It took nearly two decades, but Larissa Siekawitch is now an American citizen.
On Jan. 4, Siekawitch took a test in Anchorage that lasted an hour and included an interview, reading, writing and answering 100 questions. The process ended with an oath and a certificate.
"But now I'm a U.S. citizen," she said. "I was so relieved. It's very sad that my husband did not see this. He applied three times for my documents. It was lost, it was something else, it was delayed."
In 2000, Siekawitch was a veterinarian living in Yekateringburg, in the Ural Mountains in Russia. She had been researching the treatment of cancer in animals and had a friend who was a translator. Her friend asked her if she considered finding someone to date, at which Siekawitch said no.
"I'm too busy to have all this relationship. I know that it's very hard to do it," she said. Her friend asked for a couple of pictures regardless, to which Siekawitch obliged. At the same time, Tom Siekawitch, of Wrangell, was looking for a pen pal to make a connection.
In a couple of weeks, Siekawitch's friend asked her to stop by. Thinking the visit was about the cancer research she was doing, Siekawitch went to her friend's place, only to be presented a picture of Tom, who had expressed an interest in her.
"She showed me his pictures, and I told her, 'Nice looking guy, but he doesn't know me,'" she said. "She tells me, 'You don't know him either. He's just looking for a pen pal.' I said, 'OK, let's try it.'"
The two began exchanging letters, which Siekawitch's friend would translate. She said it was easy to talk with him. They met a year later when Tom visited her in Russia. They hit it off, and after more letters and visits over the course of three years, Tom asked her to marry him.
"I tried to convince him, 'Let's live in Russia,' because I have a very nice job, and I have everything here, and I'm very comfortable," she said. "And he won. He pulled me to America."
It was a hard transition at first when Siekawitch landed in Wrangell. Learning English was the biggest challenge, but the staff at the library helped her with books, tapes and CDs. Knowing the language is one of the requirements toward becoming a U.S. citizen. After the couple had been married three years, they began the process for her citizenship.
"Papers can be lost, they can push the wrong button and do something, type the wrong number or something. It's not your fault because you write everything," Siekawitch said. Despite their meticulous efforts, the immigration process didn't seem to be moving forward.
On July 4, 2015, Larissa and Tom met Sen. Lisa Murkowski during the Independence Day parade in Wrangell. The couple approached her and explained how difficult it had been for Siekawitch to obtain citizenship.
"She told us to call her office in Ketchikan and they will help us with paperwork," Siekawitch said. "In a few months, everything was rolling, and they told us everything was in process."
Tom Siekawitch died in a plane crash on April 8, 2016, on Admiralty Island. Not long after that, Larissa received her green card, allowing her to live and work in the U.S. permanently.
After three years of having her green card, Siekawitch was able to apply for permanent citizenship. She began that stage of the process and had a date set to go to Anchorage. Then COVID-19 hit. Her appointment was postponed. It wasn't until December 2021 that she received a letter stating she had a new appointment - the month before. She called the immigration office and was able to update the interview and test for last week.
Though Siekawitch thought of returning to Russia after Tom died, she determined it was better to stay here and become a citizen for her sons, Andrei, 12, and Nikolai, 17. She had thought of returning to veterinary work, but since she would have to "start from zero," Siekawitch decided not to pursue that career path again. She is busy as a stay-at-home mom, looking after her sons and preparing them for college life and beyond.
"Tom would be proud," she said.
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