VICENZA, Italy - The American Dream took a step up to a higher plane last month for Spc. Fredy Doniz of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. After years of waiting to enlist and years of serving his country in uniform, the Southern California Soldier became a United States citizen.
Born in Mexico but raised since childhood in the United States, Doniz had prepared himself for the day. While his wife Francine, their 4-month-old son Fredy and a small group of well-wishers waited in a hallway of the Caserma Ederle Inprocessing Center Jan. 18, Doniz met behind closed doors with overseas adjudications officer Kenneth Ellis of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who interviewed him and administered a qualification test, the last step in a process that had taken years.
"That's part of the naturalization process," said Curda, referring to the test which naturalizing citizens must take.
"After one of our applicants files their form for naturalization, there's a series of questions. They have to have the history and civics question test as well as an English language test. And that's standard for everyone who's naturalizing."
Doniz passed, the doors opened, and Susan Curda, director of USCIS's Rome Field Office, administered an oath that officially conferred American citizenship on the Sky Soldier.
Curda and two staffers were on-hand to address a Multicultural Spouses Forum potluck event being held later in the day at Davis Hall by the USAG Vicenza Readiness Relocation Program.
Having been alerted that Doniz would have returned from deployment in Afghanistan and was ready to take the final test, the USCIS team gladly agreed to be on hand to administer it and complete the naturalization process.
Curda, whose office is part of the Department of Homeland Security and is located in the U.S. Embassy in Rome, has been with the USCIS and its predecessor agency, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, for more than three decades. She said she has congratulated applicants and administered the oath many times, and always finds the ceremony emotionally moving.
American Soldiers go through the same requirements that others seeking U.S. citizenship around the world do, but the timing is different and they are entitled to certain exemptions to ease the process, Curda said.
"For example, we can naturalize our military members and their spouses overseas, which is not open for other U.S. citizens overseas. Additionally, there are residency requirements that have been exempted for our military," she said.
With 16 countries in Europe and Africa under her jurisdiction, including several military installations, her office naturalizes somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 military members and their spouses annually, she said.
"Children will become citizens if their parents naturalize while they (the children) are under the age of 18, so they actually don't have to go through the process themselves," said Curda.
USCIS has been assisting Soldiers individually and in small groups for the past several years, a major decline in numbers compared with a much busier period in 2004-2005, when officers would naturalize Soldiers serving in Iraq in groups of 200 or 300 at a time. That is in part because USCIS has worked with the services to provide naturalization services to military members at stateside intake centers, said Curda.
"It's just easier to get them stateside and to get it all done before they even come overseas," she said.
After a short but moving congratulatory celebration, the Donizes left to pursue the American Dream, and Curda and her staff went on to the Army Community Service conference room in Davis Hall, where they conducted an information presentation and open question and answer forum on naturalization and citizenship for attendees of the annual Multicultural Spouses Forum potluck.
"We had about 20 people who came to listen to U.S. immigration and understand the naturalization process," said Relocation Readiness Program manager, Monica Cobbeldick. "I think the ones who did show up are the ones who can most benefit from it. We had people who were very serious in wanting to talk to one of the officers."
Curda said the Q&A session covered the usual ground.
"The problem is that the immigration law itself is so complicated that it's hard, even when people have routine types of issues, it's hard for them to navigate the system. The questions that we had today were pretty typical questions and I'm happy that I think we were able to clarify things for people, de-mystify the process a little bit," said Curda.
"Sometimes folks just don't apply. We still have to wait for them to apply. We can't say, 'You must apply,'" she said. "It depends on when they apply and then we'll try to get to them as quickly as possible. Our biggest challenge is catching them at their post before they move on."
"I think it's really important that we get these folks down here every year," said Cobbeldick. "Overall I am very pleased. The audience they captured was an audience that absolutely needed them.
"I think it's a question of understanding the process itself, because one of the questions that resonates in the questioning is: Where do I even start? Am I even qualified? It's the basics," she said.
Cobbeldick's office is one place to begin for those who have questions about naturalization and citizenship, and has the relevant study materials on hand for those who preparing for the exam, she said.
"There is a need for a liaison because of the foreign born spouses," said Maria Marcantonio, a military passport agent with the U.S. Embassy Liaison Office, who helps community members prepare and file the paperwork for passports, naturalization and permanent residence at the Caserma Ederle Inprocessing Center.
In 2012 her office processed 44 permanent residency requests and facilitated the naturalization of 16 Soldiers, she said.
"We're thankful for USCIS folks making it easier, saving time and money for folks down here," said Marcantonio.
And what about the effects of possible changes in immigration law that seem to be on the political agenda back home in the United States?
"I don't know, that's hard to say," said Curda. "We just enforce what Congress provides to us, so we'll stay tuned and see what happens."
Related Links:
Join the USAG Vicenza conversation on Facebook
Social Sharing