It was a no-brainer for the Norwegian native, who is married to Republican Congresswoman Kelly Armstrong.
“No matter what happens in our lives, we will always have it,” Rep. Armstrong said, with a laugh.
Kjersti Armstrong and about 160 other people vowed to be U.S. citizens at Fargo on Tuesday, September 14th. Four separate naturalization ceremonies were held at the Sanctuary Events Center, with about 40 people per session, under COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
Armstrong joined citizenship candidates from 43 countries, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, India, Iran, Peru, Somalia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
Candidates live in 19 different cities and towns in North Dakota and at Grand Forks and Minot Air Force bases.
The judge of the eighth American circuit Ralph Erickson presided over the last two ceremonies, administering the Oath of Allegiance. He told new citizens that while this was “his day,” it is actually more important to the U.S. collective.
“This is true because the blood of the United States has always been the blood of immigrants,” Erickson said.
Representative Armstrong, who also addressed the group, said he could relate to his experience because his wife Kjersti was among them.
“Today is unique for us, as we can finally call on other fellow citizens. Now I have to win his vote,” the congressman said.
The day before the ceremony, Kjersti Armstrong told The Forum that she was excited to be in a room with so many people who have worked so hard to choose to be American.
“This is special to be a part of,” he said.
Kjersti Armstrong, wife of Rep. Kelly Armstrong, RN.D., takes the oath of citizenship during her naturalization ceremony along with 39 others on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, at the Sanctuary Events Center, Fargo. Michael Vosburg / Forum Photo Editor
The two met on the first day of their arrival in Grand Forks in the early 2000s as part of a law school exchange program between the University of Oslo in Norway and the University of Dakota. of the North.
Seeing her, she told a friend that law school had just become “much more interesting.”
“I jokingly pointed her out at the time and said,‘ I’m going to marry this girl, ’” he said.
“The rest is history,” he added.
They started dating them shortly after and when he returned to Norway at the end of the semester, they maintained their transatlantic relationship.
“It was a challenge. A seven-hour time difference and the student travel budgets, so we work hard to make it work, ”he said.
They would be engaged for a year and would marry in Norway in 2004.
Along the way, she graduated in law and she in Norwegian and American.
Kelly, 44, and Kjersti, 42, have two children, Anna, 13, and Eli, 11, and the family lives in Bismarck.
Kjersti Armstrong could have become an American citizen years ago, after marrying, but she would have had to give up her Norwegian citizenship to do so.
Although the US allows dual citizenship, he said Norway has only accepted it for a year and a half. “This is the time it took COVID’s delays to get to the citizenship ceremony,” he said.
Of Kjersti, Rep. Armstrong said having a relationship and marrying someone who grew up in another country has allowed her to see other cultures and points of view.
“It has made me better at everything I do in my life, but … specifically when it comes to politics, immigration and that sort of thing, I think it’s been helpful,” the congressman said.
Representative Armstrong said making legal processes around immigration and citizenship a little less cumbersome would benefit everyone.
Although both he and his wife are law graduates, he said, the citizenship process has been frustrating. “I can’t imagine why new Americans happen to not have that kind of resources or resources that we do,” he said.
Kjersti Armstrong is grateful to have finally reached this point, already 17 years ago.
“My children are American. My husband is American. I feel American, so I really want to have this ceremony to consolidate and make it official, ”he said.