I’m Now a New Zealand Citizen
April 12th, 2014I became a New Zealand citizen yesterday.
Wow, you should have heard how disgruntled the Americans were at the ceremony I attended! Holy cow. I was content to just calmly maintain appearances, but other Americans were saying that they consider themselves to be political refugees and that they’re never going back to the U.S.
In general, it was mostly Americans and British people who felt extremely lucky to have a new country to call home. I don’t know what the usual breakdown is at these things, but about 1/3 of us being granted NZ citizenship at this particular ceremony were Americans.
It was very strange to be at an event for “normal” people and encounter a bunch of Americans openly unfurling about what a mess the U.S. has become.
Is this fairly standard with members of the American diaspora around the world now?
When you encounter a group of Americans abroad, are they talking about the U.S. in terms that range from total disappointment to quivering, tear inducing horror? Are they saying that they never want to return and noting the Kafkaesque process of trying to renounce their U.S. citizenship? How about the manic fascist financial reporting requirements for Americans living abroad?
Woh.
After the ceremony, several of us were standing around talking and I said that lots of people, including my father, thought that I was insane for thinking that any country in the world would be a better place to live than the U.S. There were nods of agreement from the others in the group who had heard similar things from their friends and family members.
After a few minutes of unburdening herself about all of this, one of the women asked, rhetorically, “What happened to our country?”
I didn’t have the heart to say, “The same thing that will happen here if we let it.”
Well done Kevin. I was wondering when you would announce this (fantastic) news. Are you keeping your US citizenship?
I became a citizen of the country I am in about 18mths ago and am very grateful for it.
When I left my country of birth I was called a traitor (amongst other things)!
“Are you keeping your US citizenship?”
It’s a long and ridiculous story, but the short answer to the question is: I’m not renouncing my U.S. citizenship yet, because I don’t want to unnecessarily complicate things for my children.
Even though children born to American citizens abroad might be foreign nationals by birth (my children are all NZ citizens), the U.S. government considers them be U.S. citizens who haven’t been properly documented yet. As such, they are required to register with the U.S. government, obtain social security numbers and get U.S. passports if they want to travel to the U.S. for any reason. This all has to be done in person, with the children, at the U.S. Consulate in Auckland, which is, shall we say, not close to where I live.
I thought that they would simply be able to use their NZ passports if they wanted to go to travel to the U.S.
Nope.
Congrats, Kevin. I envy you. I’m stuck here in flyover land USA because of family obligations, or I would be seeking asylum elsewhere. I was born in 1963, served ten years in the military during the eighties, traveling abroad most of that time.
What I remember most about that experience, in that time, was the squalor I saw surrounding most of the military bases, where the population was trying to cater to and mimic what they saw as an american lifestyle.
Traveling away from the bases was always a revelation. People were much more comfortable living according to their native culture, usually a simpler existence not constantly harried by the wretched pressures of modern capitalism. Genuine, happy hospitality was their normal reaction to visitors, quite different from the native distrust and predatory smarm they would find had they have visited here.
The creeping fascism protecting our modern plutocracy is very apparent in every day life here now, especially to someone who was born before such a thing was even thought possible. The country of my childhood doesn’t exist anymore, and I desperately want to leave this dystopia that has replaced it. But they make that very difficult for most people of average means, and most of the rest of the world is not exactly welcoming to american refugees.
Well, I’m very happy that you made it out, and I keep up with others like you on the web. Someday, maybe I will find similar freedom elsewhere, or join the fight for it here.
Congratulations, a bold but very sensible move since the US is about to go to the second phase of meltdown.
I’ve always wanted to go to New Zealand since my mother grew up there. She said it has a special quality you won’t find anywhere else. But that was in the early fifties…
“When you encounter a group of Americans abroad, are they talking about the U.S. in terms that range from total disappointment to quivering, tear inducing horror?”
Yes.
Yes, congratulations. Life goes on in the homeland behind the Fe mini-blinds.
“The country of my childhood doesn’t exist anymore, and I desperately want to leave this dystopia that has replaced it.” And yet – age, means, family and obligations can make that a little more than tricky.
When accessing the situation here, a fitting description is still comfortably numb with doses of increasing confusion. Mounting hazards include quicksand employment, the death of money with ninety percent chance of vertigo.
“
“When you encounter a group of Americans abroad, are they talking about the U.S. in terms that range from total disappointment to quivering, tear inducing horror?”
I haven’t met many American expats, but have always tried to talk to them to get their story since I figured I would join them one day. Those I’ve met haven’t had much to say about the US. They were busy trying to make a life and were grateful to be out of the US, but no real drama.
What I do encounter is foreigners from all over the world expressing animosity toward the US and sometimes Americans in general. I usually try to explain that the US is a large country and not everyone agrees with the government.
Taking a new citizenship can be a very emotional thing and renoucing citizenship even more so. I could imagine a lot of pent up anger and resentment being let out ceremony.
Congrats and I hope you can work out the citizenship issues for your children.
Congratulations Kevin!
I am so happy for you and your family. Lately, I have been inundated by my cousins who have retired and are researching the family trees. Both sides of my family came from a war zone in what is now eastern Slovakia. Probably have some vampire in our veins. Through what I have learned about my family tree these past few months, I can appreciate what it must be like to be an immigrant. And surely the long stories you can tell about your former place of residence – the U.S.
I am not happy with what has happened to this country by any mean, shape or form. But I am going to probably live here the rest of my life here, for better or for worse. I feel like the people in the movie the “Book Thief.” Can’t afford anymore but to live here and go along with whatever and not cause any uproar.
Blessings to you and your family that you have your NZ citizenship. I hope you will have good stories about the U.S. to pass along to your children. And if you ever need a place to send them they can come to my house.
Big milestone! Congrats, Kevin 🙂