My husband and I will be traveling out of country in May, and of course little Ella will be with us. My in-laws have yet to meet Ella, and it is time to brave the very long flight with our active toddler.

We sent in the paperwork for Ella’s citizenship in August of 2006, in hope that we would receive it in good time, and have her passport done before we left. If we had her Alien Registratioin Card (also called the green card) in hand, there would be no problem. That is acceptable proof that you are legally in the US, but, the USCIS has her green card, since they are processing her citizenship. So basically she might be able to leave the country (and that is questionable), but cannot return without some documentation.

With little over a month to go, I had to make the call. Yup, calling USCIS is a nightmare. Both my husband and I are naturalized citizens, and we are only too familiar with the ins and outs of this bureaucracy. Usually my husband makes these calls, but I got stuck with it this time.

Here is the general number if you need it: 800-375-5283. You will get a recording that has more circular moves than an angry bull in a rodeo. After you make your first (seemingly simple) choice, you must make several more choices, and this can go on forever, unless you luck out and actually choose a number that will take you to a human voice (sorry, I don’t remember that number).

The voice I eventually got was so “inhuman” sounding that I asked if it was a recorded message. Jane (not her real name) replied that it was not, but as the conversation continued I was not entirely convinced. I explained our problem and gave her all the information I thought she would need. She was obviously well trained and disciplined, so following her orders like a good soldier she proceeded to ask me questions in a documented order.

I was losing my patience rapidly with each new irrelevant question, and finally lost it when she asked me if I’d sent additional information to the USCIS in the last few months. I replied that yes indeed I had, and that I had already mentioned that a couple times in our conversation.

Bada Bing! That did it! All of a sudden I was Adam Sandler in the movie “Anger Management.” Jane (now sounding like GI Jane) told me if I could not control my anger she would have to hang up, and I would have to call back another time. Here is how part of the conversation went:

Me: I’m sorry Jane, I’m a little impatient, and I did provide that information at the beginning of the call.
Jane: Like I said, if you cannot control yourself, we will have to end this conversation now.
Me: (it has been over thirty minutes since I first dialed that fated 1-800-IGO-CRAZY number, and there was no way I wanted to start again.) OK, Jane, I’m calm now, so please go ahead and ask me the question.
Jane: Did you submit any additional paperwork to USCIS?
Me: Like I said…
Jane: Just answer the question or we will terminate this call (and immediately the image of Arnold S. pops to mind).
Me: Yes. (Whew….)

OK, several more minutes ensued, and by this time Ella is screaming for lunch, and I’m feeding her cookies she doesn’t want, and she is causing a feeding frenzy by randomly throwing them at our three dogs. But, I finally had the answer I needed from Wendy. I was euphoric.

And here is how we will be able to travel with Ella, even though she doesn’t have her citizenship (thus doesn’t have a passport), and we do not have physical possession of her Alien Registration Card.

We will have to make an appointment with our state USCIS office, and they will affix a temporary stamp in her Guatemalan Passport that will state something to the effect that her citizenship is in the process of being recognized. That appointment can only be made online, as they do not make them by phone.

Surprisingly, this online process was simple, and I’m going to walk you through it, so maybe you can bypass Jane and her friends if you are in the same situation.
1. Go online to the USCIS website.
2. On the left side, click on INFO PASS
3. Follow the directions from there. You will come out with an appointment.


If you want further information on the USCIS check out their website. I also highly recommend reading information about the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 on adopting.org.