"Welcome to the United States of America&quot

Going for a bit of irony here...

Today I received a notice from the Department of Homeland Security, announcing that my application for permanent residency had been approved and warmly welcoming me to the US. Yeah!

I spent the last 32 years of my life here, first as an exchange student, then as an expat for an international organization. My husband is American and so are our three kids (well, technically, they have dual citizenship - French and US).

Still, after retiring from my place of employment, I had to go through an application process to 'legitimize' my presence here. Three months of paperwork, documentation, interviews, and scrutiny (including medical exams and a rather hefty fee to an immigration lawyer) to prove that I hadn't just stowed away in the bottom of some boat...

So now I'm legit! And, I can start traveling abroad again (something that wasn't allowed while I went through the application process...). Hurray and thanks to my adoptive country :)