Becoming a British Citizen

Today was the citizenship ceremony and I am now officially a Brit! I'm still an American too since the US allows dual citizenship - how great to be a citizen of my two favourite countries!

This is the culmination of about 6 years of work. We started out with a work permit which was applied for by the company I worked for when I came to the UK in 2002. That initial one was tricky to get and we ended up having to prove to the UK government that I had a unique skillset (which was true enough at the time, there were not many Six Sigma practitioners). After leaving that job, there was a bit of a scramble because I wanted to stay in the UK, but without the work permit (which came with the job) the right to remain disappeared. However, you can stay in the UK if you are married to a British citizen which I was because I'd already married Steve. So I applied for and received a marriage visa which gave me the right to stay in the UK. From there the next step in the citizenship journey was to get the 'indefinite leave to remain' which meant I could stay (you guessed it!) indefinitely. The final step is citizenship and for that you have to apply, provide 20-ish pages of documentation, take and pass a citizenship test (which was surprisingly difficult), and be interviewed. After all that, your application is reviewed and if you pass, you get a letter in the mail stating that along with the invite / instruction for the citizenship ceremony. The final, final step will be to get a British passport, but we'll wait until tomorrow before embarking on that journey!

My ceremony was in Blackburn and Jess had hers today too, in Windsor (so she's now a Brit too). They did a really nice job with a good presentation and the Mayor there welcoming people to the country. There was an oath and a playing of the British national anthem (which sounded surprisingly like 'My Country, Tis of Thee (I have subsequently found that the melody of this American patriotic song is the British national anthem)). Steve and Eileen were there, along with about 20 other people who were also becoming citizens.

After the ceremony, Eileen had us to her house for a lovely celebratory lunch. Along with flowers, she gave me a card:

Congratulations, Katherine and Jess. Having become fully fledged Citizens of Britain, you are now allowed to:

1. Whinge about the weather at every opportunity

2. Stand patiently in a queue, even though there doesn't seem to be any need to wait

3. Talk to whoever you stand next to in the queue, or sit next to on a bus, starting with a comment about the weather

4. Let it be known that the only people allowed to criticise Britain are fully fledged British citizens

5. Go anywhere in the world and expect everyone to speak English

6. Wear an anorak on any occasion, preferably with green wellingtons

7. Refuse to be known as European

8. Automatically deride whichever political party is in power at the time

9. Be ready at all times to accept an invitation to have tea with the Queen

10. Proudly sing 'God Save the Queen' and 'Land of Hope and Glory' (waving the Union Jack) at every opportunity

The day ended with dinner out at a traditional English pub, the Clog and Billycock. Our favourite, right across the street.