- Joined
- Sep 15, 2009
- Messages
- 4
Hi, this is Kevin here. I've applied to West Point, Annapolis, and USAFA so far, and have been made a tentative candidate for USAFA since August 12th, 2009. Since then, I've received a letter from the academy giving instructions on the CFA, a link to my online file, and the announcement that my online app seemed competitive enough. However, my citizenship is still pending. The thing that frustrates me most is that I am moments away from completing my file; my CFA exam and several other sections are all that remain. I've even finished the interview with my ALO from USAFA, which went great.
I've posted in the ImmigrationPortal for help on this matter, as I've written here:
I've discussed this with my family, my sister, and my guidance counselor, and all they keep telling me is that this is really up to my parents, who, with all due respect, really don't seem to be able to care less. Another part about that which really bothers me is that every single person that has helped me on this matter, including the school officials, tell me to continue on with the application and to assume that the naturalization process will take care of itself. Yet, none of them seem to realize that I keep getting e-mails demanding that I fax proof of citizenship (naturalization papers) as soon as possible. I've cleared this up with a few of my ALOs, who've told me that my status is "pending citizenship," which was more or less a relief. I also believe you cannot finish your file without having given proof of citizenship. I'm halfway through this, including a scheduled DoDMERB exam tomorrow, not to mention the fact that my ALO came all the way from Suffolk just to hold the interview, yet from what I know, I cannot finish the application without citizenship.
As suggested by the aforementioned ImmigrantPortal thread, my solution for now, since I'm under 18 (17 years old), is to have my parents gain their own citizenship, which will automatically grant me one too.
Of course, naturalization takes anywhere from 6 - 9 months. I guess what I really need to know right now is this: Will I still be eligible for admission when my parents are naturalized sometime next year in, possibly, March? Are there exceptions that I don't know about that the academy can offer? Will my file be terminated after a set date because of no word on the citizenship papers? And does not having a citizenship stop any of my admission files from being evaluated? (Can I submit that online application without naturalization papers? Especially by the January deadline?)
I'm very sorry for the lengthy post, but I believe those are all the details you need to know about my situation. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
I've posted in the ImmigrationPortal for help on this matter, as I've written here:
Hi, this is Kevin here, first time user. Let me explain my situation as of right now...
I am a high school student, currently in the 12th grade, and over the summer vacation, I've completed the 3 online applications to 3 of the US Service Academies: the US Military Academy (West Point), the US Naval Academy (Annapolis), and the US Air Force Academy (USAFA). As probably all of you know or can assume, you need a US citizenship to gain admission to any of those three. Just recently, about 3 weeks ago, I renewed my Permanent Resident card (green card), so that I can immediately apply for naturalization (we had to renew the green card first).
Now here is the problem. In all honesty, I love my parents, I really do. They've done more for me than I can ask for. But I can't help but think that some of the responsibility lies with my parents. I was born in South Korea and I immigrated to the United States two months after I was born in S. Korea. I've NEVER gone out of US borders; I've only attended US public schools. In all honesty, if I may say so myself, I'm practically a US citizen, except that I'm not because I haven't been naturalized. Now it's September, and the academies, especially USAFA, are urging me to complete all forms of the application as soon as possible, and I believe they even gave me a deadline of September 26th for all online forms. All 3 academies are rolling admission, which means it is to everyone's advantage to apply as soon as possible. I've received e-mails from my liaison officers telling me that if I don't receive my citizenship in due time, I will not get an appointment, and the only way to apply is through an international foreign student program, where I would have to receive a nomination from the Secretary of Defense in my home country (South Korea). That would be near impossible since I've never even visited that country.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is this: How fast will my citizenship process? Is there any way to speed the process up? I will sing the star-spangled banner 25 times backwards if I have to. I just need this one event cleared as soon as possible. Am I officially out of the program? Is it impossible to gain the citizenship within maybe... 3 months? Because even 3 months in my situation is stretching it; the deadlines are in January 2010, and there's also the fact that the academies want my online form within THIS month (September), and they're all rolling admission, meaning my late application will probably disqualify me. Will the fact that I came here only 2 months after I was born speed up the process AT ALL? If you're wondering why my parents have waited all this time to finally apply for citizenship (at least for me), that's beyond me too; I simply do not know.
I've discussed this with my family, my sister, and my guidance counselor, and all they keep telling me is that this is really up to my parents, who, with all due respect, really don't seem to be able to care less. Another part about that which really bothers me is that every single person that has helped me on this matter, including the school officials, tell me to continue on with the application and to assume that the naturalization process will take care of itself. Yet, none of them seem to realize that I keep getting e-mails demanding that I fax proof of citizenship (naturalization papers) as soon as possible. I've cleared this up with a few of my ALOs, who've told me that my status is "pending citizenship," which was more or less a relief. I also believe you cannot finish your file without having given proof of citizenship. I'm halfway through this, including a scheduled DoDMERB exam tomorrow, not to mention the fact that my ALO came all the way from Suffolk just to hold the interview, yet from what I know, I cannot finish the application without citizenship.
As suggested by the aforementioned ImmigrantPortal thread, my solution for now, since I'm under 18 (17 years old), is to have my parents gain their own citizenship, which will automatically grant me one too.
Of course, naturalization takes anywhere from 6 - 9 months. I guess what I really need to know right now is this: Will I still be eligible for admission when my parents are naturalized sometime next year in, possibly, March? Are there exceptions that I don't know about that the academy can offer? Will my file be terminated after a set date because of no word on the citizenship papers? And does not having a citizenship stop any of my admission files from being evaluated? (Can I submit that online application without naturalization papers? Especially by the January deadline?)
I'm very sorry for the lengthy post, but I believe those are all the details you need to know about my situation. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.