citizenship there? Or would you like to retain the option to go back to your native land?

I can only speak for myself, and its not pride, but practicality that is keeping me from applying for US citizenship. I want to keep the option open to live anywhere I want or need to. Be it my native country, where my parents and friends still live, any number of countries who will allow citizens from my country to stay there, or here, where my wife and her family is.

Resident (legal) aliens who live in this country don't appreciate it less, and they give up considerable rights by not being citizens (like not being able to vote here and possibly in their home countries.)

All that said, if my native country would allow dual citizenship (as a lot of countries are doing now), I would apply for American citizenship in a heart beat.

P.S. thank your cousin for his sacrifice.

You make a good point. Those I speak of were individuals who told me it was pride. I don't mean to include those who do not have the dual citizenship option. I've had several arguments with friends and family over this issue because they have spent their entire lives here and have no intention of leaving. As for friends that I've had who were here for school, or work, or other reasons, I completely understand the hesitation of such a commitment. I should have clarified my statement, thanks for the reply.

This is burocracy at work, silly as it sounds. Had the same happen to me when I applied for a new passport I was actually forced to prove my citizenship down to the birth certificates of my parents. Mind you I travel for business and I'm probably on my sixth passport and it was the same people were I had received my previous one.

When they told me I just looked at them and asked them if they were kidding. Being Germans they had no sense of humour and I organised the documents which isn't easy if you need originals that are 70 years old.

Sounds like a bad joke but the gentleman in front of me had the same problem and he was probably around 70 years old and they asked him that he must provide the birth certificates of his parents. He simply said this is absolutely not possible because they don't exist. So all your life you travel with a passport and then they tell you that you are probably not a citizen because some documents can't be provided.

To the question of citizenship, I would say it depends on the country. Giving up your own passport to take the one of your adopted country is a big step, emotionally as well as from a practical standpoint. In the case of the US you are getting a passport that allows you to travel around the world. Having the German citizenship I would never take the one of the country I live in simply because it is a mickey mouse passport that requires visas for basically the whole world. Besides living in a developing country you always want a way out when revolution calls.

I know this is not a very patriotic way of looking at it but I have lived almost my whole live in countries other than my own so you become very pragmatic about the value of your citizenship.

What a unique and unusual situation... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Its all good brother, you just hit a nerve <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I live here, yet am not a US citizen. My current citizenship affords me to live in all European Union countries, as well as all Schengen Agreement countries, as well as having a safe haven should things go south in this country.

I do take pride in my citizenship as well, I was born with it, I spent 30-some years of my life living there. Even if the current government is letting in all kinds of people who will most likely turn it into an islamic state in 50 years or less, its still my first home.

I just reacted because I know for a fact that most Americans would not give up their citizenship for anything in the world, they are proud to belong in this country, and why shouldn't you be? Even if you happen to live somewhere else.

Again I'll say, if my country allowed dual citizenship, I would become American and proud of it on a moments notice <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I can tell you are and that you respect your parents for going all the way because they feel they improved their situation to a point where they would never leave, I totally get that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />