And finally...

Final final last final updates!

Around the time of my last blog entry I was informed by my then district manager in an off-the-record chat, that my H1b-sponsor would not be sponsoring me (or anyone else) for residency (the green card) and that if I had any desire to make my stay permanent I would have to find my own route for residency. Because the whole process I thus instigated then had to be kept hush hush from my employer, and since it became the absolute focus of my energy, I decided I had better stop writing this blog and deal with the matter head on.
I spent about 3-4 months asking everyone I knew for help. I spoke to a dozen immigration lawyers. I contacted every lead and left no stone unturned. I put a tremendous amount of energy in to finding a solution to the problem, as I was not about to get kicked out of the country and have to face going back home after 6 years in the promised land.
I cannot begin to tell you what I had to go through. Let me just say that if you think this blog has been hard work, eventful, painful and scary to get my H1b, then to navigate the task of trying to get a green card makes getting an H1b look like a walk in the park.
I will not share what I went through, but I will say that I personally don't know a single other foreign pharmacist from my year of entry that made the process successfully without their H1b sponsor doing it for them (actually I know 2 people that did, one a year ahead of me who had a PhD and self-sponsored themselves, and one from my year who I think managed it, but she hasn't confirmed it to me yet - dammit, she just told me she went back to South Korea). However, I do know numerous foreign pharmacists that after six years of living the dream did go back to their homelands. It is such a pity. I cannot blame my sponsor at all, it was just business. They started to process green cards applications around the end of 2008 (just as I arrived and just as the economy died and every chain store put a freeze on new jobs) and when they came to advertizing the positions hoping no one would apply, which would block the green card application, instead of getting no response as they had in the past, suddenly dozens of people were applying for the jobs advertized. And since it literally costs thousands of dollars to place each ad, it is not surprising they took the sensible (but life-changing) decision to stop wasting their money. They were kind enough to continue to sponsor the H1b's through to the maximum 6 years, but they were neither able nor willing to attempt to sponsor the applicants for residency.
So I found another way. Instead of my company paying all the legal fees and me just getting through at no cost, this way cost me a small fortune. And I was in no way guaranteed success throughout the process. I found an awesome immigration lawyer who totally empathized with my families situation (she was also foreign) and we went through each stage together in hope. I had to learn a lot of knew legal mumbo-jumbo to understand what was happening, and what the next stages would be along the way. And it was a long journey. So, from around mid-2010 when we started the ball rolling until this very week, I have never felt secure with my long term residency here, but I am finally, gratefully and with much relief, able to share that I have now received my green card, and am a delighted permanent resident of the United States.
I now have to wait 4 years and 9 months before I can apply for citizenship.

I have been through so much, and for me I can say it was totally worth the effort. But it was just so complicated the whole way through. Nothing was simple, nothing was easy, nothing was smooth or without effort or expense. Since way before 2008 when I arrived I have been dreaming of this moment, and when it finally came it was 100% relief, not joy or excitement. I feel so badly for my friends who didn't or couldn't find their way around the problem, but I had a mission, and I was NOT going to miss the target. My kids have now grown up here, I love every minute of being here, and not that there was anything at all wrong with lovely (cold, wet and miserable) England, but California is just SO much better!

So that ends this blog. Thanks for following me to the bitter end. It has been an amazing journey and ultimately a successful one (thank G-d), and I wish you all the very best in your dreams, wherever they may take you.

All the best,

Steven C.

This NOW is the final, really final, last ever entry! As of March 30th 2021 I am now an actual US citizen. Of course it was another ordeal, what with covid and everything going on; but it has all been worth it, to reach this moment of joy. May all your dreams come true too, and may the process be smooth and stress free for you.