unreal, no matter what your stance is on how people should enter this country, i think we should all agree that if you've been here 10+ years, paid taxes, and have no criminal record, citizenship should be automatic. my father immigrated to the states with his parents when he was 4, they came and were granted legal residency but it took nearly 50 years for him to finally get citizenship and not for lack of trying. it was a proud day when we went down to LA and watched him go through the ceremony and swearing in to become a citizen but it just made me so upset that it took so long. what's crazier is that he was a police officer for nearly 10 years, was a small business owner (which made him a millionaire) and created 15 jobs in California, never went a year after 18 without paying taxes, and went through the citizenship process five times before they finally granted it (the previous four times he was just told "we'll call you when we're ready to make you a citizen"). for a country that was founded because of taxation without representation, it's pretty backwards the way we treat tax paying "visitors". i know none of this helps you but i was in need of a rant on the subject. :)