Veteran Waiting Three Years for Citizenship
Omar Farfan has all the makings of a model American citizen. He served his country with pride, he owns his own home, he is a dedicated father and he has a stable job. Only Farfan is not a citizen, and his chances of becoming a citizen have been stalled by massive delays in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.
Originally from Lima, Peru, Farfan has spent over three years waiting for a background name check on his naturalization application. He is one of around 90,000 legal permanent residents of New York living in citizenship limbo due to backlogs at CIS. That number is close to a million nationwide.
For Farfan, the delays have meant not being able to vote and not being able to apply for the job he truly wants. “I always wanted to work for the DEA or a major government agency, but I couldn’t apply because I am not a citizen,” he says. “The DEA combats crime. It’s an area I think would be a good opportunity to work in. I served in the military, and being bilingual, I notice different accents. That can be useful when it comes to narcotics crime.”
He said he’s also interested in other government agencies. “Even immigration,” he says.
Like many permanent residents, Farfan is also anxious to have the peace of mind that comes with full citizenship. “Just knowing and seeing how the situation is getting with immigration here, just seeing the raids, I think you have to be a citizen,” Farfan says. “Sometimes by accident you can be deported.” He corrects himself. “Well, not by accident. Some things can happen in life. You can end up in a wrong situation or a wrong place. Being a [permanent] resident you’re at risk.”
It is a risk he can’t afford to take, especially now that he is a widower. “I need this for my family, for my kids,” he says. “They depend so much on me. I’m the person that brings the food to the table.”
Farfan works two jobs and is going to school part time in order to provide the best for his six-year-old daughter Valerie and five-year-old son Zaid. Two years ago, with the help of his mother and stepfather, he was able to purchase a home for them in Suffolk County, NY.
Farfan came to the United States at the age of 15. He worked hard to learn English. And though it took him one additional year to graduate from Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, that didn’t stall his ambition. After graduating he decided to join the Navy. “I wanted to serve a country, to learn the skills of being a sailor, and to get educational benefits,” Farfan said.
In his last year in the Navy he was deployed to Puerto Rico, where he met his wife, Olly.
“A year later, when I came out of the Navy, she moved to New York and we started a life together,” he says.
Before moving to New York he had filled out all the paperwork and had his fingerprints taken for his naturalization application. “Then I waited for the interview,” he says. “I didn’t hear anything. When I finished the Navy in 1999 and went back to New York I still didn’t hear anything.”
He couldn’t understand why there would be a problem. “I served in the military. I had an honorable discharge, I had a good record,” he says. When he called CIS the woman had not paperwork on him. They probably just lost the application, he figured.
In 2003 he was getting ready to apply again when tragedy struck: Olly was killed in a car accident in upstate New York. He went forward with his naturalization application. He turned in the paperwork in late 2004 and had his interview in 2005. Then his fingerprints were taken.
“I passed interview but the woman said I had to wait a month for the name check,” he says. He waited a month and heard nothing. “I went personally one time and they said my case is just pending. Then 2006 passed and 2007 passed and I’m still waiting. I’ve been waiting for three years.”
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