The year 2020 has been weird in many ways but it also marks a very significant milestone in my life. After 6 years living here, I have finally become a naturalized citizen of the United States.

DV Lottery

I was born in Russia and spent 28 years living there in my hometown of Kazan. It is a beautiful 1000 years old city with a very diverse, multi-cultural background and astonishing architectural views. Despite that, Russia is not the best country to live in due to the political climate and significant human rights violations that are happening every single day. Also, being a Software Engineer, I did not see a lot of good job opportunities back there.

I was always obsessed with American culture and the American way of life so I decided to take my chance in DV Lottery that the US government is conducting every year. This program is a chance for citizens of under-represented nationalities to establish permanent residence in the United States. Participation is free and only requires filling the form with personal information and uploading a photo. You will get a confirmation number that you can use one year after to check if you’ve been selected or not. If you are selected then the next step is to pass the interview at the US Consulate in the country where you live. During this interview, you need to prove that you will be a resident of a good moral character and won’t become a public charge. Also, all selectees along with their family members are expected to do the necessary vaccination and to pass medical exam. I was really lucky to get selected in the draw of 2013. That’s the time when my immigration journey has started.

Disclaimer: I know that a lot of people are having much more difficult stories than mine. For instance, H1B visas are much harder to obtain and the path to citizenship is longer for such visa holders. Also, some countries have a very large backlog of people applying for a green card (hello, India). So, it is not uncommon for someone from India to wait for more than 10 years to get their greencard. My experience is relatively simpler but it is still worth describing.

High case number

If you are selected as a winner of DV lottery, you are assigned case number. Based on this number, you will be invited for an interview into the US consulate. However, not all selectees are deciding to proceed further with the process. Some of them despite the fact that they won, decide not to move on because the circumstances might have changed for them or simply because they are too scared to make a significant change in their lifes. When you are moving into a new country, you typically loose a lot of things that you established - support system of family and friends, career, ability to communicate with others efficiently just by using your native language. For lots of applicants, this is a lot to take and not everyone decides to proceed when it comes to taking real actions. For this particular reason, US typically selects more winners than it can give visas to. The lower your case number, the higher the chances that you will eventually get the interview. If your case number is too high then it is likely that US will run out if visas to give before it’s your turn. The limit is 55,000 visas, however, every year they select 100,000 winners.

I was given a very high number which means I was left in a very stressful limbo that lasted more than a year. I was a selectee, however, it was not guaranteed that I will be even given a chance to pass the interview. It turned out well for me - I received an invitation for an interview. It was held in August in Moscow’s US embassy. August was the very last month before they actually ran out of visas. I got really lucky, for the second time.

Before the interview, I was required to pass medical exam and complete all necessary vaccinations. Since American and Russian medical standards are different, I realized that I was missing quite a few. When I showed up at the doctor’s office, I was administered 4 shots with different vaccines at the same time. I felt really funky that evening but I was fine the next day.

Even before my interview, I started looking for a job in the US. Having a job offer, although not required, is a really good way to support your application during interview. Someone who has a job is much less likely to become a public charge. Despite the fact that I have worked with US-based clients previously and my English was good, it has been a very new experience for me. There was a huge amount of stress involved since I rarely spoke with somebody over the phone in English. There’s been challenges understanding and expressing my thoughts verbally in English. Also, the interviewing process, in general, is very different compared to the one that I am used to. Typically, during technical interviews, Software Engineering candidates are required to complete coding challenges that rarely have anything to do with the real day to day work. The fact that having years of experience solving real business problems is not enough to be hired still haunts me. Unfortunately, the common practice is that you are expected to prepare for interview by studying data structures, algorithms and training on websites like leetcode.com.

Despite all the struggles and limitations, I’ve managed to get 2 job offers while being remote in Russia and selected one of them. I ended up selecting a wrong company as I realized after but it is a completely different story.

First steps

The interview at Moscow’s embassy was a breeze. I carefully prepared all the supporting documents that others were recommending to bring. The interview was very quick - it lasted no longer than 15 minutes. They did not announce the decision at the interview right away but they did not return our passports back which was a very good sign. A few weeks later we received the passports back and there were immigration visas stamped in them. We sold everything that we can sell and with 6 bags flew to San Francisco Bay Area where the company that I started working at was located.

I was very lucky to have a friend that I used to work with before who was guiding me all along our first few months in the United States. Even before we came to the US, he was helping by giving really good advices on first steps. When we came, he met us at the airport, dropped us off at the hotel with a large bag of groceries. When I was about to reimburse him for the groceries, he refused to take my money. That’s the first time I experienced a cultural shock in a good way. We did not know each other very well but despite that, he was very kind to help us during our initial steps in the US. This is definitely a combination of personal traits and culture but I can’t imagine how something like this could’ve happened in Russia.

I had a plan on what needs to be done first. The very next day after we landed in San Francisco, I rented a car. You need a car to move around in Sillicon Valley. There is no other options. Public transportation only works in large cities like San Francisco. The car rental company that I selected had a pick up service. You can call their office and ask them to pick you up from the hotel and drive you to the rental office. That was the very first time when I had a significant struggle over the phone. They asked me for the hotel address - I provided but they could not understand it fully, so they asked me to “spell” it. I had no idea back then that I was supposed to say it letter by letter, so, we really struggled for a couple of minutes but then somehow they got the address right and I was picked up where I rented the car.

Second step - cell phone. I brought my own phone from Russia, however, I did not have cellular service. I drove to T-Mobile office and signed up for a prepaid contract. That’s my first experience when they tried to sell me something that I did not want and also the experience of realizing that hidden fees are pretty much everywhere. Despite that, the fact that I was now connected to the world from everywhere was a relief for me. Previously, I could only use WiFi in the hotel room.

The very next step was to buy a car. Rental was fine but it was too expensive to continue renting it. This step was relatively easy since I did my home work back in Russia where I researched the car that I wanted to buy and contacted a couple of dealerships over e-mail in advance and negotiated a good price. After signing all paperwork, I dropped the car off at the rental and drove my own car back to the hotel room. That was also the time when I first interacted with traffic police. It was a new car and it was after dark. I noticed flashing blue and red lights in my rear view mirror and after a few seconds figured that police is pulling me over (thanks, american movies). It turned out that my headlights were off and I was just driving in the dark with no indication. I believe I could’ve gotten a fine for that but the officer just gave me a warning when I told him that it is a brand new car and he saw my Russian driver’s license. I guess, he might’ve seen all these crazy dash cam videos from YouTube and thought that it is a very minor offense compared to what is happening on Russia roads every single day.

Apartment hunt was very exhausting. Lots of phone calls, very old apartment buildings, high prices. But eventually we found a very nice apartment in Mountain View that was located in a very green area with lots of trees. It was more expensive than what we have seen before but it was better than the others and it was located in a very good school district. One of my major concerns was how my daughter will adapt to the new language and culture but she was fine. She started speaking English after a few months of attending pre-school. Kids are picking up new language like a sponge. She’s in the 5th grade of elementary school now and she speaks perfect English and does not have any accent unlike me.

Government and mail

I had to interact with different government agencies a lot. I needed to get a driver’s license, social security card and a green card.

Getting driver’s license was easy since, again, I did my homework back in Russia by studying California’s driver’s handbook and learning from experience of others on different forums. I first passed the theoretic test and received a temp driver’s license. In a week I also passed driving test and received permanent driver’s license. Driver’s license is also ID (identification) that is asked in many different places. It was a big relief for me to finally have it in my hands since there was little trust to my Russian identification. I can’t tell that DMV experience was good but it wasn’t bad too. Yes, typically, there are lines and you have to spend a couple of hours there but compating to the same experience in Russia, it is much better. Also, you don’t need to interact with them often. Once you have your driver’s license, if it expires, you can just renew by mail.

I also needed to apply for social security number and social security card. It is required by employers to pay taxes. The process of producing social security card actually starts automatically when you cross the border for the first time using immigrant’s visa but it can be lengthy. I went to Social Security Administration office and asked them to provide me with my social security number as my card was printed and sent to me in the mail.

Green card or permanent resident card is also produced and mailed to your address at the time when you cross the border. In a few months or so after we relocated, we successfully recieved my card and my daughters’ card. However, we never received my wife’s card and that’s the first time I experienced a very deep frustration with the USPS. I was given a tracking number and according to it, it was sucessfully accepted but got lost somewhere in San Francisco USPS sorting center. After numerous USPS visits and complains, I had to apply and pay for a replacement card which costed me more than $500 and another 6 months of wait.

Despite the struggle with greencard, that was it. We had the full set of documents that we needed to have to be legal permanent residents in the US.

Naturalization

It is possible to become a citizen after you have been a legal permanent resident for 5 years. This lengthy process is called naturalization and it consists of multuple steps. First, you need to file a very large form (online or using paper mail). Then, USCIS collects your biometrics data (fingerprints, photo). It sends it to FBI so that they can conduct a background check on you to make sure that you have not commited any serios crimes. After you are cleared, they invite you for in-person interview where you need to prove that you are eligible to become a naturalized citizen. Interview includes asking questions about your background and your responses in the form. Also, it includes civics and history exam. If you have passed the interview then the very last step is Oath Ceremony where you swear that you will be a good citizen and will support US constitution.

The processing time is different and depends on where you live and how busy your local USCIS office is. For me, the process took almost exactly 1 year since San Jose office is one of the slowest in the country. Also, there were multiple cancellations along the way that made this experience for me unnecessary stressful. First, my interview was canceled and re-scheduled as it was initially scheduled for December 24th that was declared a federal holiday a few weeks before the date of the interview. They gave me a new date which was at the end of January. The interview was quite easy - I prepared very well for the test and I was recommended for approval. Now I started patiently waiting for my naturalization ceremony to be scheduled. After it was scheduled, the coronavirus pandemic hit. The ceremony got canceled and they did not provide me with the next date since USCIS closed all their offices. It was a very stressful experience for me since I was left in a limbo of not completing my naturalization process fully.

USCIS has finally started to re-open and I received a new date from them which was June 9th. Unfortunately, it was not the ceremony that I expected. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, it felt more like a drive-through experience in McDonalds. It was performed in the parking lot. I only left my car twice - first to say “I do” as USCIS offical was citing the Oath of Allegiance and second time - to receive my naturalization certificate. Despite all this, it was still a very meaningful event in my life and I was really happy that this process was finally over.

Voting

It was really good timing for me to become a citizen - right on time to register to vote in 2020 presidential elections. That was the first thing that I did after my ceremony. For me, it is a big honor and privilege to be able to vote. In California all registered voters get ballots in mail. As soon as I got my ballot, I spent a few hours researching candidates and different propositions that I needed to vote for. The main choice was a no brainer for me. I despise the attempts to suppress legal immigration that current president is making. Also, there was a lot of miscommunication during early days of pandemic that lead to it running out of control. America deserves a better president that is competent. Someone who won’t be suggesting to inject disinfectant to beat Coronavirus. Someone who won’t be trying to build a wall with Mexico and who will support legal immigration.

It’s been a very long journey for me that lasted more than 7 years since the moment that I discovered that I was selected as a winner in DV Lottery until the moment I became a naturalized citizen. These 7 years were full of learnings, adaptations and new friendships. I am really grateful to all the people that I met. Some of them eventually have become a very good friends of mine. I know that for many immigrants the story is not as bright and simple as mine due to numerous complications and legislature changes in immigration law. My promise as a new citizen is that I will always support legal immigration by exercising my citizen’s right of voting and reaching out to House and Congress members.