My work permit came through the other day. I now have unlimited permission to work in the USA. This means that I am no longer tied to my current job as a contractor to NASA. It took about nine months for the application to be processed, and several more months before that for me to gather all the information that I needed to make the application. So now, I can quit my job and look for something better, assuming that I wanted to. I enjoy my work. It gets a bit tedious sometimes, but astronomy still thrills me. I am one of the lucky few who get to work at something that I love. One day, the dream will end, but I hope that that day does not come for a long time.
The next step is to get my permanent residence permit: the coveted Green Card. The final paperwork will be submitted next week, and then it is just a matter of waiting several more months for the government to decide whether or not I get to live in the US for as long as I like. The process has taken years so far (with an interruption due to to my divorce). But now, the end is in sight, and that is a great relief. One way or the other, my future will be decided in the next few months.
2 comments:
Congratulations! Being able to border hop depending on where opportunites present is helpful and certainly takes out a lot of uncertainty. I've put it to good use. Although I do get a rash when I see articles about brain drains in Canada (well, if you encourage people to stay, they're less likely to leave - it isn't exactly ... uh... astrophysics, is it?)
And, as Phil Collins said, "it's no fun being an illegal ayl-leee-uh-uhn."
Congratulations! I hope you don't go in search of greener work pastures any time soon. As far as the tedium goes, on the first day of college, the Dean of Science told us "tedium and solitude, and yes---even lonliness---are the inseparable companions of scholarship." He was wrong about the solitude. Or maybe I just never studied quite enough...
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