Oh Canada

"Ok, Mr. Amstutz, I have the results of your citizenship exam. You scored a perfect 20 out of 20. Congratulations." And there it was, just that simple. I felt a small lump in my throat. "Thank you, ma'am."

I had thought about this day for a long time. Since we crossed the border back in 2001, becoming a Canadian citizen had been a distant goal. But there was the matter of establishing Permanent Resident status, which took much time and money. In 2005 I finally had the card in my hands. However, I couldn't apply for Canadian citizenship until March of 2007, until the residency requirements were fulfilled. So I began the next steps, knowing that we had committed ourselves to going with MCC overseas to Ethiopia. Could I still follow through on the process to citizenship?

Just prior to leaving in June we were told that there were still 3 important steps to becoming a citizen; take the citizenship exam, interview with an immigration judge and citizenship ceremony. All three had to be done on Canadian soil and all were usually months apart (embassies don't count as Canadian soil in these cases). I despaired. How could I possibly come back to Canada on 3 separate occasions? It would be too much money, too much time, too many complications. I might as well just throw in the towel. I was ready to quit.

Wanda wasn't ready to quit. We had come this far and she wanted to try even if the odds seemed long. She enlisted the help of her sister, Debra, who agreed to be my power-of-attorney and to help with providing the paperwork for the government. So I went back to talk to a Citizenship & Immigration Canada official on my last day in Canada in June. She wouldn't promise me anything (we don't play favorites) but she agreed to speak to the right persons about my file. She also gave me helpful hints about what to do next. She said that there may be an outside chance, a real long shot, that the 3 steps might align themselves in short chronological order so that one or two trips would only be necesssary. That wasn't very encouraging, nevertheless, I tried following her instructions to the letter and left the rest in my sister-in-law's hands.

In early August I got news from C&I Canada via Debra; the date was going to be set, did I have a preference? Wow, they were going to give me a choice? October would be much better than August or September, MCC-wise in Ethiopia, so I asked for the unexpected. And the answer I got exceeded all expectations . . .

C&I Canada sent a letter saying I had to show up for a citizenship exam on Oct. 4. The judge interview had been waived and there was to be a citizenship ceremony on the 18th. I could hardly believe my luck, I could do it all in one trip! I could sense the hand of providence and also the sympathetic assistance of an official as well.

So here I was, in Niagara Falls, nearing the end of a long journey that defied expectations. I had expected to take the exam with a roomful of people, I was the only one in the room taking the exam that morning. I had expected that the exam would be long and complicated with various objective and subjective questions, but it was 20 multiple choice questions. That was it. I expected that I wouldn't know the results for at least a couple days, if not a week. But the test was graded right away. 20 out of 20, I was more relieved than excited.

So the citizenship ceremony will be on Thursday, October 18. For those of you, family and friends, who can make it you are welcome to come. But I am quite sure that, as much as I will enjoy that day, I will be thinking about my little family way back in Addis; Amani, Abby and Sophia and my dear wife Wanda. Not to sound too much like a Oscar winner but, "I wish to thank my wife, without whose love and support I would not be standing here . . ."