Blog

The Journey to America.

October 17th, 2022

Coming to America is one of my most significant life accomplishments, it might not seem like a big deal for some people, but to me, it is a promise, a dream, and a better future. It was not an easy task to become a legal immigrant and come to America because you must go through a strict and long-term process that takes a lot of time and effort. But to complete the promise I made to my father 11 years ago, I was willing to push myself every day to make it happen.

I was born and raised in Vietnam,  a southeast Asian country with marvelous natural wonders, friendly people, and delicious foods. I had no reason to leave my home. I promised my dad I would become a U.S citizen to make him proud because that was his dream. He wanted to become a U.S citizen, but it was not possible for him. So he wanted to see me and my brother become American citizens. Also, as I grew older, I realized that I love traveling, and moving to America was the best way to achieve that goal.

The longest part of the process is getting the paperwork approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. After ten years of waiting, The USCIS finally reached out to us and informed us that we were approved for the interview. In terms of time, the total years of us waiting for this interview was approximately 20 years. I wasn't born when my parents started the immigration process. We were all excited because if we passed the interview, our family would be officially going to the U.S. I remember my mom was in tears announcing the news to me, my brother, and other relatives in Vietnam. A couple of days later, we received another letter for our interview. This interview was a big deal to us since it determined whether we would stay back for a couple more years to work on our documentation or be allowed to come to America as legal immigrants. The interview was at noon, but since we were so excited and nervous, we lined up in front of the administration building at 7:00 in the morning. We waited for hours and hours for our turn. I had nothing to do while waiting, so I decided to walk around and observe other interviews. It was a gamut of emotions from all the applicants in the building. Some were crying with joy and happiness, and some were angry and disappointed. Finally, it was our turn, so we grabbed all the documents that my mom gathered from home to show our interviewers. Before we began the process, they had the three of us swear an oath, and vow to be honest, and that whatever information we were going to provide them had to be accurate. My heart was racing like crazy, and I have never stressed out that much for simply raising my hand and vowing not to lie. The interview was only 15 minutes long, but it felt like hours.  I still don't understand why I was so nervous, but maybe because I hadn't had such an important interview before. After checking every document we provided, the interviewer told us a couple of things then they handed us a pink sheet saying that we had passed the interview and what the next steps were before we started our journey to America. We did not say a word to each other; we just walked out of the building. It was strangely silent between the three of us. I think we were too happy to talk or maybe too stunned to acknowledge that we had finally passed the interview after waiting ten long years.

As soon as we got home, my mom burst into tears because she was so happy. She tried her best to hold it in because she did not want us to see her cry. I could not help myself and ran straight into her arm and hugged her. It was an emotional moment. After a while, we calmed down and called everyone to celebrate this success with us.

A few days after the celebration, we went straight to a local travel agent to purchase our tickets to America because we were so excited. The flight was 26 hours long because Vietnam's main international airport did not have direct flights to America. We had to stop in Hong Kong with a 3 hours layover. Since we were so happy and excited, none of us slept through the flight. I still remember the specific time we first landed at Logan Airport: it was 9.35 pm when we took our first photos at the airport. I was 16 years old when I first came to the U.S, the perfect age to start fresh and get used to an entirely new environment. However, it was difficult for my mom to adapt to the American way of life since she had spent her whole life living in Vietnam where the weather is always warm and sunny. For that reason, she always returns to Vietnam every fall, which is where she currently is, to avoid the snow and freezing temperatures of winter in Massachusetts. As for my dad, he has traveled to a very far place, but I know he is proud and always by our side, watching over us.

After a couple of months of staying in the U.S, we received our green card, USA permanent resident, in the mailbox and began our new chapter as legal residents of the United of America, the country of freedom and dreams.

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