After two years of working my way through the labyrinth of Romanian paperwork and official procedures, my dream finally became a reality.  I was summoned to Bucharest to be sworn in as a citizen.  I took an oath:  “I swear to be devoted to the Romanian government and people, to defend the rights and interests of the nation and to respect the Constitution and laws of Romania”.  That was the official way of saying what I had already said in my heart: “Your people shall be my people; your God, my God”.  I am now citizen of three places:  Romania, The United States and best of all, The Kingdom of Heaven!

I was given an official document that gives me full recognition as a citizen.  This paper makes it all official.  

click on image to enlarge

Interview #2 & EXAM      Oct 21, 2008

GREAT NEWS!  Today, I PASSED MY INTERVIEW!!!!                                        

So I am well on the way to becoming a dual citizen.....What will you call me?  A Roma-American?  An Ameri-Manian?  It doesn't matter...what matters is I passed the test and it becomes official in two steps...the first is my approval appears in the Official Gazette where all laws and legal decisions are published for public eyes.  Step two is taking an oath of loyalty to Romania.   Then I will be officially a Romanian citizen....rather dual citizen.    So it is probably still 2-3 more months to go.  But today was the major hurdle!!!  Passed!!!!

For those that are curious...here are more details. 

Today went much faster and more efficiently  than last time I went for my interview....remember they kept us waiting for hours.  Today that started calling us in at 10:30 am and I was done by 11:30.  There were two teams of the commission that were reviewing our applications.  There were 15 applicants on the list.

I have to say that I studied hard for about 4 days for the test.  I studied history (not as easy as it sounds since they have a 2500 year history!) , famous Romanians--alot more than you think!, geography...rivers, mountains, tourist sites, etc;  Romanian constitution and how the government works.  And of course the National Anthem!  So I went in pretty ready.

 When I entered the room, they first checked out my paperwork.  I had four more documents that they had asked for.  So when they accepted every one I breathed a great sigh of relief.

 Next they had me write something from the constitution that they dictated.  About three sentences.  It wasn't hard...but my hands were shaking so badly from being nervous, that it was about ineligible!  Then they told me to open to a certain article in the constitution and read out loud in Romanian.  That was a bit tricky but OK.

 Then came questions:

1.  What kind of government does Romania have?  A: Republic

2.  What other kinds of government have they had in their history?  A: communism, kingdom, lords and wealthy landowners, etc

3.  What river flows through Romania?  I answered Mures River at first...but they used the word "Fluviu" which is like a very large river.  Then when I realized that, there was only one correct answer,  I corrected myself and said Danube!

4.  How does the Danube River end in Romania?  A:  It forms the Danube Delta and then flows in into the Black Sea

5.  What kind of terrain is in Romania?  A: Roughly one third plains, one third hills and one third mountains.

6.  Do you know when the Romanian National Day is?  A: December 1

7.  What does it signify?  A:  When Wallachia, Moldova and Transylvania were united in 1918 along with some smaller pieces in the same time to become Greater Romania... largest territory Romania ever had.

8.  Can you name two Romanian Kings? A:  King Carol I and King Carol II

9.  Name two writers and one of their prominent works?  A:  1)  Marin Preda "The Most Loved Earthling"  A critical commentary on communism written during Communism.  Probably cost his life...he was found murdered.  The commission laughed at that and said that “We cannot confirm that”.  2) And the second I said Nicolai Gregorescu.  The examiner asked was Nicolai Gregorescu a writer?  I thought a second and realized he was a painter....so I said, "No he is a painter".  Another writer is Ioan Creanga and he wrote "Memories of my Childhood"  They asked if I had read those works...so I talked about that a while.

10.  What are the branches of the government power? A: Legislative, Executive and Judiciary

11.  Tell us about the Executive part...how is organized  A:  It is led by the Prime Minister and has departments with jurisdiction over different areas of society.  These departments are called Ministries and each Ministry is led by a Minister.

12. Do you know who the President of Romania is? A:  Traian Busescu

13.  Who is the Prime Minister?  A:  Calin Popescu-Taricenau

14.  Which countries neighbor Romania?  A:  Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine, and Republic of Moldova

15.  What are symbols of the nation? A:  Flag, national seal, and national anthem.

16.  Can you recite the first verse of the national anthem?  A:  Desteapta Te Romania.....etc.

 So that was it.  They were very nice and were not tough.  When I stumbled because of being nervous, they helped me through and clarified to see if I knew the answer.  So I really felt that I had the favor of God.  Really, the commission were laughing at my jokes... I offered to sing the national anthem for example.  ;-)  (I was glad they didn't take me up on that!  ;-)  )  But there was a very good atmosphere.

 Other candidates that were before me were not told if they were approved or not.  But for some reason the commission asked me to step out into the hall and wait.  Three minutes later, someone came out and announced to me that I was approved!  I whooped a bit!...not too much because of "respect" for the context.  I'm sure they had a good laugh at me!  My previous experience with the commission was that they were tough.  But this commission was light and seemed to be "for me" making it easy for me to get through the labyrinth.

 So that is the story. 

Interview #1                     

I received my summons to this interview 5 days in advance.   This was 13 months after I had submitted my documents.  So much for it taking 2 months.   They also asked me to bring some paperwork that takes 2-3 weeks to complete.  So right from the start I knew that I had little chance to get through this with success. 

I appeared at the interview anyway because it is absolutely impossible to contact them by telephone.  Imagine—no letting your fingers do the walking in this situation.  I traveled to Bucharest round trip knowing I didn’t have what they asked for.  But there is always divine intervention.   ;-)

My summons was for 9 am.  I was punctual and well dressed.  All important in this situation.  We gathered in front of the building –all us candidates.  They were from Egypt, Iraq, and all looked middle eastern.  There was one other lady from Iraq trying for her citizenship.   I hung around with her.  She was studying from copies of the old exams.  How she got those, I have no idea.  I borrowed a few pages to study as I waited. 

But I kid you not, I didn’t know any of the answers.  I mean one of the questions was “Who invented the jet engine?”  Hummm….I didn’t study anything like that!  I felt totally unprepared. 

Time kept passing.  It was a hot summer day and it kept getting hotter as the morning passed.  There were no seats, no shade.  No Romanian hospitality found here.  They called me in at 1:30 pm.  I had been waiting for 4 ½ hours.

So I entered the room with 4 commission members there.  One was the secretary recording everything…every decision, etc.  The others scrutinized my every paper.  A couple passed the scrutiny, but several did not.  It seemed that I was an exception to every rule.  For an example: they wanted a paper demonstrating my residence…but I was still in the process of separating my land from David and Miha.  So I created what I thought was a good substitute.  A paper written and notarized by a lawyer with some good “legalize” to meet that need.  It didn’t.  That one fluncked.  They also wanted proof of salary and employment.  My papers were pronounced insufficient in that category too.  They wanted my birthcertificate with an official “apostile” stamp that is rognized internationally.  That takes three weeks from beginning to end.  I had no time for that.   So anyway…back to the drawing board to solve each of these missing documents. 

I didn’t even get to the exam because I failed the documentation part.  So at least I didn’t need to worry about showing my ignorance with that jet engine question.

I was rescheduled for October 21^st.  Lots of time to solve my missing paperwork and to study more for the exam.

Documents                   June 2007

Things have improved in Romanian government offices.  I found the list of needed documents all listed on the Minister of Justice website!  Everything seemed crystal clear so I go started gathering the needed papers.

 No easy task.  For example, I need a police report from the United States declaring that I was a law abiding citizen.  That had to be officially translated into Romanian and declared an official document at a layer’s office.  I needed a contract form my employer.  Normally easy enough, except I am a missionary that lives on donated support.  It seemed that I was not “normal” in one single category.  And my unusual situation made most of the documents hard to come by.  The easiest was my birth certificate and a copy of the pages from my passport.  But those too had to be translated into Romanian and attested by a lawyer as an official document.  But that cost only time and money.  That part was easier to solve.

 Anyway, to add to the “fun”, the Ministry of Justice change the list during the time when I was working on gathering the needed papers.  So that added more effort, time and money to the mission.

 But just plain determination got me there eventually.  And in June 2007 I traveled to Bucharest, Romania’s capital to turn in my application with supporting documents.  It was a monumental effort, but the actual turning in the documents went without a hitch.  In a half an hour I was finished.

 Yippee.  Now the next step is waiting to get called for an interview.  They say it will take 2 months. 

WHY GET ROMANIAN CITIZENSHIP?

            First of all, let me be very clear.  I am trying for duel citizenship.  I am not renouncing my American citizenship.  But will have both Romanian and American citizenship. 

            The biggest reason is a gesture of making official what has been in my heart for over 2 decades now… a solidarity with the Romanian people.  I feel like Ruth when she said to Naomi “Your people shall be my people…”  I love Romania and I believe in what God is going to do here.  Can God change a nation in a day?  According to God’s word, we see example after example that YES He can!  I believe Romania’s day is coming.

            Secondly having all the papers of a Romanian simplifies things for me living here.  I can own land, I can get a job, I get lower prices on health insurance, I can travel very easily through the EU, etc.

            As the EU grows and develops there are more and more advantages to having EU citizenship.  More than just shorter lines at the airport.  ;-)

            So I start on this quest.  It is taking Romanian bureaucracy by the horns.  I’m sure that will have its own challenges.  So here we go!