Luc standing at his office door, newly decorated.

Luciano Dalla Venezia (UTS) and his wife Kim have just received their US Citizenship! The couple has lived in the US for about 6 years, having been  born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Their kids, Luca and Levi, ages 3 and 1, are already US citizens because they were born in the US. Now it was time for mom and dad!

The Dalla Venezia’s came to the US so that Luc could pursue a job opportunity at a previous employer. The couple sold everything they owned and moved to Alpharetta, GA. They subsequently moved to Marietta. Luc has now been at Emory for nearly five years as an IT Service Manager in ITSMO.

For the first years, the couple were in the US on an H1B working visa and once that one expired they applied for permanent residence. The Dalla Venezia’s also received green cards two years after they moved. These cards last for five years and once the five-year period were up, they could apply for citizenship (naturalization).

The naturalization process costs around $700 and requires applicants to be interviewed and pass a US civics and geography test by answering 10 questions out of pool of 100. You pass if you get 6 correct. The pressure was on as both had to pass for them to remain in the US. Both went 6 for 6.

One of the questions was, “Eisenhower was a general in which war?”

Luc and his wife took their Oath of Citizenship last Friday at the Citizenship Center. When Luc returned to work he found that his Emory teammates had decorated his office in red, white and blue.

“It is really a big deal for me and my family.” says Luc. “We are very grateful for this opportunity. Our sons were citizens before we were and now we are a nice full family of Americans!”