I’ve been in the States since July 1992. That’s 16 years. And I won’t even count the approximately four years I was here in the early 80s. So far, I’m here on a ‘Green Card’ as a ‘Resident Alien’. But ever since Alien, that word has a whole different meaning…..

I have on and of considered obtaining the American citizenship, it would just make sense. Germany will always be home, but I don’t see myself living there ever again. The kids are in the US, and now the grandkids, and I forgot where the German commas go, not to mention that my domain name ends in ‘.us’…. However, those Krauts are stubborn – they decided that if one voluntarily adopts another citizenship, they default on the German one. And I do not like that one bit. Just because I accidentally landed in this US of A (twice…) does not mean that I ever decided AGAINST Germany. I am German and I want to stay that way.

But it is possible to submit a request – the “Antrag auf Erteilung einer Genehmigung zur Beibehaltung der deutschen Staatsangehoerigkeit” — freely translated, the ‘request for obtaining permission to maintain the German Citizenship’ … and since I really want to vote for Hillary four years from now, I completed the papers with several attachments and notarized copies and mailed them yesterday. We’ll see what happens. If my request gets approved, I’ll get a bill for 255 Euros, the denial will ‘only’ be around 195. I wonder what they’ll do if I refuse to pay for a ‘NO’. I’ll be reporting right here.

I have not yet decided what I will do if I get turned down. The first instinct is “If they don’t want me, I don’t want them!!” but it’s not quite that simple. Wait and See…