Officially a US Citizen!!!

The end of the adoption paperwork is now really in sight. On Monday Lidya got her certificate of citizenship which proves to anybody who wants to know, now or at some point later in her life, that she is officially a citizen of the United States of America. She has actually been a citizen since August 11, 2006, the date that her re-adoption was completed, but it took another year to get the official proof of that.

The last 2 remaining things to do are receive her passport back from the Passport office, and change her status with the Social Security administration to citizen, right now she is listed as a permanent resident. She was issued a conditional passport back in March for our trip to Jamaica that was good for one year. She had to prove her citizenship within that year. The one she'll get back will be good for 5 years and from this point on all she'll have to do is renew it each time it expires. WOO HOOO! When that passport arrives I think we'll have to take a trip somewhere just to break it in.

Notice in the lower right hand corner that it clearly states that no photocopies/photographs are to be made of this document.........hope I don't get in trouble for posting it on the Internet.