Haresh Shah
Playboy – The Declaration Of Independence?
I have no hard luck story to tell about acquiring my Green Card. It was practically offered to me on a silver platter by the INS officer in Pittsburgh. I had only one more day to go before my H3 visa expires. So I dump my stuff at the YMCA and rush to the immigration office. I am sitting across from a young immigration officer, a black gentleman who is scanning my application for the extension.
‘Everything looks fine.’ He says and picks up my passport to stamp the extension. Instead he puts the passport back down on his desk top and asks;
‘Why don’t you apply for Green Card?’
‘What’s Green Card?’ I answer. If he is astonished at my naiveté, he doesn’t show. After all he could see in my application that I have landed in this country for the first time just a week earlier. Practically gotten off the boat – so to say.
‘Its kind of permanent visa that allows you to live and work in this country indefinitely.’
‘But I don’t intend to live and work here.’
‘Maybe so, but you’ve got nothing to lose! You’ve got two college degrees, you will have further training here. You more than qualify for the third preference. Nothing in it says you have to stay here any longer than you want to. This way, should you change your mind or an opportunity knocks on you door… I mean, as long as you are here.’
That’s nothing. I worked for Playboy and, of course, had PB mags all over my living room tables and stuff. Some of the cute male phone techs or workman thought I was a lesbian. So what do you have that matches that? Pretty funny!
Rikhav Vora.
8th March…
Good one…enjoyed detail…thirty three years back..it is the same, rather very much same these days..
🙂 I remember Sunny and I going through the citizenship process. Thought it was ridiculous that after living here 20yrs – going throught the school system and working – that we still had to go through the year long process of even getting to the swearing in! Bureaucracy!!
Hi! I’ve been reading your website for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from New Caney Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic work!