Krystyna Nowacki proudly shows her citizenship certificate, Fall 2018. Photo courtesy of Krystyna Nowacki.
When Kris Nowacki first came to the United States in 1982, he was fleeing Communism in Poland and set himself up as a photographer in California.
“I was a refugee at one point,” he says. “I escaped.”
Years later, he married Krystyna Nowacki, who made the decision in September 2017 to come to CIANA to start the process of getting her US citizenship after being in the US for 15 years with a green card. She came to the US after years of seeing Kris in Poland because she loved him.
“It was easy to travel to my country with a green card and so I was just waiting,” she says. What tipped her to get US citizenship was the desire to stay with her husband -and ultimately, an expiring green card.
Krystyna found CIANA online, and after working with CIANA’s lawyers, got her citizenship in six months. Months later, Kris came to CIANA for help applying to jobs in New York.
Krystyna and Kris Nowacki. Photo courtesy of Krystyna Nowacki.
The husband and wife are thankful they found CIANA, and say that the service and people they’ve met at the organization are good, and that they’ve easily gotten appointments to see CIANA’s staff. Overall, they’re thankful for being in the US where it’s easy to live.
“Everything is double the price, gas is more expensive, food is more expensive,” Kris says. “But still, it's much better.”