Daniel Islanders on the path to citizenship: Part 3

Editor’s Note: In the last two issues of The Daniel Island News, we’ve introduced you to two foreign-born Daniel Island residents who have completed the path to U.S. citizenship. We conclude our series this week with a story about the immigration journey of another island resident – Carina Buckman, a native of the United Kingdom. Buckman, unlike the subjects of our first two stories in the series, has yet to go through the process of officially becoming an American citizen, but she is well on her way.

Case 3: Carina Buckman

As was the case with both Arienne Araujo and Rikke Fryman, the first two cases in our “Path to Immigration” series, British ex-pat Carina Buckman’s journey to Daniel Island was born of reasons both personal and professional. Buckman has, like Fryman and Araujo, her own stories related to coming in and out of the country, but unlike her predecessors in our series, she hasn’t yet completed her path to citizenship. She is still a citizen of the U.K. at present, but according to the Daniel Island wife, mom, professional and all-around do-gooder, that status is likely to change someday soon.

Buckman’s story has one other facet to it that is unique to our series: in her case, America came to her first. After all, if it were not for the determination of U.S. financial firm Capital One to establish a presence in the U.K., she might never have left home in the first place.

And it was while working for Capital One in the U.K. that Buckman’s professional and personal life truly took off. She did well with the company, and the job led to her ultimately meeting the man who would become her husband, American-born Matt Buckman.

The U.S. now a major presence in both her personal and professional lives, Buckman took the first of what would become many trips across the Atlantic. And while many jaunts “across the pond” would (and will) follow, none would be so dramatic as her first trip to America on the visa waiver program.

Buckman utilized the visa waiver program to take an extended vacation here in the U.S. back in 1999. While here, she waited for a position to open up at Capital One in America, as foreign worker laws prevented her from simply transferring over from the bank’s U.K. office. Instead, the position has to be open for a minimum of six months before international candidates could be considered. On top of that, there are a limited number of H-1B work visas, the very visa she would later acquire, available.

Buckman couldn’t wait the entire time here in the States, as her visa waiver only allowed her 90 days to visit, and not a day more. But Buckman became ill as her stay was winding down and had to overstay her visa by a few days, beginning, for her what would be a series of problems she’d experience beginning with her next trip.

That next trip came not soon after, but this time with considerably more turbulence, even after the flight. During her next trip from the U.K. to the U.S. she was stopped at immigration. The reason - her overstay the previous trip.

“The officer was very professional but gave no indication throughout the interview as to where I stood, which was very unsettling,” Buckman remembers. “I focused on telling the truth and holding it together. It's pretty stressful, they're trained not to give anything away with facial expressions. If anything, they're trained to intimidate you. It was pretty intense, constant questions, the same questions mixed up, reworded.”

“Eventually, the officer said ‘based on our policy I really should put you back on an airplane back to the U.K. but I believe in love and I believe what you're saying, so I'm going to let you in,’" Buckman smiles before turning serious once more. “I was so happy & relieved! I had no idea that once you broke a visa waiver agreement you could no longer enter under the program and would need a visa.”

“Thankfully a US position and H-1B visa became available soon thereafter and I was able to start work stateside as a highly skilled migrant worker,” she continues.

Buckman worked under H-1B status for several years. Although she became eligible for a green card through marriage in 2001, she didn’t apply until after they started a family in 2004. “I said ‘ok, I've got to do the green card.’ I changed my name to my married name, so the green card was in the married name, and I got it.”

“Generally speaking I’ve found US immigration processes to be long and robust with appropriate controls,” adds Buckman. “The only opportunity I’ve observed is USCIS not sending important documents via secure mail, resulting in my Green card getting lost in transit and me having to pay to go through a lost card process, even though I had never actually received the card.”

Green card in hand, Buckman hasn’t faced the question of becoming a U.S. citizen yet, as she hasn’t been eligible. That time will come later this year, when she will have surpassed the minimum three-year consecutive time period during which a green card holder must live here in the U.S. before applying for citizenship.

“Having now lived in the US for 10 of the past 17 years, it now feels like a second home and time to embrace dual citizenship.”

Buckman has begun studying and hopes to take the pledge before the end of the year.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

Breaking News Alerts

To sign up for breaking news email alerts, Click on the email address below and put "email alerts" in the subject line: sdetar@thedanielislandnews.com

Comment Here