As of today, I have a piece of plastic declaring me to be a permanent resident of the United States of America. It bears a face and a fingerprint, each mine.
I made a couple of posts about the process back in 2005. One was about my wife and I going to an interview at the federal government building in Boston, to be told that my file hadn’t arrived in town yet.
The other was about the stamp in my passport indicating that my green card would soon be on the way. For some reason, it wasn’t printed and sent at that time. I made a few phone calls, the most recent of which led me to believe that I’d have to sent yet another form and fee to the government to restart the stalled process. But then I heard that the phone call I’d made in November 2006 had restarted it, and that no further intervention from me was required.
So, thanks to all those who helped me get this rather reassuring piece of plastic. Thanks also to Nathan Gibbs for the image.